PFA WENT MISSING AS I SUFFERED FINANCIAL DISASTER Ex-Forest star hits out over pension neglect
ALAN ROGERs, former Premier League player and England Under 21 international, has accused the Professional Footballers’ Association of ‘going missing’ as he faced financial ruin.
Rogers, 42, who played in the top flight for Nottingham Forest and Leicester City, contacted
Sportsmail after reading last week how former Bradford winger Jamie Lawrence endured a 16-month battle with the PFA to claim money he was owed from his pension fund.
Rogers’ ordeal has been similarly draining. After investing in a pub worth more than £500,000, which was later sold at auction for just £30,000, he sought support and advice from the PFA but claims nobody responded. When he applied for a PFA medical grant for a knee operation to help him as a coach, he says there was a similar silence. When facing huge financial problems, Rogers felt utterly rejected by the PFA.
He said: ‘i felt they neglected me. When you are playing, you are told the PFA will be there. i found quite the opposite. i felt like a burden.
‘i want the PFA to work for footballers. i support anybody who will go in and make changes. But for some former and smaller players, it is no use to us now. You wonder if it was Wayne Rooney calling, whether it would be instant help. They seem to be less interested in the smaller names.’
At the turn of the millennium, Rogers says a former PFA financial adviser encouraged him to place his trust in Kingsbridge Asset Management. Kingsbridge are now under investigation by City of London Police over a series of schemes that saw highprofile footballers lose millions.
in 2005, Rogers was encouraged to transfer money into a personal pension fund with AJ Bell. Rogers used the fund to invest in a pub worth in excess of £500,000, which was set to be turned into apartments. However, planning permission fell through and Rogers became unable to rent the property out.
The pension providers seized control. in an 2015 email seen by
Sportsmail, Rogers wrote to the PFA and pleaded: ‘Can you please give me help with this?’
He says now: ‘ The impact has been disastrous. it was my children’s future. i ended up losing it all and they sold it at auction for £30,000. There was nothing i could do. i went to the PFA begging, saying, “i’m losing my pension here”.
‘All i received was an email from an employee asking for my telephone number and date of birth. A family friend is a solicitor and he left voicemail messages for Gordon Taylor but did not hear back. i was losing a huge amount of money and i just wanted some guidance and advice.
‘i may have myself made financial misjudgments. That is not my point. My point is i wanted advice, help, and they were not there for me.’
A PFA source argues that the organisation asked Rogers in a telephone call to send further information but he does not believe this to be the case.
Rogers also believes the organisation could have done more to help in 2014, when he sought to withdraw money from his pension fund but the Professional Footballers’ Pension scheme sought to charge a 15 per cent surcharge — on top of Rogers already being taxed at 55 per cent for an unauthorised payment — to make the transfer.
‘i was banging my head against the wall,’ Rogers says. ‘i went to the PFA and it felt like i got nothing back at all. A friend helped me out by arguing my case and they relented.
‘This all left me in financial ruin. i have three kids. it’s put a massive strain on my wife, who i have been with since i was 14 years old. We sold the house we lived in. People i know in football have financial difficulties. i don’t understand why players pay to enter into the PFA because when you really need them, they are not there.’
After Rodgers retired, he had aspirations to go into coaching and management. As a player, he snapped his cruciate knee ligaments at the age of 24 and needed a series of operations. When he returned as a coach, the knee issues flared up again and he applied for a medical grant from the PFA.
He says: ‘My knee stopped me being the player i could be. i was flying, Liverpool were interested. i was scoring a lot of goals at left back and i’d been in England youth squads.
‘A few years ago, i went on the PFA website and there are grants for operations. i had my UEFA coaching badges. i needed to clear the cartilage. The PFA staff member simon Barker told me to fill in the form. i did that, posted it all in and received nothing back. That was five years ago. i’ve not had the operation.’
The PFA say they did not receive the required medical documentation but Rogers insists he sent it in.
The former Forest player (below) is boosted by the news that Taylor will stand down but insists more must be done to help players after retirement.
He says with a smile: ‘i had a great career. i remember Ron Atkinson at Nottingham Forest. He was a character. He came with this briefcase every day. i broke into it once. We thought it was all the secrets of the football world but there was a hairdryer and a gold American Express card.
‘He used to join in training. He couldn’t move. We were a Premier League team with a 60-year-old running down the wing.
‘i finished at Accrington and that saw me off! John Coleman took part in training on Fridays. it would be eight-a-side and if his team were losing, he’d take another player. We ended up being four against 12 until the manager won!
‘But retirement was shocking. You’re in this bubble, and then, nothing. silence. i owned bars and clubs but i could not fill the void or find anything to stir me. Nothing is football.
‘i really struggled. My wife and i have been through a lot. i felt down and fed up.
‘i am not someone who is envious. i don’t mind people earning big salaries but earn it. People at the PFA have been so dismissive. Everything felt like too much trouble. i am not sure what Gordon’s role is. Where are these people when you need them?’
A PFA spokesman said: ‘The PFA was contacted by Alan Rogers early in 2014 in relation to his pension scheme and the funds available to him.
‘The PFA provided advice on HMRC guidelines and that the new administrators for the scheme — Aon Hewitt — would be providing him with detailed advice and options to access his funds. This advice was issued to him in February 2014.
‘The PFA was contacted by Alan again in 2015 for support around his property issues. support was offered but not taken up.
‘The PFA will always respond to members’ requests for support that are within its powers.’
‘You wonder if it was Wayne Rooney calling, whether it would be instant help. They seem less interested in smaller names’