Ex-Premier League footballer and racehorse owner claims he’s living off £250-a-week while trying to fight speeding fine
A FORMER Premier League football star has claimed he's living off £250 a week while trying to fight a speeding fine.
Ex-England Under-21 international and racehorse owner Alan Rogers was punished for speeding in his new Tesla electric car.
He was caught driving his £50,000 Model Y at 51mph in a 40mph zone.
But the former footballer's lawyer said he had no pension and was struggling to make ends meet renting out properties.
Rogers, a defender for Nottingham Forest and Leicester City, had faced being banned from driving under the totting-up procedure.
But charges of failing to provide a document were dropped at Wirral Magistrates' Court, where the 46-year-old was fined £50 for speeding.
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His barrister Daniel Bramhall told the court: "In terms of his income he is currently not employed. He is retired.
"He has no access to a pension. He is paid £250 per week as a result of renting out properties. Those properties are part of his pension.
"I ask for the fine to be as low as possible and for his licence to be endorsed with three penalty points. There are no penalty points on his licence."
Rogers, from Ormskirk in Lancashire, was part of manager Dave Bassett's Forest team which won promotion to the top flight in 1998.
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He had joined the East Midlands side from Tranmere Rovers the previous year for £2million, a record sum for the Merseyside club.
His account on X, formerly Twitter, describes him as: ''Proud Ex professional footballer and race horse owner. I am now a full time crypto trader/angel investor/researcher.''
The magistrates' court listing said he failed to respond to a traffic section 172 notice for a second time after his Tesla Model Y Long Range AWD was caught speeding in February this year.
He had previously failed to respond to a section 172 notice in August last year after his previous 2021-registered Tesla Model 3 Standard Range was alleged to have committed a traffic offence in Manchester.
Section 172 notices stipulate a registered keeper of a vehicle should notify police of the identity of a driver when the car has been caught speeding or another traffic offence.
The penalty for failing to respond can be a fine and six points on a driving licence.
But Rogers already had six points wiped off his licence at a hearing before Liverpool magistrates last month, after arguing he had not received the first section 172 notice.
He has also now successfully argued he did not receive the second section 172 notice.
Rogers admitted one speeding matter, driving his Tesla at 51 mph in a 40mph zone at 10.49am on February 17, along the A49 in Maghull, Merseyside.
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Mr Bramhall told magistrates: “Mr Rogers was due to attend today because consideration was going to be given as to whether he ought to be disqualified.
“But had Mr Rogers received the original section 172 notice he would have responded to that and a plea to the original speeding offence would have been accepted.
"In all likelihood he would have been offered a speed awareness course - through no fault of his own, he did not receive that letter."
Rogers was also ordered to pay £50 costs.
During his four years at Forest the defender scored 17 goals in 137 appearances and also won three England Under-21 caps in 1998.
His other clubs included Wigan Athletic, Hull City and Bradford City before a knee injury ended his playing career in 2007 while at Accrington Stanley.
He later took up coaching roles, including spells as caretaker manager at Tranmere in 2015 and boss of non-league Skelmersdale United two years later.
Outside football, Rogers was reported in 2010 by the to be preparing to sue Merseyside Police for lost earnings of £1million.
That was after his Liverpool nightclub Cube was forcibly closed due to concerns of violence.
The £1.25million club in the city centre, covering four floors, opened in 2008 but was first shut down in March 2009 after allegations of assaults.
His lawyers stated police were unable to provide any evidence of his links to Fitzgibbon when challenged by the city council's licensing committee and that no one had been convicted of any offences inside or outside the club.
Cops said at the time no claim for damages was received but that licensing conditions for the club had been amended.
Rogers admitted assaulting a business rival at Chorley Magistrates' Court in April 2018, for which he was given a conditional discharge, the also reported.
He later vented his anger at the Professional Footballers Association in 2019, telling the there had been a lack of support for retired footballers.
Rogers said the PFA had "gone missing" after he sought help and advice when facing a financial ruin when a property investment went wrong.
He said he had put £500,000 into a project to convert a pub into apartments but when the property failed to secure planning permission ended up selling it property at auction for £30,000.
He also said he got no response when he applied to the PFA for a grant for an operation on his knee to help in his coaching career.
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The PFA said at the time it had offered support to Rogers regarding his investment concerns in 2015 but he had not taken it up.
The footballer's union said it had not received the required information about any request for medical support.
