WHEN Bryan Robson was the elder statesman of the Manchester United squad in the early 1990s, Sir Alex Ferguson set him a task with the Class of '92.
The England legend was asked by the iconic boss to help the incredible youngsters coming through at with their financial matters.
He told SunSport: "Sir Alex always wanted to protect the Class of '92 when they were coming through.
"On occasions, he would pull me in his office and just say, 'I can't keep up with all these young lads. Try and give them good advice, because they may be getting new contracts with the club'.
"The boss didn't want them tying themselves up with agents who were going to take big fees.
"I went in and negotiated for a few of the boys, which they were really happy with."
Fast forward 30-plus years, Robson, now 67, is embarking on a new business venture that could be crucial in today's world, and echoes back to that experience.
He has co-founded alongside former Manchester United apprentice Simon Andrews - with the aim to give high earning sports, media, music and entertainment stars financial and investment advice.
You get fed up of seeing teammates going bankrupt or losing a lot of money in investments."
In recent times, footballers Wes Brown and Chris Smalling have spoken about being badly advised with their money.
While TV personality Katie Price is bankrupt again, after reportedly blowing a £45million fortune.
Robson admitted it's heartbreaking seeing former teammates suffering, which prompted him and friend Andrews into action.
He explained: "Simon Andrews, who was in the financial world and a former apprentice at Manchester United, approached me with the idea.
"You get fed up of seeing teammates going bankrupt or losing a lot of money in investments.
"I just thought someone's got to do something about it because it's just not right that the education system doesn't get to some of the lads.
"That's why we have set this company up. We don't want to be an agent. All we want to do is do reports for people who are in financial difficulties or people who might just want a report to see if everything's in place.
"We have professional people in every walk of the financial system, so really it's like a financial plan.
"We aren't telling them what they have got to do. It's up to the individual person what they want in life, and whether they want to invest in anything.
"And it's also about educating people about knowing about tax, are they getting the right mortgage, or the right lease for their car - all these sort of things we want to cover."
HPI won't take commission, nor will they take money from their clients in the future.
They provide a report, work alongside agents or mum's and dad's of the talent, depending on who works as the advisor.
"They have to be educated as well to make sure they are doing the right thing for the individual," Robson added.
Alongside his incredible football career, Captain Marvel launched several business interests.
He scored success with greeting cards, but lost money investing in schemes which aimed to take advantage of tax breaks for film productions.
Today he manages various properties with his wife, Denise.
He continued: "When I got into the England team, then I signed for Manchester United everybody wants to chat to you.
"Everybody is a millionaire and tells you this is how they made their money... you've got to be wary of that person.
"I'm not saying I was perfect. I came from a council estate, went to a decent school, my mum and dad were good parents, but I lost money on the film schemes, like many other footballers did in the 1980s and 1990s.
"My advice is, if you are going to invest in something make sure you can afford to. If it goes pear-shaped, you're not then missing that money and it's not affecting your life.
"I was lucky with another business which I went into with my best mate for greeting cards when I was with Manchester United.
"What it did was take me away from other things, I just wanted to concentrate on the business doing really well. Fortunately for me it was successful.
"The pitfalls were definitely there when I was playing, the players have just got to be aware of that."
Explaining how the reports work, Robson admitted "trust" was a key part of the process.
All we want to do is try to help and advise, what to stay away from, what is a good investment."
"All we want to do is try to help and advise, what to stay away from, what is a good investment," he told us.
"When we do this report, we ask the individuals if they want to stay in football, if they want to be a coach or work in the media world.
"It's really just a matter of finding out what the individual wants to achieve when they wrap up their playing days.
"Even in my days there was a lot of players that went bankrupt, and their financial situation caused divorce. You just don't want to see that, and if you can help them that's what myself and the company want to do."
By Dylan Terry
FORMER Manchester United defender Wes Brown has opened up about going bankrupt.
The ex-Red Devils defender, 44, was earning £50,000 a week at one stage during his 15-year stay at Old Trafford.
He also once had a property in Cheshire up for sale for £4.5million.
Yet the five-time Premier League winner still managed to lose all his money, with the HMRC filing a bankruptcy petition in February 2023, before it was signed off at the High Court two months later.
It came after he split from Real Housewives of Cheshire star Leanne in 2022 following 20 years of marriage.
Now the father-of-three has spoken about how his financial crisis occurred.
He told the Ben Heath podcast: "I think the main thing is when you are making a lot of money, you need the right people, don't you? And I would say that's one of the things I didn't have.
"It was a little bit different. It wasn't lots of people you go and speak to and you maybe meet people and do this do that. I wasn't interested in any of that. You said yes and got on with it.
"It's a long story and I won't go into the detail, but it's stuff that happened a long time ago with certain investments and getting into stuff that as a young kid, a lot of people go into, [but] don't really understand it.
"It's what a lot of people are doing and then it came to a head last year, and that's how it went.
"It's happened and I'm just getting on with it but it's one of those things where you hope people, especially this generation, don't get involved in."
Brown's ex-wife Leanne spoke about their financial situation a few years ago when they were still together.
She said: "Yes we've got a lovely life and all this money and I'm not saying the money isn't great but when you're in it you're living in this bubble.
"Although the fans can be amazing they can also be very cruel.
"It must be hard [for footballers] to deal with to be on top one minute and hated the next for a bad kick or missing the goal.
"We are the ones that are left to pick up the pieces and bear the brunt of whatever is left at the end of their careers."
Brown, who won the Champions League with Man Utd in 1999 and 2008, earned 23 England caps.
He also had spells with Sunderland, Blackburn and Kerala Blasters.
But, despite many suffering with financial woes, plenty are also switched on when it comes to their finances.
Robson explained: "Recently, we did a report for one player who was very honest with us and told us everything about his family and what he's got in place.
"To be fair, we went away, we spoke about it, and there wasn't really anything we could do.
"We told the player, 'you've done really well, you've got everything in place and it looks good.'
"He said, 'this is fantastic, all players should have this because it's like an audit.
"They might have something wrong, but it's great to hear everything is in place too."
