Winning the Champions League is the highest club honor in club football, but for former Liverpool star Steve Finnan, the reward for winning is no longer his. The 2026 final will be held on Saturday between Arsenal and Paris Saint-Germain.
Finan retired from football in 2010, choosing to fund a real estate empire to begin a life after sport. He operated his business through two companies he owned with his brother Sean, who also ran the company. The pair had a large house on Wimbledon Common and a portfolio of other properties in south-west London, but fell into financial turmoil after the brothers had a falling out.
The former Liverpool defender claims he is out of £6 million and has launched a legal battle in 2023. He ended up blaming his lawyer for the failure of his business, only for the high court to dismiss his case. The court heard Mr Finan sent an email to lawyers in 2016 complaining that “despite receiving significant funding in the form of loans from the complainant, the company appears to have no funds”.
Mr Finan then told his lawyer to file an “unfair prejudice” claim against his brother. Sean denied any wrongdoing, but admitted that their relationship had broken down, and after changing lawyers, the brothers finally reached a settlement.
Finan appeared to be in line for a £4 million payment after Sean agreed to transfer his shares, but the former footballer never received that amount and Sean was subsequently declared bankrupt in July 2019. In the same year, Finan claimed to have received only £187,570 from the sale of a company and a further £89,345 from the sale of another property.
The stressful financial ordeal forced Finan to part with even more of his prized possessions. As well as auctioning off his Champions League medal, he also sold two signed jerseys from the 2005 final, a replica of the Champions League trophy and a luxury watch he was given after the match. Finan won a runners-up medal after Liverpool lost to AC Milan in the European final in 2007, which was also auctioned off.
