{"id":28031,"date":"2026-03-29T04:49:28","date_gmt":"2026-03-29T04:49:28","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/eplvip.com\/index.php\/2026\/03\/29\/england-star-turned-postman-had-to-sell-memorabilia-to-fund-retirement-pot-soccer-sports\/"},"modified":"2026-03-29T04:49:28","modified_gmt":"2026-03-29T04:49:28","slug":"england-star-turned-postman-had-to-sell-memorabilia-to-fund-retirement-pot-soccer-sports","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/eplvip.com\/index.php\/2026\/03\/29\/england-star-turned-postman-had-to-sell-memorabilia-to-fund-retirement-pot-soccer-sports\/","title":{"rendered":"England star turned postman had to sell memorabilia to fund retirement pot | Soccer | Sports"},"content":{"rendered":"<p> <br \/>\n<\/p>\n<div>\n<div class=\"photo changeSpace\">\n<p class=\"withoutCaption\"><img fetchpriority=\"high\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"zoomEnabled\" src=\"https:\/\/cdn.images.express.co.uk\/img\/dynamic\/67\/1200x712\/secondary\/england-players-jogging-in-training-gary-stevens-steve-hodge-peter-beardsley-paul-gascoigne-6825584.jpg?r=1774535909291\" alt=\"England training camp for the 1990 World Cup\" title=\"England training camp for the 1990 World Cup\" width=\"590\" height=\"391\" fetchpriority=\"high\"\/><\/p>\n<p><span class=\"newsCaption\">Former England World Cup star forced to sell prized possessions <span class=\"caption\">(Image: Getty)<\/span><span class=\"magnifier\" data-img=\"https:\/\/cdn.images.express.co.uk\/img\/dynamic\/67\/1200x712\/secondary\/england-players-jogging-in-training-gary-stevens-steve-hodge-peter-beardsley-paul-gascoigne-6825584.jpg?r=1774535909291\"\/><\/span><\/div>\n<div class=\"text-description\">\n<p>In the early 1990s, Neil Webb was at the heart of English football. A cultured midfielder with great passing, he was a key figure in Sir Alex Ferguson&#8217;s Manchester United side and a regular in Bobby Robson&#8217;s England team. Thirty years on, the man who once shared a dressing room with Bryan Robson and Roy Keane reveals he still wakes up at the crack of dawn &#8211; not to train, but to deliver the mail.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"text-description\">\n<p data-mce-linkchecker-status=\"valid\">The story of Neil Webb is a stark reminder of the financial gulf between icons of yesteryear and modern-day Premier League billionaires. While today&#8217;s stars make enough money in a week to last a lifetime, Webb is part of a generation that has had to carefully plan their retirement lives. The reality of Webb&#8217;s financial situation made headlines when it was revealed that he was forced to auction off his most prized professional possessions.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"text-description\">\n<p>It was revealed in 2024 that Webb, who had already gotten rid of his 1990 FA Cup winners&#8217; medal, his 1992 League Cup winners&#8217; medal and some of his 26 England caps, was putting his England debut shirt and cap, which he won in 1987, up for auction for \u00a315,000.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"text-description\">\n<p>Auctions were not born out of a lack of emotion, but out of necessity. Webb admitted that the medal was &#8220;sitting in a drawer,&#8221; and at this stage in his life, money was more important to him than physical hardware in his retirement savings.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"text-description\">\n<p>&#8220;I&#8217;ll be 60 years old in July, so I hope the shirt and cap go to someone who will cherish them,&#8221; he said at the time. &#8220;This will help my retirement savings. It&#8217;s on my wall at home, and if no one buys it, I&#8217;ll be happy to keep it.&#8221;<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"photo changeSpace\">\n<p class=\"withoutCaption\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"zoomEnabled\" src=\"https:\/\/cdn.images.express.co.uk\/img\/dynamic\/67\/1200x712\/secondary\/manchester-united-kingdom-manchester-united-player-neil-webb-pictured-at-the-pre-season-6825730.jpg?r=1774535909299\" alt=\"Neil Webb Manchester United 1989\" title=\"Neil Webb Manchester United 1989\" width=\"590\" height=\"378\" loading=\"lazy\"\/><\/p>\n<p><span class=\"newsCaption\">Neil Webb spent three years at Man United under Sir Alex Ferguson. <span class=\"caption\">(Image: Getty)<\/span><span class=\"magnifier\" data-img=\"https:\/\/cdn.images.express.co.uk\/img\/dynamic\/67\/1200x712\/secondary\/manchester-united-kingdom-manchester-united-player-neil-webb-pictured-at-the-pre-season-6825730.jpg?r=1774535909299\"\/><\/span><\/div>\n<div class=\"text-description\">\n<p>&#8220;My generation earned enough money that we could buy a nice house, a nice car, and send our children to private education,&#8221; he added. &#8220;But it&#8217;s a different world for today&#8217;s players. I always knew I had to work after playing. I can&#8217;t relate to the incredible salaries that players today receive. Even if it&#8217;s \u00a3100,000 a week, I can&#8217;t relate to that.&#8221;<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"text-description\">\n<p>For many years, Webb worked as a mail carrier in his hometown of Redding. It&#8217;s a job that requires him to be on his feet for hours on end, a far cry from the lush green grass of Wembley or Old Trafford. At one point it was reported that he was earning around \u00a3220 a week.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"text-description\">\n<p>Webb&#8217;s former England team-mate Paul Gascoigne is the most famous and tragic example of a former player suffering financially after retiring from playing. Gaza has famously struggled with mental health and additional medical issues for decades, but unfortunately at times has fallen into a vicious cycle.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"photo changeSpace\">\n<p class=\"withoutCaption\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"zoomEnabled\" src=\"https:\/\/cdn.images.express.co.uk\/img\/dynamic\/67\/1200x712\/secondary\/england-substitute-neil-webb-who-came-on-in-the-72nd-minute-picture-taken-7th-july-1990-6825739.jpg?r=1774535909305\" alt=\"Neil Webb playing for England\" title=\"Neil Webb playing for England\" width=\"590\" height=\"391\" loading=\"lazy\"\/><\/p>\n<p><span class=\"newsCaption\">Webb won 26 caps for England, including the 1990 World Cup. <span class=\"caption\">(Image: Getty)<\/span><span class=\"magnifier\" data-img=\"https:\/\/cdn.images.express.co.uk\/img\/dynamic\/67\/1200x712\/secondary\/england-substitute-neil-webb-who-came-on-in-the-72nd-minute-picture-taken-7th-july-1990-6825739.jpg?r=1774535909305\"\/><\/span><\/div>\n<div class=\"text-description\">\n<p>In fact, it was Webb&#8217;s injury in 1989 that ultimately paved the way for Gascoigne to earn a starting spot for England at the 1990 World Cup. As a result, the Three Lions infamously lost in the semi-finals to West Germany on penalties, ending in heartbreak and tears. &#8220;Fair play to Gazza. He&#8217;s always grateful to me for getting injured,&#8221; Webb told the Times.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"text-description\">\n<p>Webb won 26 caps for England and scored four goals. At club level, he played for Manchester United, Nottingham Forest, Portsmouth and Reading before retiring in 1997.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"text-description\">\n<p>&#8220;Looking back at my career, I can say I played for three of the best English managers of all time: (Brian) Clough, Sir Alex Ferguson and Sir Bobby Robson,&#8221; Webb said. &#8220;I wanted to play under Josep Guardiola. I respect the way he makes players better and shapes the team.&#8221;<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p><br \/>\n<br \/><a href=\"https:\/\/www.express.co.uk\/sport\/football\/2186986\/england-football-team-postman-Man-Utd\">Source link <\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Former England World Cup star forced to sell prized possessions (Image: Getty) In the early 1990s, Neil Webb was at the heart of English football. A cultured midfielder with great passing, he was a key figure in Sir Alex Ferguson&#8217;s Manchester United side and a regular in Bobby Robson&#8217;s England team. Thirty years on, the<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":28032,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[23],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-28031","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-matches"},"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v25.5 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>England star turned postman had to sell memorabilia to fund retirement pot | Soccer | Sports - EPL VIP \u2013 Latest English Premier League News &amp; Updates<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/eplvip.com\/index.php\/2026\/03\/29\/england-star-turned-postman-had-to-sell-memorabilia-to-fund-retirement-pot-soccer-sports\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"England star turned postman had to sell memorabilia to fund retirement pot | Soccer | Sports - EPL VIP \u2013 Latest English Premier League News &amp; Updates\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Former England World Cup star forced to sell prized possessions (Image: Getty) In the early 1990s, Neil Webb was at the heart of English football. 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