Scotland and Everton legend Duncan Ferguson declared bankrupt

The 44-year-old, currently a first team coach at Everton, was declared bankrupt following a petition by HM Revenue & Customs. Further details as to the circumstances have yet to emerge about how the player - who earned £1.5 million a year at his peak - got into financial difficulty.

Ferguson started his career at Dundee United, but it was at Everton that he became a household name, making more than 200 appearances in two stints.

The 6'4" forward also played several times for Scotland, and would have played far more often for his country had it not been for his disputes over the years with the SFA.

Such was his reputation early in his career that in 1993 Rangers paid £4 million for him - then a record for a transfer between two British clubs.

But the year after, he headbutted a Raith Rovers player named John McStay during a match, an act so violent that he wasn't just sent off but also prosecuted for assault and jailed for 44 days. He was the first professional footballer in Britain to be jailed for an on-pitch incident.

That incident was never forgotten by either Ferguson or his critics, and he claims it cost him an epic international career: "I have thought about it a lot over my career and people who know me will tell you I wanted to play 100 times for my country," he once told the Daily Record.

"I wish I’d broken the all-time cap record and scored more goals than the lot of them. I have only seven caps. To me that’s unbelievable but what can you do?”