Ex-footballer ‘Big Dunc’ declared bankrupt

Former Dundee United striker Duncan Ferguson has been declared bankrupt.

The football star, who also had spells at Rangers, Newcastle United and Everton, where he is now a first team coach, had a bankruptcy petition was filed against him by HMRC on December 1.

Ferguson joined Rangers in 1993 after the club paid £4 million for his transfer from Tannadice - a record fee between two British clubs at the time.

He also won seven international caps for Scotland, before a falling out with the Scottish football authorities ended his time with the national team.

The bankruptcy petition against the 6ft 4in 44-year-old who once earned £30,000 a week was rubber-stamped at the High Court in London on January 15, according to the London Gazette.

The Stirling-born father-of-three began his football career at Carse Thistle before being signed by Dundee United in 1990 and was widely considered one of the most gifted players of his ­generation, but his career was marred with controversy.

He shocked the football world when he head-butted Raith Rovers defender John McStay during a match the following year.

It led to the then 23-year-old spending 44 days in Glasgow’s Barlinnie prison in 1995, making him the first ­professional British footballer to be jailed for an on-field assault.