How Noah Media exposed the story of football’s financial shame

Noah Media’s powerful documentary V11, Football’s Financial Shame: The Story of the V11, which aired last month on BBC2, was the culmination of many years of painstaking research, investigation and filming with a group of former Premier League players. 

The players are unified by being victims of ‘financial abuse’, which left some of them bankrupt, having lost tens of millions of pounds through very poor financial advice from people they trusted.

The group, named the V11, not only saw their wealth evaporate, but are now also being chased for millions more in tax accrued on the investments they were advised to enter into.

The aim of the V11 is to change the law to protect victims of crime from serious tax charges.

The players involved represented clubs including Manchester United, Liverpool, Tottenham, Arsenal, Leeds United, Everton, Celtic, Rangers and Manchester City. 

They include Brian Deane, who scored the first goal in Premier League history, current BBC pundit Danny Murphy, Craig Short, Rod Wallace, Michael Thomas, Sean Davis and Tommy Johnson.

The campaign, as documented by Noah Media over the course of the film, shines the light on trusted financial advisers promising to safeguard the futures of these players, while receiving large commissions from a series of schemes that failed to get off the ground, wiping away the players’ investments.

The documentary outlines the consequences of this financial devastation, with homes lost, marriages destroyed and lives that spiralled out of control.

However, while explaining what went wrong, Football’s Financial Shame: The Story of the V11 also focuses on what’s being done now to try to seek justice for what happened. The film follows the players as they come together as the V11, under the leadership of lawyer Carly Barnes-Short (the wife of Craig Short), in their fight for justice and as they attempt to change the direction of their future.

Broadcast Sport spoke to exec producer Gabriel Clarke and director Richard Milway to find out how the film came together and how they tackled the potentially thorny challenge of getting an audience to feel empathy for the former Premier League players.

Clarke explains: “Going back to 2019, we were introduced to Carly Short. She liked our Jack Charlton film [Finding Jack Charlton] and came in to have a chat about the V11 group. They’d done a lot of work already in terms of investigating what had happened to them and we discussed the possibility of a documentary that would raise awareness about what had happened and what was happening to hundreds of people in relation to the tax law.

“Our initial thoughts were this is an incredible story, but you hear things about footballers and former players and former sports people losing money, and I think your initial reaction is, well, footballers losing money is nothing new, why should i feel sympathy?”

Clarke felt that, by letting the V11 speak candidly about their situation, viewers would have empathy and ultimately sympathy for their situation. “When you start filming, you’re super aware of how their lives have been seriously damaged by this,” he said.

Noah Media started filming several years ago, capturing footage of the players meeting MPs and receiving certain letters that become an integral part of the story. But the interviews with the V11 didn’t come until a lot later, when Clarke and Milway felt they’d built up a good relationship with them and felt they were comfortable talking about the things that had happened, which for some was very traumatic.

Milway says: “A lot of the power of this comes from them feeling able to open up and tell us about the lows of their life. You want the viewer to understand what they’ve been through fully to create that sympathy and make the audience realise they’re not just these wasteful footballers.”

Clarke adds: “I think filming those scenes before we did any interviews was important because the interview can then be more on their terms, as they know you much better.”

While the story unfolded in fairly unpredictable ways during the years Noah Media was filming with the V11, the basis for what the overarching story and structure of the narrative might be was mapped out by Clarke back in 2019. This structure became a consistent roadmap for the production as time went on.

Clarke explains: “I wrote the structure in 2019, putting down the basics so we had a basis to work on, which was a strong foundation for the story and the chapters. Even five years later, a lot of that still held in terms of the broader nature of football, the context, the issue of the evolution of agents into financial advisors and the issue of financial abuse which is fundamental to the players’ stories.” 

This framework was important in knowing where to thread in the talking heads and expert voices seen throughout the film. “You build that context to understand how and when to use them to help give the viewer the understanding of the different schemes they are involved in,” says Milway. “Because when you’re talking about finance, it can be complicated and sometimes a bit dry, so to try and get the players to explain that isn’t necessarily that easy.”

One of the important pieces of evidence the documentary focuses on is a series of what appear to be forged signatures on key documents related to various investment schemes. These are part of a huge range of documents and other pieces of evidence used to try to prove the players were victims of financial abuse and to get a criminal charge against those involved.

“In a way it’s almost perfect as a director that they have 60,000 pieces of evidence, which you’re able to look at and take confidence from and build on – that was really helpful,” says Clake.

Ultimately, the attempt to prove the signatures were forged came to nothing, and the ups and downs of the investigation and reactions of the players was captured as they happened using unobtrusive cameras.

“Throughout the film there are video diaries filmed on their phones, and recorded zoom calls, and that was quite important for those moments where some of them really opened up,” explains Milway.

“There were certain moments – obviously the end of the police investigation was a huge one – and there were other times when there was hope there was going to be a conclusion. And then news from HMRC would come and they felt like they wanted to record a video diary, it was almost a cathartic process with them. When [retired player] Michael Thomas is reflecting on the case ending it’s just so powerful because he’s so open and you can hear the pain in his voice. We were able to show footballers like you’ve never see them before.”

In addition to the V11, other voices in the film include former police, detectives, lawyers, accountants, financial advisors and a therapist who opens the door into the mental health challenges involved. “It’s a reminder of the value of actuality footage and spending time with people, that is really what connects with the viewer most of all I think,” says Clarke.

The film ends with no clear conclusion to anything. The attempt to get a criminal case going against the financial advisors failed and there has so far been no indication there will be any change in taxing those who are victims of financial abuse.

Clarke and Milway are hoping that the film will have an impact on what might happen next. Milway says: “I think what happens over the coming months is going to be crucial to where this story goes because it could go in a number of different directions.” 

“One of the reasons Carly wanted to do the documentary and the V11 wanted to go into this place, as difficult as it is, is to trigger a conversation,” adds Clarke. “Carly’s message to us once the film had gone out, was, as far as she is concerned, the conversation is being elevated still further – that’s the point.”

He continues: “You might want it to be neatly tied in a bow, but I think the film reflects more the reality of it. There isn’t a bow on it, but equally you’re watching till the end and you’re feeling till the end.”