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Former Ireland star Gareth Farrelly opens up about getting caught up in investment scam while recovering from illness with low survival rate

FORMER Ireland international Gareth Farrelly has told how he discovered he had been caught up in an investment scam while recovering from a near-fatal illness.

The soccer star was signed to Cork city in 2008 when he suffered an aneurysm of the splenic artery, a condition with a 10 percent survival rate.

 Gareth Farrelly became unwell in 2008
Gareth Farrelly became unwell in 2008Credit: Liverpool Echo
 Gareth Farrelly on the pitch for Ireland
Gareth Farrelly on the pitch for IrelandCredit: Sportsfile

He was rushed to hospital where surgeons removed his spleen, part of his colon, 40pc of his pancreas and 20pc of his stomach.

While recuperating at home, Revenue officers called to his door to tell him he had an unpaid debt of Stg£48,000.

He explained: “I had no recognition or inkling or understanding that it was possibly due.

“It was a call to my house and my wife had to deal with it.”

He would later discover that he was one of around 100 footballers who had been caught up in a controversial investment scheme recommended by financial advisors.

Gareth recalled how he went through “a host of different emotions” as he dealt with the problem, which ultimately piqued his interest in a career as a lawyer.

It was the latest in a string of calamities that dogged the talented player, starting when he was bullied by coach Kevin MacDonald while signed to Aston Villa as a youth player.


Speaking to Jarlath Regan on the Irishman Abroad podcast, the Dubliner recalled how he suffered extreme homesickness when he moved to England at the age of 17.

And he admitted he found it difficult to settle because he had come from “a very sheltered close family.”

He explained: “My brother passed away when he was two. That was incredibly difficult for my parents.

“I think I came along then, and there was always a degree of we were, very, very sheltered.

“I wouldn’t say I was a cotton wool baby but you were operating from a premise of possibly fear and caution rather than people being sent out to embrace things.”

During his time at Villa, Gareth suffered relentless bullying which left him feeling depressed and contemplating suicide.

He didn’t speak up about the treatment at the time, admitting: “I was conscious that I considered it to be wrong but I didn’t really have anywhere I could go with that.

“Who did you speak out to? Who did you speak out against?

“They’re the coach, you’re the young lad, it must be you. What are you doing wrong?”


Years later, a Premier League investigation found MacDonald guilty of bullying a young player in 2015 and 2016, but he was allowed to remain at Villa.

Recalling his fury that MacDonald retained his job, Gareth said: “You have a Premier League football club where there’s a finding of bullying against one of their main development coaches and that club at that time actually kept him within the club but gave him an elevated position.

“Sometimes you just have to go, right and wrong, I can’t get my head around it.”

He then made a public bullying allegation against MacDonald, resulting in the coach being removed from the club.

Now a qualified lawyer, Gareth was recently appointed to the Court of Arbitration for Sport.

And despite his challenges, he reckons he is now “probably the happiest I’ve ever been”.

He explained: “My illness gave me a slightly different perspective on life.”

Describing himself as “incredibly lucky” to survive, he said he now makes a point of regularly asking himself: “are you living a worthwhile life now? Are you making the most of the opportunity that you’ve been given?”

Hear the full interview at jigser.com.

 Republic of Ireland manager Mick McCarthy and Gareth Farrelly in 1997
Republic of Ireland manager Mick McCarthy and Gareth Farrelly in 1997Credit: Sportsfile