EX-FOOTIE star and manager Iain Dowie faces being made bankrupt after being taken to court by the taxman.
Cult hero Dowie, 60 – who coined the term “bouncebackability” – has been hit with the bankruptcy petition by HMRC with a hearing due at the High Court.
It comes almost two decades after ex-Luton, Southampton and West Ham striker Dowie was clobbered with a huge legal bill after leaving Crystal Palace as manager.
A court ruled in 2007 that Dowie deceived Palace into waiving a £1 million compensation clause when he quit.
And a source said: “It looks like Iain’s financial problems might date back to that legal action – there doesn’t seem to be any other reason for it.
“It is a shame for him as he’s such a likeable bloke, but he hasn’t cashed in with punditry as much as some other ex-players and he probably could have done.
“But Iain is a bright bloke and I am sure he will bounce back.”
After leaving Palace, Dowie joined Charlton – but left the Addicks after just 15 games.
His contract contained a clause that Palace would receive £1 million in compensation if Dowie left to join another club.
The 59-cap Northern Ireland international worked as a sales manager and a Sky Sports pundit since his football career ended.
In 2023, Dowie told how he had landed a new position – as a mortgage advisor at a law firm.
He joined Alexander Grace Law, based near Burnley, as a business director leading its re-mortgaging team.
Dad of two Dowie, whose wife Debbie was also working for the company, said: “While people may wonder how I’ve gone from the football pitch to the office I have been working within the conveyancing arena for some four years now and when I was asked if I would come on board with them it was a no-brainer.”
Last year Dowie – who scored 105 goals in 388 league games – said he was lucky to be alive after suffering cardiac arrest during a spin class at a gym in Chorley, Lancs.
After he was treated by other gym-goers and paramedics, Dowie backed calls for more people to learn CPR and said he survived due to the “brilliance of everyone involved”.
Dowie famously used the word “boucebackability” to describe a Crystal Palace comeback and it entered the Oxford dictionary in 2005.
A spokesperson for the star did not respond to a request for comment.
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