DISGRACED footballer David Goodwillie was declared bankrupt at Alloa Sheriff Court last week, having failed to settle an outstanding tax debt of more than £41,000.

The 30-year-old claims he has been left with "nothing", despite reportedly making a £1million, annually, while at the height of his career.

Goodwillie, who now lives in Menstrie, appeared on Friday and failed to persuade a sheriff to spare him sequestration.

The former Dundee United and Blackburn Rovers forward was charged with rape alongside fellow footballer David Robertson, but prosecutors said there was insufficient evidence to take the matter to trial.

However, the complainer in case took her case to a civil court – where the burden of proof is not as strict – and it was ruled that, on the balance of probabilities, the two men raped her.

The judge ordered £100,000 worth of damages to be paid as a result.

On Friday last week, Goodwillie appeared at Alloa Sheriff Court without a lawyer, saying he was unable to afford one.

When asked about the £41,224.20 tax bill to be paid, he told Sheriff Simon Collins: "I've never been self-employed. Any money I received I paid tax on; it was taken off my wages. So, I don't understand the problem."

The sheriff replied: "We have here documentation showing unpaid income tax as far back as 2012. So seven years on, it's a bit late to be coming to me and saying 'what am I going to do about this?'

"These are matters that you must have known about for a long time.

"The decision for me to make is whether there is any reason why I shouldn't just grant the sequestration.

"I'll grant the sequestration."

Outside court, Goodwillie said he understood that the tax was due on £103 worth of private medical care and "other benefits" valued at £66,000, including an "an agents' fee", which he claimed he never actually saw, received when he was at Blackburn in the 2012-13 tax year.

He claimed: "The agent obviously received a fee, and the players have to pay the tax on it."

He said the tax bill had originally been higher, but professional sports accountants Kickback Tax, whom he employed while playing for Ross County in 2016, had managed to get it down to £39,000 with deductions for legitimate expenses.

With interest and charges, the bill rose to the £41,224.20 claimed.

He told a reporter: "I don't understand how HMRC reckon I got £66,000 worth of 'other benefits'.

"I never had a company car, I paid my own rent, they [Blackburn] didn't give me any 'other benefits'. When they paid me, my tax came off anyway, so I was never self-employed to do my own tax."

He said he was served with sequestration papers last Friday, while at his work as a labourer for a company of electricians.

He said: "It came as a bolt out of the blue.

"The sheriff said I should have known about it for a while, but I've moved about, and I was probably getting letters sent to an old address.

"I've got nothing – I haven't got a house, I've got a banger of a car, and I haven't got any assets – and I've got to provide for my wife and baby.

"I'll have to go to Citizens Advice to find out what I do now.

"I couldn't even get a day off work before the case to go and speak to somebody.

"Maybe going bankrupt will be a fresh start.

"I just have to keep trying to move forward, now."