Darren Ward, Millwall FC player, has launched a wealth management business to manage money for players in the lower football leagues, IFAonline reports.

The new firm, New Incentive Financial Consultants, is an introducer of Finsbury Financial. WealthBriefing was not able to contact New Incentive for comment at the time of publication.

Players with teams outside of the Premiership tend not to necessarily have access to the best financial advice, Ward told the publication. This dearth of sound financial advice is often the undoing of players once they retire, as of course the average career of a footballer is relatively short and tends to be front-loaded in terms of the sums they can command for their talent.

"Many football players earn decent money, but it is not enough that they can afford not to worry about money when they retire,” Ward was quoted as having said.

"They are like many other people in different occupations. They work hard and they have to make that money stretch a long way. I have seen and heard of many players being given entirely inappropriate advice."