Brendan Fevola's wife 'filthy' after AFL cult hero forced to pay $26,000 on the spot
The former Carlton and Brisbane player has recounted the ordeal at his family home.
AFL great Brendan Fevola has lifted the lid on a recent ordeal at his family home when sherrif's officers came calling for $26,000 in debts. The former Carlton and Brisbane player recounted the experience on his 101.9 The Fox breakfast radio show in Melbourne, saying a sheriff's officer knocked on his front door and demanded payment on the spot.
Fevola was told he had just under 80 unpaid fines and toll fees - stemming from around the time he went bankrupt. The 43-year-old recounted how he was told he was facing jail time or the potential of having his property seized if he didn't pay up.
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“They say, ‘You’ve got 79 outstanding arrest warrants’,” Fevola said alongside co-hosts Fifi Box and Nick Cody. “And I was like, ‘sorry, what?’ Because I went bankrupt in 2011 or 2012, so I just assumed all your stuff gets wiped and I didn’t have any warrants or parking fines.
"But this is what it dates back to - like 13 years ago. I asked how much it was, and he said the outstanding warrant that you have to pay right now on the spot, ‘You owe $25,945’.”
Fevola said it was made crystal clear that he wasn't being scammed. “It’s written right there," he said. "It’s all tolls from when I was driving to Yarrawonga and stuff."
Fevola revealed how wife Alex came to sort out the situation after the officer threatened to enter the property and start seizing assets. “She was absolutely filthy,” Fevola said about wife Alex, who was in the middle of a business meeting at the time.
“They said if we can’t find something in your house that’s to the equivalent of 26k, then we’ll take you. And Alex goes, ‘Oh well, how long will you take him for?' And they said 60 days, and I contemplated it.”
Alex was told she couldn't pay the debt with one of her credit cards because she would earn awards points. However she eventually found one that was deemed acceptable and the situation was sorted.
Brendan Fevola's battle with gambling addiction
Fevola has been open and honest about how his life spiralled out of control immediately after his AFL career came to an end. The prolific goal-kicker revealed in 2021 that he was forced to file for bankruptcy in 2013 and even sold his Coleman Medal (for the league's leading scorer in a season) to fund a gambling addiction.
The 43-year-old admitted he lost more than $360,000 over a three-day gambling spree and spoke publicly about seeking treatment for his addiction. Alex later revealed that she was largely in the dark about the extent of her husband's habit and opened up about the moment she realised he'd lost their entire savings.
“The pay hadn’t gone into the account,” she said. “I thought, ‘That’s so strange. What’s going on?’ And I couldn’t get onto anybody, no one was answering my calls. Eventually, someone answered my call and told me that, 'yeah, there was no pay' and it was that entire year’s worth of pay.”
Fevola said previously: "I earned millions. Millions. And I lost it all because I was a bogan. I pretty much wasted it all. We had seven houses throughout my footy career. Lost it all because I punted.
"Because I had money from the age of 17. Big money. Everyone else was working hard for their money. I didn’t have to work hard. I just played footy. I just thought money would come easy. Winning the lotto - easy money. Let’s spend it.”
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