Four extravagant features of footballers’ homes

The Neville brothers don’t mind spending big on their houses

So we all know that footballers are paid way too much, with most professionals in the Premier League on multi-million pound deals. But putting all jealousy aside, when these footballers have bought their mansions and country townhouses, what extravagant extras do they splash out on the inside?

Here we take a look at some of the most outrageous features of footballers’ homes over the last few years.

Thierry Henry’s enormous aquarium

Although he now plays in the Big Apple with the New York Red Bulls, back when Henry was an Arsenal player and one of the best in the world, he was famous for his extravagant home in North London.

Apart from the fact that his home was four storeys, with a gym in the basement, solar panels and ‘bio-diverse living roof’, the feature which garnered the most attention was his £250,000, 40-feet high aquarium.

This mega fish tank went from the basement all the way up to the top floor and just the annual fish food bill alone stood at £2,500 a year.

Stephen Ireland’s crazy touches

Previously a Manchester City favourite, and now warming the bench at Aston Villa, it is fair to say that Irishman Stephen Ireland has a very unique taste in home décor. Among the touches, he’s most well-known for are the entirely pink Disney Princess bedroom he put together for his daughter, and a custom-made pool table with black felt and his own name emblazoned upon it.

And that’s before we get to his £12m swimming pool, six colour-coded bedrooms and a Range Rover parked outside with pink wheels. He also had plans for a shark tank underneath his kitchen floor, but apparently that was just a bit too silly.

Gary Neville’s eco paradise

Although it has not been built yet, former Manchester United right back Gary Neville has been given planning permission to build an ‘eco-home’ on the West Pennine moors near Bolton.

Although this is certainly not the same as flash footballers building massive aquariums and pink bedrooms, the lengths Neville has gone to are equally extreme in some ways.

At a cost of £6 million, and with some describing the plans as reminiscent of the Teletubbies home, Neville’s new pad will have zero carbon footprint because of features such as its own wind turbine, rain recovery, photo-voltaic solar cells and many other green features.

Phil Neville

Not to be outdone by his big brother, the new Manchester United coach Phil Neville splashed out on a £4 million apartment in the centre of Manchester. Set on the 45th floor of the very exclusive Beetham Tower apartment block, the property includes chandeliers, spiral staircases and ‘intelligent’ lighting schemes.

Decorated by interior designer to the stars, Kelly Hoppen, the property also features incredible views of the city from virtually every room, as well as a custom built playroom for his children in the style of a medieval castle.

However, Phil Neville may have run into problems with such individual décor, as he is now redesigning the property in order to rent it out because he was unable to sell his house quick.