Stewart Downing, the winger who has played for both Middlesbrough and Aston Villa was in court recently to settle a long running dispute with his agent, Ian Elliott. The court heard how Downing, 26, had trusted Elliott so implicitly to the point where he signed papers without even checking them.
It was in January 2007 that the cracks first started to appear in their seemingly solid relationship. In a radio interview, Elliott stated that Tottenham Hotspur had shown an interest in Downing, a fact the player didn’t want broadcasting as he was settled at Middlesbrough.
Soon after that Downing discovered that one of his companies had only £11,000 in its account, not the £600,000 + he thought should be there. The court was told that Elliott was siphoning off the money to support his own business ventures, which were failing and had mounting debts.
Downing admitted he never checked over contracts and the like before signing as he trusted Elliott, and believed him to always have his best interests at heart. He also admitted that he left a lot of the running of the businesses solely to Elliott so he could concentrate on his football.
A further allegation against Elliott is that he created a conflict of interest by acting as agent for both Middlesbrough FC and Downing during crucial contract negotiations, an act that is against the rules of the F.A.
The prosecutor, Christopher Attwooll, told the court that Elliott had dishonestly managed Downing’s affairs to meet his own financial need and abused the complete trust that Downing had placed in him. Elliot vehemently denies the charges that have been brought against him and the case continues.