Damien Duff in line for €1.2m windfall

Damien Duff is in line for a pre-tax windfall of almost €1.24m arising from the wind-up of his UK commercial firm.

The Dubliner may no longer receive the lucrative weekly wages of Premier League footballers after his retirement, but the 37-year-old can console himself with the cash pile that will be left over after the Ballyboden man liquidated his UK firm, Lightzest UK Ltd.

Filings lodged with Companies House in the UK show Mr Duff has liquidated the firm — and the estimated surplus after all debts have been paid off totals £982,845. (€1.239m).

The figures show that at the time of liquidation, the firm had a cashpile of over £1.01m but when debts of £34,000 will be paid off, the firm will be left with the £982,845.

Mr Duff has been tipped to fill the spot to be vacated by RTÉ’s senior analyst John Giles after he completes his contract with RTÉ after the upcoming Euros.

In an interview last month, Mr Duff said that he “never liked punditry, I never liked pundits, but at the same time you’re sitting at home and you need to go and try something, I guess”.

Duff made his senior Irish debut in 1998 against the Czech Republic. He scored eight goals in his 14-year in his international career, and earned 100 caps.

The Dubliner retired from international duty following Ireland’s disasterous showing in Euro 2012, but remained one of Ireland’s most popular sportsmen long after his retirement from the national team.

At the 2002 World Cup in Japan and South Korea, Duff was voted Ireland’s player of the tournament, and scored against Saudi Arabia. He was selected on Uefa’s team of the year the same year.

The following year, Duff had one of his greatest paydays during his professional career when he moved to Chelsea from Blackburn for £17m (€21.5m). During his time at Chelsea, Duff won two Premier League titles and a League Cup with Chelsea under José Mourinho.

In 2006, he moved to Newcastle for £5m and then to Fulham. He spent the 2014/15 season in the Australian league with Melbourne, and ended his career with Shamrock Rovers in the League of Ireland, donating his wages to charity.