In Hale, the village of football’s elite, the wealth of the Premier League shines

On either side of Broadway, the most expensive street in North West England, horse riding is banned. Presumably to prevent people from peeking in over the high hedges and walls of the multi-million dollar villas. No main road, it also says in capitals. Anyone who tries to cross will encounter a rusted gate halfway with the message no access.

Much remains hidden in the lush avenue, with a average house price of the equivalent of 3.8 million euros. You cannot take a look via Google Street View, the app is protected here. And although Broadway borders a busy main road, it is one private road.

On a quiet weekday afternoon, a security guard stands guard, while a colleague patrols further away. Walk a while and you will pass a country house at number four that is for sale for 10.9 million euros. Built in a style – arts and crafts – which, according to the brochure, can be seen “everywhere” in the area.

It is these types of exclusive streets that make Hale, a wealthy town fifteen kilometers south of Manchester, attractive to footballers in the Premier League. It is not formal gated communitybut it does have the features. Almost everywhere there are signs warning that homes are heavily secured. At the residence where Erik ten Hag, former coach of Manchester United, lived until recently, it says: ‘dogs on patrol’. Next to it images of guard dogs.

Horse riding is prohibited on Broadway, an expensive street in Hale. It’s halfway down Broadway a fence with the message that access is not possible.

Photos: Joel Goodman

Hale is close to several Premier League clubs

This region, with the towns of Hale, Bowdon and Hale Barns, has been gaining popularity among football millionaires in recent years, local estate agents say. And not just at the two Manchester clubs – United and City. Players and trainers from Liverpool FC and city rival Everton also often choose this environment, including Liverpool coach Arne Slot. As well as players from Aston Villa, Wolverhampton Wanderers (Birmingham region) and even Leicester City, 150 kilometers away. They are, wrote The Athletic in 2023, rivals on the field but neighbors off it.

It is not exceptional that football players live in specific districts or peripheral municipalities. It is known that many Feyenoord players have an apartment on the Kop van Zuid in Rotterdam. What makes Hale (17,000 inhabitants) and the surrounding area special is that players from various clubs go there. At least sixty players and coaches live in the mini-triangle of Hale, Bowdon and Hale Barns, says Bobby Shahlavi of real estate agency Gascoigne Halman in his office in Hale. If you look more broadly in the region, there are even more.

How did Hale and the surrounding area grow into ‘hub’ for the elite of English top football? How comprehensive is the security? And what does the life of the modern professional look like here when they leave the luxury villas?

Cycling and walking prohibited

If you don’t know any better, Hale seems like an average English town, close to Manchester. With bus line X5 that thunders along Hale Road every hour. Look a little longer and you will see huge houses, security cameras, and prohibition signs in the cross streets along the same main road. On Brooks Drive, a ‘private street’ in Hale Barns, almost nothing is allowed: no walking, no cycling, no loitering, no dogs, no driving faster than ten miles per hour, no ‘drop-off’ for school.

It is this privacy that makes Hale and the surrounding area attractive to celebrities – in addition to footballers, artists and TV stars also live there. The foundation for this was laid at the beginning of the last century, says Shahlavi, as he walks to a map from 1936. Wealthy industrialists from the then industrial city of Manchester bought plots of land here and built detached houses for themselves, he explains.

In Broadway in Hale there are many prohibition signs where passers-by are asked not to walk on the grass.
Photo Joel Goodman

“As a result, there is a high density of large houses with gardens,” says Shahlavi, pointing to the spacious plots. According to him, historically the city centers of Manchester and Liverpool have been less popular among the wealthy, while this is the case in London. Although the inner cities have been gentrified, players still settle on the outskirts of Manchester and Liverpool.

Alex Ferguson played an important role in that. The Manchester United coach, active from 1986 to 2013, urged his players to buy a house nearby. This would help with their loyalty to the club, says Shahlavi, an estate agent on the south side of Manchester since 1996. “That was supposed to encourage them to get a wife and children and settle down.” Many players from the successful United team from the 1990s stayed in the area, including David Beckham.

“There is a lot of space, a lot of nature,” says coach René Meulensteen, who worked at United for many years, including as an assistant under Ferguson. The club encouraged him to search on the southern edge of Manchester when he started in 2001. Almost every club now employs someone who helps with player housing and contacts agents.

Meulensteen chose Wilmslow – together with nearby Alderley Edge and Prestbury, also known as the ‘Golden Triangle’ or the ‘Footballer Belt’. United striker Marcus Rashford lives “a few blocks away”. Meulensteen never moved again.

Security cameras at a mansion in Broadwaywith an average house price of €3.8 million, the most expensive street in Hale and the whole of North West England.
Photo Joel Goodman


A security company patrols Brooks Drivea ‘private street’ in Hale Barns where this sign says you are not allowed to walk or cycle. Many homes in Hale are becoming secured by a commercial company.

Photos: Joel Goodman

Meulensteen often goes out for long walks in the neighborhood with his golden retriever. “You can choose a different route every day, with beautiful walking areas, landscapes, beautiful villages.” Another plus is that schools in the region are “very good,” says Shahlavi. Many players continued to live there after their careers, including former United captain Roy Keane, who has a villa in Hale.

Is this the Beverly Hills of top football? “Yes, you can certainly draw parallels,” says Shahlavi. “Even though we don’t have palm trees.” And the weather isn’t always good either.

Tinted car windows

Hale is strategically located. Almost within walking distance of Manchester International Airport – but out of sight and hearing of the runways’ flight paths. The stadiums and training centers of United and City are about half an hour’s drive away, provided traffic is good. To Liverpool it is – for Slot and captain Virgil van Dijk – a drive of about fifty minutes. Pleasant for the (many) Dutch players, trainers and staff members in the region: there are about twenty flights per day between Schiphol and Manchester Airport.

In recent decades, the Premier League grew into the richest league in the world with a turnover of around 7 billion euros. This capital strength is reflected in the streetscape of Hale. In the entertainment and shopping street Ashley Road it is easy for car spotters to score – a Bentley, Porsche or McLaren is never far away. The downside is that owners are difficult to recognize due to the tinted windows.

Real estate agencies dominate Ashley Road, the main street in Hale.

Photos: Joel Goodman

Real estate agencies dominate the street, next to hip restaurants, coffee shops, boutiques and hairdressers. “There are too many of us,” chuckles real estate agent Jackie Atkins of Hale Homes. “Many of the normal clothing stores have disappeared.” This development is not only due to the arrival of rich football players, she thinks. “They certainly bring money, but it was already a prosperous environment. Places change, now there are wine bars.”

Football players disappear here into the anonymity of everyday life – away from their existence in the spotlight. In the bubble of prosperity, the rich feel comfortable among each other, says Shahlavi. “If they drive onto the main street with a Lamborghini, they don’t necessarily stand out. For us that is normal in this village.” Although it could be otherwise, Ten Hag rode his electric bicycle undisturbed.

The rent that football players pay is roughly between 25,000 and 35,000 euros per month

The financial growth of the Premier League is driving the local housing market, notes Shahlavi, who focuses on the higher segment. Where in the past only the two or three highest-paid players at a club could afford an expensive home, substitutes and young talents can now do so too. The rise of Manchester City, with oil money from Abu Dhabi, reinforces this development. Shahlavi: “We have had players who signed for the purchase of their home at the age of eighteen.”

Most players and coaches opt to rent, says Shahlavi. This is more practical for foreigners. And due to the capriciousness of football, they sometimes have to move again quickly.

Moreover, purchasing a short-term stay can be unfavorable from a tax perspective: if you purchase a multi-million dollar villa, you can easily spend a few hundred thousand euros in property taxes. The rent that footballers usually pay, Shahlavi sees, is roughly between 25,000 and 35,000 euros per month.

A fine is issued for an illegally parked vehicle Bentley on Hale’s main street.
Photo Joel Goodman

Burglary wave

A growing cost item is security. It is no coincidence that the neighbor of Shahlavi’s real estate office is Benchmark Security. Inside, employees stare at large screens with surveillance images, outside their company cars with logo appear everywhere. Attention to security has increased after a wave of burglaries a few years ago, in which the homes of footballers in particular were robbed.

At the beginning of 2022, Dutchman Tahith Chong, at the time under contract with Manchester United, had a knife put to his throat by criminals who stole jewelry, watches and designer bags, according to English media. Other victims included Kevin De Bruyne, Paul Pogba, Victor Lindelöf and their families. Players have been advised by their clubs not to post holiday photos on social media until they return home.

There is often extra security around the house when players are away for an away match. Homes are equipped with a panic room or safe rooma safe shelter with secure lines so that the police can be called. Also commonly used geofencingan invisible, virtual fence that monitors the home with the help of cameras and motion sensors. Some footballers opt for more traditional methods and hire former soldiers from Britain’s elite SAS unit.

The high level of security in the area makes Hale and the surrounding area suitable for football players, says Shahlavi. The measures appear almost systematic, with high fences, surveillance cameras and many commercial security companies. “It is very important for them,” says Shahlavi. “It makes football players feel more comfortable”

Meulensteen has his doubts about that. He doesn’t get a good feeling about the heavy security – but he did see the environment changing in that regard. “If you have to go behind that fence every time to feel safe, and have little contact with neighbors, that’s not all,” he says. “You become a bit of a prisoner of your own fame and wealth.”




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