Footie star Darren nets fortune

Former footballer Darren Bradley is making his fortune building underground garages for the rich and famous.

reports.

His days of living out his boyhood dreams in front of thousands of screaming fans at The Hawthorns may be well behind him.But after hanging up his boots and swapping his shorts for a sharp suit, former Villa, Walsall and West Bromwich Albion player Darren Bradley has made the transition from soccer star to businessman look easy.

The 41-year-old is one of the masterminds behind Intergarage - an exciting new company which creates special underground garages for the country's richest families.

Since its launch six years ago Darren and his business partner are now enjoying massive success and have accumulated a celebrity clientele, including actors, singers and top businessmen. Of course, privacy is everything for Darren's clients so, being a true professional, he will not reveal exactly who he has worked with.

They have a factory in Redditch and charge more than £80,000 to build one of their innovative creations.

Darren, who lives with his wife Annette and daughters Kacie, aged 18, and 16-year-old Rosie in Kings Heath, says he was loving being his own boss.

He enjoyed an illustrious 14-year career in football, including a nine-year spell at West Brom where he was part of the play-off winning squad which beat Port Vale 3-0 in 1993.

One of his other career highlights was smashing a 30-yard screamer into the back of the net during the team's 3-2 win over rivals Wolves in the same year.

But after his football career came to an end at Walsall in 1997, the determined star was determined not just to sit back and relax.

"I did a few jobs, including selling golf clubs and some other things and then this opportunity came up and it gave me chance to be my own boss."

The unique idea to create underground garages came after friend Paul Bates complained that he had nowhere to park his two cars outside his house.

The pair soon got to the drawing board and came up with the innovative scheme.

Darren says: "We started the whole thing up around six years ago. Going back it seems like an age ago.

"The first few years were mainly about getting the concept just right and making sure that we could put it into practice.

"We initially thought it was a space-saving idea because there were lots of people who couldn't park their cars outside their houses.

"One person has had one built so he can store his collection of vintage cars. It is now just as much about the extra security it can bring, and also having a garage like this on your house can add so much to the value of the property.

"We have a base in Redditch but at the moment most of the work we carry out is in London. Over the past year it has really started to take off and we have got in a whole new team of people to keep it expanding all the time."

He says that "Of course I miss football but the feelings I get from doing this are as close to the buzz that I got from playing that I think you can get.

"There have been ups and downs but being able to take something that didn't exist and then make it happen has given me a real sense of achievement."