TWO brothers whose sports careers were brutally cut short have told how they took on Nike – and are now worth £334 million.
Tom and Phil Beahon started Castore sportswear in their family’s kitchen and made extraordinary sacrifices to make it a success.
Now valued at £1 billion – with the boys owning a third of that – they count Newcastle United, Aston Villa and England Cricket as clients.
Tom, 34, told The Times: “At 17 I was signed to Tranmere Rovers, so while other lads were getting girlfriends and going to the pub, I went into tunnel vision mode.
“Then one day I was called into the office and told they were letting me go.
“At 20 I went to Spain, had a go in the lower leagues, and two years later the same thing happened.”
Tom’s rejection saw him move to London and get a finance job before brother Phil – who played cricket for Lancashire – joined him.
The pair would get up at 5am everyday to discuss what they would do with their lives before deciding to break into the sports clothing market.
Thinking they were onto something, they moved home to the Wirral, Merseyside, and got to work at their parents’ kitchen table.
Their first items included two t-shirts, shorts, a jacket and trousers designed by Phil’s school pal who is now chief designer.
But the early years were marred with with extraordinary sacrifices.
The lads’ parents remortgaged the house and Phil’s partner Sophie gave up everything to pay his rent for two years.
Business then snowballed and the boys moved to offices in Liverpool before landing a “seismic” partnership with tennis icon Andy Murray in 2019.
Phil says: “Six years ago if you’d told me that Castore would have a turnover of £250 million, I’d have laughed.”
Their wealth has landed them at number 11 on The Sunday Times’ under-40 Rich List.
THE Rich List of Britain’s wealthiest people is out today.
Each year Sunday Times Rich List compiler Robert Watts charts the ups and downs of the Brits with the biggest bank accounts.
This year it includes several famous sportsmen such as Sir Lewis Hamilton, Rory McIlroy and Harry Kane.
F1 ace Hamilton hit the list with £350 million to his name.
While golf Icon Rory McIlroy has been revealed to have a net worth of a mega £225million.
Chelsea star Raheem Sterling is worth £72 million while England teammate Harry Kane tips him at £75 million.
Tom admits it’s a far cry from the day someone told him he was “on the scrapheap” – but that only made him hungrier for success.
As well as England’s cricketers and the Toon, the lads boast McLaren and Bundesliga champs Bayer Leverkusen in the Castore stable.
Phil says they have no plans on stopping there, and are even eyeing up Nike and Adidas to challenge on the global stage.
He added: “People have seen the hoo-ha with the new Nike England shirt and they’re rightly asking why we don’t have an English company supplying the national team. Give us a call.”
