IT is the jetset lifestyle young lads dream of – playing football for a Premiership club, with the adulation, the cash and the WAGS that come with soccer success.

But behind the glitz, the glamour and the glory hides a dark picture of former players in debt, destitution and dire straits, many of them turning to crime to make ends meet.

We can reveal that more than 120 stars ditched by their clubs are currently behind bars, serving time for offences including drug dealing, assault, car theft and shoplifting.

And that is just the tip of an alarming iceberg.

Many are suffering from depression, alcoholism and drug abuse. Others, like former Aston Villa star Lee Hendrie, have been declared bankrupt such has been their fall from fame.

Former Birmingham City and Stoke City full-back Geoff Scott, 55, is the Chief Executive of Xpro, a charity set up to help footballers who have fallen on hard times since they have left the game.

And he says his office is taking as many as FOUR HUNDRED calls a month from ex-players desperate for help.

“At the moment we are dealing with 122 former footballers who are in prison,” said Geoff. “Five of them used to play for Midland clubs such as Aston Villa, Coventry City and Stoke City.

“They have been jailed for crimes ranging from drug dealing to car theft, and GBH to shoplifting.

“What we are finding, particularly with the younger ones, is that a life of crime is the only way they feel they can maintain the lifestyle football once gave them. It is a truly shocking situation and it is only going to get worse.

“These are not public schoolboys we are dealing with here. These are inner-city kids who do not get good advice and make bad choices, especially when their clubs drop them.”

Geoff, who has headed up Xpro since the death of Wolves legend Derek Dougan four years ago, blames the fact that the once beautiful game is now awash in a sea of money.