Women's football boss must sell £7million Primrose Hill home to settle divorce bill with Bitcoin millionaire ex-husband

Published: 15:40, 24 July 2026 | Updated: 15:46, 24 July 2026 The former boss of London City Lionesses is being forced to sell her London mansion in order to raise enough money to settle a divorce bill with her Bitcoin millionaire ex-husband, Court of Appeal judges ruled. Diane Rosemin-Culligan, 65, and her financier ex-partner Anthony Culligan lived an opulent life funded by his Bitcoin fortune after he turned a £10,000 crypto purse into £20million over five years. Ms Rosemin-Culligan founded Women's Championship football side London City Lionesses after it broke away from Millwall FC - until she sold the team to a US businesswoman after the players begged her to find investment or sell up.  The couple shared the nine-bed home with seven bathrooms and a home cinema, in Primrose Hill, north London, which Ms Rosemin-Culligan won in the divorce court fight in March 2025.  During which, Ms Rosemin-Culligan and Mr Culligan were told they must divide their assets equally following their marriage of around 40 years.  Their joint £27million net worth was divided between them, with the Bitcoin mastermind taking a higher percentage of the value of shares in his company while his ex-wife kept the house.  However, following an appeal by Mr Culligan, the share of money was redistributed, with the total amount remaining equal. At a hearing in April, the ex-husband argued the previous order was weighted against him, given he shouldered a larger risk due to his portion being dependent on shares in Colendi Holdings Limited.  Diane Rosemin-Culligan was chair of the London City Lionesses after they broke away from Millwall FC Anthony Culligan is a computer programmer turned cryptocurrency entrepreneur who turned a £10,000 Bitcoin investment into £20million over five years The previous judge, Mr Justice MacDonald, justified it by saying Mr Culligan did not tell his then-wife about the sale of SETL Limited, of which he owned 46 per cent. This represented around half of the couple's joint assets, therefore, the judge ruled, this means he should take on the greater risk. However, this decision was overturned on Friday - as Lord Justice Moylan, sitting with Lord Justice Coulson and Lord Justice Arnold, deemed it wrong for a decision to be based on this.  He said the sale 'would have taken place in any event' because SETL was running out of money, and therefore 'the absence of consultation was not relevant for the purposes of determining how the Colendi shares should be distributed'. To redress this, the judges ordered that the value of the Colendi shares be split equally between the couple, which is to be balanced by Ms Rosemin-Culligan selling the house and giving 40.4 per cent of the proceeds to her ex-husband. The couple met in 1982 and began living together in 1985 before marrying while living in Japan in 1992, having three children. While there is a dispute as to when the relationship ended, with Mr Culligan saying September 2020 and Ms Rosemin-Culligan saying April 2022, their wealth was made during their marriage, Lord Justice Moylan said. A 'significant source' of this came from a Bitcoin investment Mr Culligan made in 2012, when he bought £10,000 worth of the cryptocurrency and saw its value increase to £20million by 2017. Mrs Rosemin-Culligan sold the London City Lionesses in 2023 after players sent her an email begging her to find new investment or a new owner This was used to fund their companies and living expenses, the renovation of their home and the purchase of a house for Mr Culligan in the US. The Culligans split in acrimonious circumstances in 2020, with Mrs Rosemin-Culligan blaming her ex for walking out on the marriage without explanation. Crypto millionaire Mr Culligan, on the other hand - whose firm, SETL, had sponsored the London City Lionesses - blamed 'tensions' surrounding a costly renovation of their house and his wife's 'overbearing' and 'irrational' behaviour for the split. They bought their home in Primrose Hill, one of the capital's most desirable neighbourhoods, the following year. They began a renovation of the house in 2018, eventually costing £2.1million, which Mr Culligan claimed led to the breakdown of their marriage. He also cited her 'overbearing approach,' saying she had twice physically restrained him from leaving when he had tried to walk out. However, Mrs Rosemin-Culligan blamed him for the split, claiming he had 'walked out of the marriage without explanation,' which she claimed left her needing counselling. The family's wealth derived - alongside the Bitcoin fortune - from a payout Mr Culligan received following a business dispute, which was ploughed into a lucrative buy-to-let portfolio. Mr Culligan used the cryptocurrency to fund their business interests and 'living expenses', as well as the renovation of the Primrose Hill house and the acquisition of US property. It was around this time that Mrs Rosemin-Culligan played a key role in disentangling the Millwall women's team from the men's team, rebranding them as London City Lionesses and appointing herself chair. In 2019, the couple set up a company, with Mrs Rosemin-Culligan as the sole shareholder, which was used to purchase the Lionesses, with her husband becoming a director. However, the club was then sold in 2023, with Mrs Rosemin-Culligan to continue on as a £750,000-a-year consultant for four years.