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Sport has the power to lift us up and set us free. To unite us and sustain us.

We are passionate about offering a tailored and complete legal service to clients across the sports industry.

Our team of lawyers not only have specialist sports law experience but we also have multiple team members who are former sports professionals or are current elite amateurs. Our team includes former and current international medallists on the world stage and those who have competed at World Championships, Commonwealth and Olympic Games.

Who our sports lawyers help

Our team has extensive sports law experience across the board when it comes to supporting:

  • Teams and their Owners
  • Players and athletes
  • NGBs
  • Leagues and Competitions
  • Sponsors and Commercial Partners
  • Agents and Intermediaries
  • Educational Institutions and Charities

As well as specialist sports law advice, we have hundreds of lawyers across numerous complementary legal services.  This allows us to offer a full spectrum of assistance to sports stakeholders on a day to day basis, whatever issue they are facing.

Unique Experience and Contacts

We have sports lawyers with strong relationships with key individuals and decision makers within multiple professional sports.  They also have strong links with the best specialist sports law Counsel who regularly work for and against those same decision makers.

Our personal contacts with key individuals within sports can make all the difference in resolving issues and progressing transactions.

Our teams’ backgrounds place us in an excellent position to understand the unique needs and pressures of navigating the world of top level sport. We realise that in such a fast moving environment, you need experienced advisers who can help remove stressful distractions and allow you or your organisation to focus on producing at the highest level.

In Football

We have particularly strong relationships within the world of professional football.  Our team has experience acting for multiple football clubs in every professional division from the Premier League, Championship, League 1, League 2 and Vanarama National League.  They have also represented the Premier League itself and worked alongside counterparts within UEFA and FIFA.

Service and Approach

We understand the power of sport – to bring people together, to enhance communities, to improve health and wellbeing – as well as its vast commercial potential. This understanding and love of sport drives our team’s passion to provide a top tier highly responsive and tailored service to our sports sector clients.

Key sports covered
  • Football
  • Cricket
  • Rugby
  • Tennis
  • Athletics
  • Boxing
  • Weightlifting
  • Mixed Martial Arts
  • Motor Racing
  • Golf
  • Cycling
  • Ice Hockey
  • Sailing
  • Canoeing
Work of our Sports Lawyers

Our sports law team has worked across the full range of sports law issues such as:

  • Regulatory and Governance advice.
  • Contract negotiation and related Employment and Immigration law advice.
  • Day to day advice to in house sports lawyers.
  • Sports Arbitrations and Litigation.
  • Disciplinary, selection policy/decisions and drug testing.
  • Safeguarding and child protection.
  • Internal investigations in relation to complaints/allegations relating to discrimination, abuse and corruption.
  • Sponsorship Agreements.
  • Protection of Image Rights.
  • Enhancement and protection of commercial, intellectual property and technology rights.

Contact a specialist

Ian McCombie

Partner | Commercial Litigation

+44 (0) 330 137 3316

+44 (0)7720 295 270

Email Ian McCombie

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Paul Scope

Partner | Employment

+44 (0) 330 137 3167

+44 (0)754 055 6295

Email Paul Scope

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Matthew Cormack

Partner | Commercial

+44 (0) 330 137 3412

+44 (0)773 846 2586

Email Matthew Cormack

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Phil Edmondson

Managing Associate | Commercial Litigation

+44 (0) 330 137 3330

+44 (0) 789 498 7648

Email Phil

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What people say

  • Phil was recommended to us when we had issues with a sports body. He was very clear, personable and knowledgeable about a range of issues. Phil always presented a variety of options and the potential effect - this enabled us to have an idea of costs and exactly which actions to take. We felt he cared about us as clients and was both realistic and reassuring throughout.

    Lisa Houghton-Smith (Muay Thai Double World Champion) and Richard Smith (European Champion and coach to 10 world champions). Bad Company Gym.
  • Having served as an active Non-Executive Director of British Weightlifting since July 2020, I have found Phil to be an integral part of the leadership team through his invaluable legal counsel on commercial and sports litigation and sports regulations. Phil prides himself on his attention to detail and his overall professionalism. At the same time, his ethics are beyond reproach.

    Matthew Curtain, Chief Executive Officer, British Weightlifting
  • Phil has helped us and Leeds United for several years, with issues large and small. He is really passionate about his work and this shines through in how he cares for our interests and his strategic guidance. Phil just gets what is needed for players and Clubs in the difficult world of football.

    Kalvin Phillips, Midfielder for Manchester City & England
  • I had the opportunity to work with Phil on a novel issue involving claims among professional sports teams. As an owner of one of the teams and a long-term litigator in the US, I really appreciated his ability to understand the goals, identify the issues, and work together to develop a successful plan that produced an excellent result for my company. While I hope to have no further sports litigation issues, if I do, Phil will be my first call.

    Rob Couhig, Chairman, Wycombe Wanderers Football Club

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