In this edition, we focus on: (i) key considerations during the summer transfer window; (ii) key takeaways from the PGMOL v HMRC case; (iii) new powers under the Football Governance Act 2025; (iv) updates on the new Ticket Tout Ban Bill and Sporting Events Bill; (v) Player Discovery; (vi) updates on the Home Office’s ‘SOC’ coding issues; and (vii) FIFA’s Club Protection Programme.
Read the full edition here
Centrefield Law, in collaboration with Heligan Strategic Advisory, provides specialist due diligence to support player recruitment decisions before contracts are signed. Designed for clubs operating in high-pressure, high-value environments, the service helps identify hidden risk, strengthen internal decision-making and protect long-term value.
We go beyond the traditional due diligence to build a clearer picture of the individual behind the player.
Background intelligence investigations
Identifying criminal, civil and reputational exposure.
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Affiliation and network analysis
Understanding relationships, associations and (potential influence.
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Digital and open-source intelligence
Analysing online presence, sentiment and (emerging concerns.
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Legal and strategic interpretation
Providing clubs with a clearer framework for risk (mitigation and decision-making.
This is not a standard background check. It is an intelligence-led approach that combines specialist investigative capability with legally informed interpretation. Heligan Strategic Advisory brings evidence-led intelligence, digital investigation and discreet enquiry. Centrefield Law provides legal expertise, contextual interpretation and practical guidance on risk. Together, the partnership gives clubs a more robust and defensible basis for recruitment decisions.
Download a concise overview of the service here
If you would like to discuss player recruitment due diligence please get in touch with our team who will be happy to advise you further.
info@centrefieldlaw.co.uk
Centrefield, the specialist sport and media boutique, has announced the promotion of Oliver Sadler, Sarah Athi and Phil Bonner to Partner, marking a significant milestone in the firm’s continued growth.
Oliver and Sarah have been with Centrefield since its inception in 2015 and Phil joined shortly afterwards in 2017.
Each of the newly promoted Partners is widely recognised as an expert in their respective practice areas – Oliver (commercial/transactions), Sarah (immigration) and Phil (disputes/regulatory investigations).
With these promotions, Centrefield now has seven Partners and a total team of 30, reflecting the firm’s sustained growth and strengthening market position.
The summer transfer window of 2025 saw record spending by England’s Premier League clubs and significant levels of activity across all levels of domestic and international football.
The Centrefield team continues to lead the way in this unprecedented level of transfer activity, advising clubs, agents and players in the UK and beyond on transactions:
We continue to be at the forefront of all developments and trends in the transfer market (both domestically and internationally) with the levels of sophistication, complexity and negotiation over player transfers/loans, playing contracts and representation arrangements continuing to increase and evolve.
For any enquiries in respect of any transfer windows which remain still open or ahead of the January 2026 mid-season transfer window, then please contact us for more information: info@centrefield.law
As part of the ongoing growth of the firm and following our first trainee recruit in 2024, Centrefield is delighted to announce that applications for its graduate recruitment programme for aspiring solicitors will reopen on 1 August 2025. The successful applicant(s) will have the opportunity to work with and learn from some of the most experienced and well-respected sport and media lawyers in a collaborative environment and gain exposure to a range of practice areas, including player/athlete contracts and transfers, dispute resolution, commercial, regulatory and governance, disciplinary and integrity, employment and immigration work.
We are delighted to have won ‘TMT Firm of the Year’ at the ‘Legal 500 Northern Powerhouse Awards’ in Manchester last night.
Next month, the law on preventing sexual harassment in the workplace will be changing. With sexual harassment remaining a prevalent issue across all industries, including within sport in general and football in particular, the new Worker Protection (Amendment of Equality Act 2010) Act 2023 (the “Act”), which comes into force on 26 October 2024, introduces a new duty on employers to take “reasonable steps” to prevent sexual harassment of their employees in the course of their employment – whether perpetrated by colleagues, or by any third party (e.g. suppliers or customers). Although taking reasonable steps to prevent sexual harassment is already good practice (and, from a legal perspective, is important for a host of other, existing legal duties for employers), the Act will impose a higher bar for employers to act proactively to reduce the risks of sexual harassment occurring, with the potential for significant compensation if they fail in this duty.
The summer transfer window of 2024 saw a record breaking level of activity with FIFA reporting that over 12,000 international transfers occurred across the men’s and women’s professional game. The value of these transfers reached over $6.45 billion on transfer fees in men’s football, the second highest figure ever recorded, whilst women’s football’s record outlay of $6.8 million worth of transfer fees worldwide was over double the value of the 2023 summer transfer window.
After the developments over the festive period/new year in relation to the implementation of the FIFA Football Agent Regulations (and associated National Football Agent Regulations) and the uncertainty that has ensued, the Centrefield Toolkit remains available to club, agent and player clients, in order to provide some clarity and advice on the position for the January window and beyond.
The summer 2023 football transfer window was a record breaking one for football, with FIFA reporting that over 10,000 transfers were completed in men’s football (with total transfer fees over US$7 billion) and over 800 transfers in women’s football that were collectively worth over US$3 million.