The EFL & LawInSport give 30+ EFL Clubs access to legal resource & community

Press release - 30 May 2022

Earlier this year, the EFL and LawInSport jointly launched an innovative initiative to support EFL Clubs and to help them prepare for future success both on and off the pitch. 

The EFL, through its own Corporate Membership to LawInSport, the world's leading sport law educational platform and community, has extended its membership to 30 EFL Clubs without an in-house legal function that have opted-in to the scheme.

The intention of the scheme is to help people in clubs without legal training to be aware, understand and address important legal issues at their clubs.  The 30 EFL clubs that have signed up now have access to LawInSport’s educational materials, a global legal and sports community and practical support. 

This gives the EFL access to resources used by some of the largest international federations, leagues, Premier League and Champions Leagues clubs, and the leading sports lawyers and their firms across the world. 

Clubs will also benefit from continuous support throughout the year, to ensure they are getting the most out of their membership, and receive practical advice including, but not limited to, help with:

1. Becoming sophisticated purchasers of legal services;
2. Finding out how to contact and network with lawyers (in law firms and barristers chambers, as well as in-house within football) who can best suit  specific needs and/or assist in setting up an in-house legal team;
3. Building more diverse networks that will be beneficial to the club;
4. Educating staff and players on key legal issues.

Nick Craig, Chief Operating Officer, EFL said “We’re pleased to have reached an agreement to become a corporate member of the LawInSport website, which in turn provides a potentially valuable resource for all EFL Clubs on a variety of different topics.

The agreement will see EFL Clubs who do not have an in-house legal function given access to peer-reviewed articles and webinars including Football Law and Annual conferences to assist them in raising awareness and understanding of legal and regulatory issues within football.”

LawInSport’s CEO & Co-Founder, Sean Cottrell: “It is a privilege for LawInSport to be in a position to help and support The EFL and its clubs to be better prepared to face the increasingly complex legal and regulatory aspects involved in running a club successfully. 

The EFL and its clubs do amazing work across football and in their communities, whilst being often being under-resourced to deal with the breadth and complexity of the issues that arise on a day to day basis.

The idea behind the scheme is to empower and enable people at these clubs to increase their legal knowledge and understanding so they can be better placed to bring success on and off the pitch across all the work their clubs are doing. Being part of the LawInSport community will help them to identify important areas across the clubs and benefit from developing diverse and professional networks that can support them in their work.

It is going to be exciting to see the impact this will have over the course of the next year,  and I would like to thank Nick Craig, his team at the EFL for embracing this innovative way to help their member clubs".

Monday, 30 May 2022