David Hinchliffe

With decades of experience advising football clubs, David is renowned as one of the best in the field. He acts for a host of Premier League and EFL football clubs on all manner of legal issues. David has completed more than 60 football M&A transactions – which amounts to a large proportion of the club sale market in the English Premier League (EPL) and English Football League – and has been involved in the most complex issues in football since the early days of the English Premier League.

“My work can cover anything that comes up in the football industry and no two days are the same. I act for a wide variety of professional football clubs, and daily I can find myself working on anything from corporate M&A of football franchises, to high profile litigation to complex regulatory issues within football.

Alongside decades of experience, I am proud of the network I have made in the football industry. I enjoy building and maintaining excellent relationships with clients and my lifelong friendship with my clients is one of my proudest achievements. I often act for them from the moment they buy the football club all the way up until the moment they dispose of their ownership interest. Over those years, I’m generally a member of their Kitchen Cabinet, and there for them for any and every issue that arises. My working style is client facing and “full-on”. This is both the nature of the industry and a reflection of the passion I have for helping my clients identify the best possible strategy and solutions for them.

I find a commercial and results driven approach works best in our industry. And I appreciate that when circumstances change – as they often do in football – the strategy needs to change and I adapt my advice accordingly.

As anybody working in the football industry will know, its dynamic nature means that no two days are the same, and I’m often presented with a challenge that the industry hasn’t previously encountered. Solving these unique and complex problems that arise in football is the most rewarding part of my job.

I predominantly work on litigation and regulatory issues within football and corporate M&A of sports franchises, although my work can cover anything at all that comes up in the industry for professional football clubs.”