Skip to main content
Disciplines
Automotive Business IT + Informatics Construction + Real Estate Electrical Engineering + Electronics Energy + Sustainability Insurance + Risk Finance + Banking Management + Leadership Marketing + Sales Mechanical Engineering + Materials
Events
DE
EN
Books
Journals
Topic Page
Marketing
Start single access now
Access for companies
EXTENDED SEARCH
Log in
Top
Published in:
Introduction Read chapter Read first chapter

2017 | OriginalPaper | Chapter

8. The Premier League

Author : Leanne O’Leary

Published in: Employment and Labour Relations Law in the Premier League, NBA and International Rugby Union

Publisher: T.M.C. Asser Press

Log in

Activate our intelligent search to find suitable subject content or patents.

search-config
loading …

Abstract

A professional player in the Premier League is an employee of a Premier League club and the employment relationship is governed by national law, the terms of the Standard Players’ Contract, various collective agreements and the Football Association (FA) Rules and Premier League Rules. Collective bargaining occurs in the Premier League in the forum provided by the Professional Football Negotiating and Consultative Committee (PFNCC) and in the context of labour relations law generally in the United Kingdom. This chapter discusses the PFNCC’s role in the industry and how it has contributed to stable labour relations. It canvasses the content of the Standard Players’ Contract and discusses those rules that apply to the movement of players, wage regulation and the eligibility of a player to participate in the competition. Employment law, the football regulatory framework, the economic conditions of the labour market and the bargaining power of the parties influence the final form of employment arrangements in the competition.

Dont have a licence yet? Then find out more about our products and how to get one now:

Springer Professional "Wirtschaft+Technik"

Online-Abonnement

Mit Springer Professional "Wirtschaft+Technik" erhalten Sie Zugriff auf:

  • über 102.000 Bücher
  • über 537 Zeitschriften

aus folgenden Fachgebieten:

  • Automobil + Motoren
  • Bauwesen + Immobilien
  • Business IT + Informatik
  • Elektrotechnik + Elektronik
  • Energie + Nachhaltigkeit
  • Finance + Banking
  • Management + Führung
  • Marketing + Vertrieb
  • Maschinenbau + Werkstoffe
  • Versicherung + Risiko

Jetzt Wissensvorsprung sichern!

inform now

Springer Professional "Wirtschaft"

Online-Abonnement

Mit Springer Professional "Wirtschaft" erhalten Sie Zugriff auf:

  • über 67.000 Bücher
  • über 340 Zeitschriften

aus folgenden Fachgebieten:

  • Bauwesen + Immobilien
  • Business IT + Informatik
  • Finance + Banking
  • Management + Führung
  • Marketing + Vertrieb
  • Versicherung + Risiko




Jetzt Wissensvorsprung sichern!

inform now
previous chapter Federal Labour Law in the USA and Professional Sport
next chapter The National Basketball Association
Footnotes
1
See Sect. 4.​3, supra.
 
2
The PFA, Age. www.​thePFA.​com/​equalities/​age. Accessed 31 July 2016.
 
3
See generally Katz 1993, pp. 3–22 and van Wanrooy et al. 2011 Workplace Relations Study: First Findings available at www.​wers2011.​info.
 
4
This book focuses on the employment relationship in the Premier League and no further reference will be made to the Football League (which encompasses the professional and semi-professional divisions below the Premier League) or Football League players who are also included in collective bargaining and represented in the PFNCC.
 
5
For a historical account of the PFNCC see Sect. 2.​2, supra.
 
6
Constitution of the Professional Football Negotiating and Consultative Committee (England and Wales) (PFNCC Constitution), cl 2.
 
7
PFNCC Constitution, cl 3–8.
 
8
PFNCC Constitution, cl 10(c).
 
9
See also Sects. 4.​3.​1 and 4.​3.​1.​1, supra.
 
10
See Sects. 4.​3.​1.​1 and 4.​3.​1.​2, supra.
 
11
PFNCC Constitution, cl 4(a).
 
12
PFNCC Constitution, cl 4(b).
 
13
Personal interview with the Football Association 3 April 2014, Manchester (FA interview).
 
14
FA interview.
 
15
PFNCC Constitution, cl 4(a).
 
16
Personal interview with the PFA 13 December 2013, Manchester (PFA interview).
 
17
The terms of this agreement are commercially sensitive and not available publicly.
 
18
See also Sect. 4.​3.​1.​2, supra.
 
19
FA interview.
 
20
FA interview.
 
21
For a discussion of the FA governance structure, see Sect. 3.​2.​5.​1, supra.
 
22
See Sect. 2.​2, supra.
 
23
Ibid.
 
24
FA interview, PFA interview and telephone interview with the Premier League 30 May 2014 (PL interview).
 
25
See Sect. 1.​5, supra.
 
26
FA interview, PFA interview and PL interview.
 
27
A copy of the Standard Players’ Contract can be found in the Premier League Handbook, Form 26, which is available on line at www.​premierleague.​com. The contract also serves as the statement of particulars which an employer is required to provide an employee under s 1 of the Employment Rights Act (ERA) 1996.
 
28
For a discussion of image rights contracts see Sect. 8.​7.​2, infra.
 
29
PFA interview.
 
30
See Sect. 8.​7.​2, infra.
 
31
See England and Wales Cricket Board Ltd v Kaneria [2013] EWHC 1074 (Ch) for the criteria to apply for determining whether a dispute resolution procedure in sport is arbitral, applied in Bruce Baker v The British Boxing Board of Control [2015] EWHC 2469 (Ch).
 
32
Bradley v The Jockey Club [2005] EWCA 1056 (CA).
 
33
Premier League Rules 2015/2016 (PL Rules).
 
34
PL Rules, ss T.27–T.37.
 
35
See for example ERA 1996, ss 110 and 203.
 
36
Standard Players’ Contract, cl 18.
 
37
Standard Players’ Contract, cl 18.
 
38
Standard Players’ Contract, cl 17.
 
39
Claudia Pechstein v Switzerland (Application No. 67474), currently awaiting consideration by the ECtHR.
 
40
See the National Minimum Wage Act 1998 and associated regulations.
 
41
PL interview.
 
42
PFA interview.
 
43
PFA interview.
 
44
PFA interview.
 
45
Johnston v Cliftonville Football & Athletic Club Ltd and Anor [1984] NI 9. See also Sect. 4.​4, supra.
 
46
Ibid.
 
47
See Sect. 6.​2.​1.​1, supra. See also O’Leary 2008 and Lindholm 2011.
 
48
FA interview.
 
49
TULRCA, s 178(2).
 
50
See Sects. 6.​2.​1 and 6.​2.​1.​1, supra.
 
51
Culture, Media and Sport Committee Inquiry Into Football Governance 2011, para 66.
 
52
Culture, Media and Sport Committee Inquiry Into Football Governance 2011.
 
53
Culture, Media and Sport Committee Inquiry Into Football Governance 2011, para 73.
 
54
The Insolvency Act 1986 and The Enterprise Act 2002 govern insolvency proceedings in the United Kingdom.
 
55
Culture, Media and Sport Committee Inquiry Into Football Governance 2011, para 79.
 
56
PL interview.
 
57
PL Rules, s E–J.
 
58
PL Rules, s E.52–E.60.
 
59
PL Rules, s E.15 and s W.
 
60
PL interview.
 
61
PL Rules, s E.59.
 
62
PL Rules, ss E.59.2, E.15 and s W.
 
63
PL Rules, s E.20.
 
64
PL Rules, s E.19.2.
 
65
PL Rules, s A.1.35.
 
66
Deloitte 2015. The UEFA Financial Fair Play Rules are financial regulations introduced by UEFA that apply to its professional club competitions: see UEFA Club Licensing and Financial Fair Play Regulations (2015 edition).
 
67
Deloitte 2015, p. 9.
 
68
Ibid.
 
69
Deloitte 2015, p. 12.
 
70
Ibid.
 
71
Deloitte 2016, p. 18.
 
72
PFNCC Constitution, cl 4(a).
 
73
PFA interview. See also Sect. 8.​2.​2, supra.
 
74
See Sect. 9.​4, infra.
 
75
Standard Players’ Contract, cl 11.
 
76
Standard Players’ Contract, Sch 1.
 
77
See Sect. 8.​5.​2, infra.
 
78
See Nichols Advance Vehicle Systems v De Angelis (unreported, 21 December 1979, Chancery Division) in which the High Court refused to issue an injunction preventing a professional racing driver driving for a competitor because the effect of doing so was to compel specific performance of the original contract or compel the driver to give up a career for a period of time. See also Warren v Mendy [1989] 1 WLR 853 (CA) in which the Court declined to grant an injunction to restrain a professional boxer from entering a contract with a rival promoter on the basis that the injunction would compel specific performance of the original contract.
 
79
PL Rules, s T.38.
 
80
FA Rules 2015/2016 (FA Rules), s 1 C(b)(ii).
 
81
FA Rules, s 1 C(i).
 
82
FA Rules, s 1 C(e).
 
83
FA Rules, s 1 C(g)(i).
 
84
FA Rules, s 1 C(g)(v).
 
85
FA interview.
 
86
PL Rules, s T (players), s U (registrations) and s V (transfers of registrations).
 
87
PL Rules, s V.1.
 
88
PL Rules, s V.2.
 
89
PL Rules, s V.26.
 
90
PL Rules, s A.1.48.
 
91
See PL Rules, s V and the Premier League Youth Development Rules that are annexed to the PL Rules.
 
92
PL Rules, r V.38–V.40.
 
93
KEA 2013, p. 144.
 
94
Ibid.
 
95
Ibid.
 
96
Deloitte 2015, p. 12.
 
97
PL interview.
 
98
Ibid.
 
99
See Sect. 2.​2, supra.
 
100
European Commission Press Release (5 October 2015) Antitrust: Commission Opens Formal Investigation Into International Skating Union’s Eligibility Rules, available on the European Commission’s competition website under case number 40208.
 
101
The version in effect at the time of writing is the Regulations on the Status and Transfer of Players (September 2015) (FIFA Transfer Regulations).
 
102
FIFA Transfer Regulations, Article 1(2).
 
103
FIFA Transfer Regulations, Article 1(3).
 
104
FIFA Transfer Regulations, Article 1(3)(b).
 
105
FIFA Transfer Regulations, Article 1(2).
 
106
FIFA Transfer Regulations, Article 5.
 
107
FIFA Transfer Regulations, Article 9.
 
108
FIFA Transfer Regulations, Article 18.
 
109
FIFA Transfer Regulations, Articles 22–25.
 
110
FIFA Transfer Regulations, Annex 1.
 
111
FIFA Transfer Regulations, Annex 4.
 
112
FIFA Transfer Regulations, Annex 5.
 
113
Complaint 36 583 SETCA and FGTB v FIFA and others (European Commission Rejection Decision 28.05.2002, D/229989). See also Dabschek 2004 and Garcia 2011.
 
114
Commissioner Carol van Miert, Points of Objection of the Commission (Complaint 36583, 14 December 1998).
 
115
European Commission Press Release (5 June 2002) Commission Closes Investigations Into FIFA Regulations on International Player Transfers IP/02/824.
 
116
KEA 2013. See Szymanski 2015 and see also Lembo 2011.
 
117
FIFPRO Press Release (18 September 2015) FIFPRO Legal Action Against FIFA Transfer System and FIFPRO Press Release (18 September 2015) FIFPRO’s EU Competition Law Complaint—Executive Summary.
 
118
See also Sect. 11.​4, infra.
 
119
C-519/04 P [2006] ECR I-6991.
 
120
Ibid, para 42.
 
121
Union Royale Belge des Sociétés de Football Association v Bosman C-415/93 [1995] ECR 1-4921 (CJEU), Lehtonen v Fédération Royale Belge des Sociétés de Basket-Ball ASBL C 176/96 [2000] 3 CMLR 409 and Olympique Lyonnais v Bernard and Newcastle United FC [2010] 3CMLR 14 (CJEU).
 
122
See Parrish 2015 and Pearson 2015.
 
123
See Sect. 9.​6.​1, infra.
 
124
England Commission 2014, p. 21.
 
125
Kuper and Szymanski 2009, p. 17.
 
126
Kuper and Szymanski 2009, p. 18.
 
127
Kuper and Szymanski 2009, pp. 8–37.
 
128
PL interview.
 
129
See Sect. 5.​2.​3, supra.
 
130
See Sect. 8.​6.​2, infra.
 
131
PL Rules, s U.1.
 
132
PL Rules, s A.1.154.
 
133
PL Rules, s A.1.86.
 
134
Regulations of the UEFA Champions League 2015—18 Cycle, Article 43 and Regulations of the UEFA Europa League 2015—18 Cycle, Article 42.
 
135
FA interview.
 
136
Ibid.
 
137
PL interview.
 
138
Ibid.
 
139
See the summary of academic opinion on the legality of the UEFA rule in Dalziel et al. 2013, Chap. 2.
 
140
Dalziel et al. 2013, p. 5.
 
141
See Sects. 5.​2.​1 and 5.​2.​2, supra.
 
142
Dalziel et al. 2013, p. 6.
 
143
Dalziel et al. 2013, p. 8.
 
144
Dalziel et al. 2013, p. 7.
 
145
Dalziel et al. 2013, p. 8.
 
146
Ibid. See Downward et al. 2014.
 
147
England Commission 2014, p. 13.
 
148
England Commission 2014, pp. 17–18.
 
149
England Commission 2014, p. 18.
 
150
Owing to time constraints during interview in 2013, the PFA’s view on the Squad List System was not obtained.
 
151
England Commission 2014, p. 12.
 
152
For a detailed overview of the position in the United Kingdom, see Boyd et al. 2014, Chap. H2 and for a discussion about the European position generally, see Blackshaw and Siekmann 2005, p. 387 and see also TMC Asser Institute 2014, pp. 42–51.
 
153
See Douglas and Others v Hello! Ltd and Others (No 3) [2008] 1 AC 1: “Although the position is different in other jurisdictions, under English law it is not possible for a celebrity to claim a monopoly in his or her image, as if it were a trademark or brand”: ibid., p. 83.
 
154
See Sect. 9.​7, infra.
 
155
Sports Club plc v Inspector of Taxes [2000] STC (SCD) 443.
 
156
PFA interview.
 
157
PL Rules, s E.32.
 
158
PL Rules, s E.36.
 
159
PL Rules, s E.35.
 
160
Culture, Media and Sport Committee 2011, para 98.
 
161
Culture, Media and Sport Committee 2011.
 
162
Revenue and Customs Commissioners v Football League Ltd (Football Association Premier League Ltd intervening) [2012] Bus LR 1539 (Ch).
 
163
Culture, Media and Sport Committee 2011, para 107 and see also Culture, Media and Sport Committee 2013, para 94.
 
164
See Mackey v NFL 543 F. 2d 606 (8th Cir 1976).
 
165
See Sect. 11.4, infra.
 
Literature
Blackshaw I, Siekmann R (eds) (2005) Sport image rights in Europe. TMC Asser Press, The Hague
Boyd S et al (2014) Image rights. In: Lewis and Taylor (eds) Sport: law and practice, 3rd edn. Bloomsbury Professional, West Sussex
Culture, Media and Sport Committee (2011) Seventh Report, Football Governance. HMSO, London
Culture, Media and Sport Committee (2013) Fourth Report, Football Governance follow-up. HMSO, London
Dabscheck B (2004) The globe at their feet: FIFA’s new employment rules I. Sport Soc 7(1):69–94CrossRef
Dalziel M, Downward P, Parrish R, Pearson G, Semens A (2013) Study on the assessment of UEFA’s ‘home grown player rule’. University of Liverpool/Edge Hill University, Liverpool
Deloitte Sports Business Group (2015) Revolution: Annual Review of Football Finances—highlights. Deloitte, London
Deloitte Sport Business Group (2016) Reboot: Annual Review of Football Finance 2016. Deloitte, London
Downward P, Parrish R, Pearson G, Semens A (2014) An assessment of the compatibility of UEFA’s home grown player rule with Article 45 TFEU. Eur Law Rev 39(4):493–510
Football Association (2014) FA Chairman’s England Commission Report. Football Association, London
Garcia B (2011) The 2001 Informal Agreement on the International Transfer System. Eur Sports Law Policy Bull 1:17–29
Katz H (1993) Decentralisation of collective bargaining: a literature review and comparative analysis. Ind Labor Relat Rev 47:3–22CrossRef
KEA European Affairs Centre for the Law and Economics of Sport (2013) The economic and legal aspects of transfers of players. Brussels, Belgium
Kuper S, Szymanski S (2009) Why England lose and other curious football phenomena explained. Harper Collins Publishers, London
Lembo C (2011) FIFA Transfer Regulations and UEFA Player Eligibility Rules: major changes in European football and the negative effect on minors. Emory Int Law Rev 25:539–585
Lindholm J (2011) The problem with salary caps under EU law. Texas Rev Entertainment Sports Law 12(2):189–213
McArdle D (2015) Dispute resolution in sport. Routledge, London
O’Leary L (2008) Price-fixing between horizontal competitors in the English Super League. Int Sports Law J 3(4):77–85
Parrish R (2015) Article 15 of the FIFA Regulations on the Status and Transfer of Players: compatibility with EU law. Maastricht J Eur Comp Law 22(2):256–282
Pearson G (2015) Sporting justifications under EU free movement and competition law: the case of the football “transfer system”. Eur Law J 21(2):220–238CrossRef
TMC Asser Institute (2014) Study on sports organisers’ rights in the European Union: final report. TMC Asser Institute, The Hague
Metadata
Title
The Premier League
Author
Leanne O’Leary
Copyright Year
2017
Publisher
T.M.C. Asser Press
Book
Employment and Labour Relations Law in the Premier League, NBA and International Rugby Union

Print ISBN: 978-94-6265-158-6

Electronic ISBN: 978-94-6265-159-3

Copyright Year: 2017

DOI
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-6265-159-3_8