The Premier League hires ‘Treasury Devil’ to rival Manchester City’s star-studded legal team.
The Premier League has hired one of the UK’s most renowned barristers to help with its legal battle against Manchester City.
Known as the “Treasury Devil”, Sir James Eadie KC is working with the league as it looks to close the chapter on the biggest legal battle in English football.
Last month, Manchester City was found guilty of 114 charges relating to alleged breaches of the Premier League’s financial rules. The club was accused of using “sham” sponsorship contracts linked to its Abu Dhabi ownership to inflate revenue by up to £830m.
While the verdict hinted at the closing stages of the investigation, which has been ongoing for over three years, Manchester City have appealed, prolonging the case.
The club claims to have “irrefutable evidence” in the form of emails, letters and bank statements, saying the independent commission made “fundamental errors” during the investigation.
The Premier League will have to wait for the appeal process to end before it can announce the punishment, which the footballing world has widely speculated about.
Once the appeal process is over, the league may still have further legal work to do, especially if the findings are upheld and the question of sanctions becomes the next point of dispute.
As one of the UK government’s leading barristers, Eadie’s experience could prove important. He has served as First Treasury Counsel and represented the government in some of its most high-profile and complex legal cases, including public law and constitutional disputes heard by the Supreme Court.
Football’s war of the courts
Manchester City have dominated English and European football in recent years due to its transfer strategy of signing the world’s best. The club has looked to replicate the same strategy legally by hiring some of the biggest names in the legal world to fight its case.
The club hired Lord David Pannick KC, one of the UK’s most high-profile barristers, to challenge the league’s allegations. Despite the legal firepower, the independent commission found the club guilty of all but one charge.
That said, comments made by the club suggest it hasn’t given up hope, maintaining it has evidence to challenge the decision.
The Premier League appears to have matched Manchester City’s star-powered legal team in the final moments by bringing in Eadie.
His nickname, “Treasury Devil”, pays homage to his role as First Treasury Counsel, in which he works on some of the government’s most challenging legal cases.
One of his most well-known cases came during the Brexit process, when he represented the government in its battle against Gina Miller over whether ministers could trigger Article 50 without parliamentary approval, a clause in the Treaty on European Union that sets out the process for a member state to voluntarily leave the European Union
The cost of bringing in such high-profile legal talent is unlikely to be cheap. In 2023/24, the league spent more than £45m on legal bills, far above the £8m it had reportedly budgeted, as cases involving Manchester City, Everton, Nottingham Forest, Chelsea and Leicester City added to the costs.
Ensuring budgets cover this type of work has become an important issue for football regulators. Last week, the Independent Football Regulator proposed a £20.3m annual levy on English clubs to fund its operations, including a £1m provision for potential litigation costs.
What comes next for Man City and the Premier League?
The Premier League has said it will announce any punishment early next year, though fans will no doubt keep speculating whether this means points deductions, fines or harsher sanctions.
However, the appeal process must run its course first, with Manchester City hoping to overturn the findings before any punishment is confirmed. The outcome could have major implications for the club, with rival teams reportedly ready to launch their own cases as they seek compensation.
Earlier this month, the club also became the subject of an accounting inquiry from the UK’s audit regulator, which is looking into the ongoing case to assess accounting irregularities.
The appointment of Eadie also suggests the Premier League is preparing for further legal challenges, meaning the case could continue well into next year.
