Is Leicester's cunning win good for the game?
Spirit of the law versus lettering of the law
The Premier League accelerated into life in 1992 when a clever lawyer (Mark Phillips) discovered a loophole in Football Association rules that allowed a quicker breakaway by elite clubs from the Football League. So they cannot complain unduly about Leicester City also employing a clever lawyer (Nick De Marco) finding a loophole in the their rules.
Leicester’s victory over the Premier League is hugely significant. It shows why those pyramid-averse members of the Premier League need to be working more closely with the EFL, not least in addressing different accounting and membership periods. If the general precept of PSR makes sense, ie balancing the books and not risking the future of a club, then the detail and application are a mess as well as the wording.
It shows why a switch is required sooner to the Uefa model of FFP focusing on “limits on spending on player and coach wages, transfers and agents fees to 70% (80% in 24/25) of club revenue” which seems more viable than the Premier League’s Profit & Sustainability Rules.
It highlights the importance of lawyers, increasingly amongst the most important retained personnel at clubs. As a Leicester fan said, “will Chelsea come and buy our lawyers now” as well as their players (Wesley Fofana, Ben Chilwell, N’Golo Kante, Danny Drinkwater and Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall) and manager (Enzo Maresca). De Marco and Phillips are always in demand.
Club chairmen will scramble their lawyers to pick over the Premier League’s rule book (which they did sign up to) looking for loopholes. Leicester’s case is completely different in detail and scale to Manchester City’s 115 charges of financial breaches, which the club vigorously deny, but it will surely embolden City’s lawyers further. Leicester have shown the Premier League can be beaten with a technicality knockout. With so much at stake it’s not about “the spirit of the law”, it’s now about the lettering of the law.