Law firm gunnercooke appoints ex-EFL and Millwall Chief to head up new Sport team

International corporate law firm gunnercooke is launching a specialist sport division, headed up by former Chief Executive of Millwall Football Club and Director of the English Football League, Steve Kavanagh.

gunnercookeSport will provide a full-service offering to sports clubs and players across all levels and stages of their journey, including legal advice, operations expertise and sports management. The team’s experience spans professional sporting organisations including FIFA, NFL, tennis, cricket, rugby, sailing, boxing and athletics.

The offering will cover a broad range of areas such as contract negotiations, sponsorship and image rights, regulatory compliance, employment issues, business review and interim support, personal finance and tax, transfer and loan deals, real estate and facility management, and mergers and acquisitions.

Steve has 25 years’ C-Suite experience in football, having served as CEO and Finance Director across all levels of professional league football in England, including the Premier League. His extensive experience includes roles as a member of the FA Council, The Professional Game Board (PGB), The Professional Game Forum (PGF), and Vice Chairman of The FA Cup Committee. He has worked for clubs including Charlton Athletic, Millwall and Southend United.

Steve has also served on the EFL Board, represented Championship clubs during the Fan-Led Review, and played a key role in the creation of football’s first independent regulator. He has also managed high-profile disputes including property negotiations, player contracts and commercial litigation. He is now an expert member for Sport Resolutions. 

Steve will spearhead the firm’s consolidate launch into the sports industry, compiling its existing expertise across practice areas including competition law, employment, corporate, new world technologies such as blockchain and crypto, and real estate. The team includes lawyers, consultants, accountants and business coaches who can offer support to professional clubs, athletes, and support businesses throughout the full lifecycle of their careers.

Steve commented: “I’m excited to be joining gunnercooke for this unique opportunity. The team have experience working with some of the biggest sports clubs and organisations and I’m looking forward to bringing them together to create a specialist full-service offering that is completely unique to the market.”

Darryl Cooke, Founder of gunnercooke, added: “With the regulatory environment evolving, there is more pressure on clubs, players and the sports community to do the right thing. They need advice and guidance from trusted advisors and we have developed gunnercookeSport to meet this need. Steve is the perfect candidate to lead the department, having a wide breadth of experience in sports business management, meaning he truly understands the industry’s needs. I believe he will help bring a uniqueness to gunnercooke and our sports work and we’re thrilled to welcome him to the team.”

gunnercooke is a full-service law firm operating as a fee share model, with 15 offices across Europe and the US. The team comprises 600 lawyers acting for over 40,000 clients.

You can learn more about the new specialist division on the gunnercooke sport website: https://gunnercookesport.com/