QCs named as FA selects new first 11
The Football Association (FA) has revamped its legal panel, handing positions to 11 silks, who will decide on football disputes involving clubs and players.
Paul Goulding QC of Blackstone Chambers and David ;Phillips ;QC ;of Wilberforce Chambers have both bagged appointments in the barristers’ pool.
One ;Essex ;Court’s respected sports specialist Peter Leaver QC, who was chief executive of the FA Premier League between 1997 and 1999 and on the list last year, is understood to no longer be on the panel.
The panel, known as the ‘judicial panel’, was set up in 2007. It consists of lawyers, former players, managers, referees and football club administrators, ;all ;of ;whom ;are qualified to sit on FA appeal boards for football disputes and disciplinary hearings involving players. Disputes are usually chaired by a silk, with two football experts making up the rest of the panel.
Goulding acted for the Premier League in the arbitration with Sheffield United FC over the Carlos Tevez case and has advised a number of Premier League clubs, including Tottenham Hotspur, Newcastle United, Millwall, Wimbledon and Crystal Palace.
Goulding will chair the panel. He is a qualified FA coach and a Tottenham Hotspur ;season ;ticket holder.
