medicine & performance The official magazine of the Football Medicine & Performance Association
Issue 29 Summer 2019
Feature
Position Specific & Positional Play Training in Elite Football: Context Matters In this issue FMPA Conference Award Winners 2019 Maximising player availability whilst respecting the fundamental ethics of healthcare in sport Pre-Season – When Foundations Are Laid
Legal • Education • Recruitment • Wellbeing
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CONTENTS WELCOME
7
FEATURES
9 The “Football Creditors Rule” What Does it Mean for You? Marin Price FMPA Lawyer
Updates
25 A Balancing Act: Maximising Player Availability Whilst Respecting the Fundamental Ethics of Healthcare in Sport Dr Rob Tatham
10 Can Modern Football Match Demands be Translated Into Novel Training and Testing Modes? Paul S Bradley, Michele Di Mascio, Magni Mohr, Dan Fransson, Carl Wells, Alexandre Moreira, Julen Castellano, Antonio Gomez Diaz & Jack D Ade 15 The Importance of a Uniform Club Philosophy for Enhancing Athlete Health and Performance Adam Brett & Will Abbott - Brighton & Hove Albion FC
20 FMPA Conference Award Winners 2019
ABOUT
29 How to Thrive With a Little Help From Your Friends 31 Position Specific & Positional Play Training in Elite Football: Context Matters Paul S Bradley, Andres Martin-Garcia, Jack D Ade, Antonio Gomez Diaz 36 Pre-season – When Foundations Are Laid UEFA 40 FMPA Register
Football Medicine & Performance Association 6A Cromwell Terrace, Gisburn Road, Barrowford, Lancashire, BB9 8PT T: 0333 456 7897 E: info@fmpa.co.uk W: www.fmpa.co.uk FMPA_Official Officialfmpa fmpa_official LinkedIn: Football Medicine & Performance Association FMPA_Register
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Chief Executive Officer Eamonn Salmon eamonn.salmon@fmpa.co.uk
Design Oporto Sports www.oportosports.com
Executive Administrator Lindsay Butler admin@fmpa.co.uk
Photography PA Images, FMPA, Getty Images, FIFA via Getty Images, Jussi Eskola
Administration Assistant Amie Hodgson amie.hodgson@fmpa.co.uk Project Manager Angela Walton angela.walton@fmpa.co.uk
Contributors Paul S. Bradley, Michele Di Mascio, Magni Mohr, Dan Fransson, Carl Wells, Alexandre Moreira, Julen Castellano, Antonio Gomez, Jack D. Ade, Gary Souter, Professor Laura Serrant OBE, Dr Robin Lewis, UEFA Direct, Dr Rob Tatham, Andres MartinGarcia, Antonio Gomez Diaz
Marketing/Advertising Charles Whitney 0845 004 1040
Print Media Village www.media-village.co.uk
COVER IMAGE Derby County v West Bromwich Albion - Sky Bet Championship Pride Park Stadium. Derby County’s Martyn Waghorn leaves the pitch after incurring an injury. Darren Staples / EMPICS Sport / PA Images Football Medicine & Performance Association. All rights reserved. The views and opinions of contributors expressed in Football Medicine & Performance are their own and not necessarily of the FMPA Members, FMPA employees or of the association. No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, or stored in a retrieval system without prior permission except as permitted under the Copyright Designs Patents Act 1988. Application for permission for use of copyright material shall be made to FMPA. For permissions contact admin@fmpa.co.uk
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football medicine & performance
THE “FOOTBALL CREDITORS RULE” – WHAT DOES IT MEAN FOR YOU? FMPA LAWYER MARTIN PRICE EXPLAINS... Unfortunately, the recent financial issues at Bolton and at Bury have brought the issue of insolvency within football clubs into sharp focus once more. On the face of it a football club is no different to any other limited company and therefore an employee’s employment law rights should the club become insolvent are limited. These rights depend upon which legal form of insolvency the club enters into, the most common one being administration and less common but more terminal, liquidation. In an administration the employer becomes XYZ Football Club Limited (in administration). The administrators do not become your employer, they act as agents for the company in administration with a view to selling the club as a going concern or realising the value of assets for the benefit of the creditors. If no sale can be achieved it is almost inevitable that the club would enter liquidation, which spells the end of the road for the club. If the administrators continue to employ you for 14 days or more after their appointment they will “adopt” your contract of employment. This means that wages and salaries (including holiday pay) which accrue after the 14-day period will have to be paid ahead of the administrator’s fees and any payments to other unsecured creditors. For this reason, unless there is a strong possibility of a sale, administrators will be very reluctant to adopt the employment contracts of all but the most crucial employees. In a football context this might be a player still under contract who has a significant transfer value. In an administration arrears of salary are limited to maximum of £800 as “preferential debts” which are payable in full after anyone who has a secured debt and the costs of the administration. In practice, it is unusual for there to be enough money left over for the payment of preferential debts. Assuming that your contract is not “adopted” then debts owed by the club to you under your contract of employment will be unsecured debts and therefore it is very unlikely that you would get any more than a few pence in the pound should the club exit administration by way of a negotiated deal with the creditors. In addition, whether or not your contracts have been adopted, certain further payments can
be claimed from the government’s national insurance fund. These are:• Arrears of a maximum of 8 weeks’ pay (capped at a maximum of £525 per week) • Notice pay of one week (capped at a maximum of £525) for every complete year of service up to a maximum of 12 weeks • A maximum of 6 weeks accrued but untaken holiday pay, again subject to a maximum of £525 for each week. So, if your club goes into administration and your contract is not adopted then your entitlements are very limited if the administrator does not find a buyer and the club goes into liquidation. If your contract is adopted, then the position becomes slightly better but in reality not much better should a buyer not be found and liquidation follows. Looking at things more positively, what if the administrator finds a buyer? This happens in the majority of cases. If you are still employed by the club at the time it is sold, then your contract automatically transfers to the buyer and continues with that buyer e.g. XYZ (2019) Football Club Limited. The new company will also be liable for your arrears of salary over and above the amount that can be claimed from the national insurance fund. If you have been dismissed by the administrator prior to the purchase, then generally unfortunately you are limited to the amounts you can claim from the national insurance fund as set out above. So where does the football creditors rule come in and how does it help? In order to compete in the English Football League (“EFL”) or Premier League, all clubs must hold a share in the EFL or Premier League – the so-called “Golden Share”. The Golden Share can only be transferred from XYZ Football Club Limited in administration to XYZ (2019) Football Club Limited with the permission of the EFL or Premier League. The EFL or Premier League will only ratify the transfer of the Golden Share if football creditors are paid in full by the purchaser. As, in effect the club is worthless without the ability to play in the EFL or Premier League, the purchaser’s hands are tied – they must satisfy football creditors in full if they want to play in the EFL or Premier League. Football creditors are defined as the League, other clubs and full-time employees of the club. This includes
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not only players and managers but all full-time backroom staff. If you are a football creditor, your arrears of pay must be paid in full before the Golden Share will be transferred. If you have left the club, your arrears must still be met in full i.e. you will not be subject to the £800 cap and you are in a much better position. If you are still employed by the club in administration at the point of transfer, not only do your arrears of pay have to be paid in full but also your contract will transfer to the new owner on the same terms thus preserving your future rights too. This is a technical and complicated area and so I have tried to summarise it in the diagram below. As always if you are worried contact Eamonn and his team and you will be signposted to the necessary advice.
CLUB GOES INTO ADMINISTRATION
ADMINISTRATOR TERMINATES IN 14 DAYS – CONTRACT NOT ADOPTED – CLAIMS AGAINST NATIONAL INSURANCE FUND
ADMINISTRATOR ADOPTS CONTRACTS CONTINUE TO HAVE CLAIM FOR WAGES – “PREFERENTIAL CREDITOR”
NO PURCHASER FOUND CLUB ENTERS LIQUIDATION ONLY CLAIMS AGAINST NATIONAL INSURANCE FUND SERVICE
ARREARS OF SALARY PAID IN FULL AS FOOTBALL CREDITOR
ADMINISTRATOR FINDS BUYER CONTINUE TO BE EMPLOYED BY BUYER ON SAME TERMS AND ARREARS PAID IN FULL AS FOOTBALL CREDITOR
9
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REGISTER It is always great to see our Register members assisting lower league clubs at times of need. Their expertise and knowledge is invaluable when dealing with a host of challenging injuries or when in need of sports science input to monitor or improve performance. Dorking Wanderers FC for example, recently sought the services of Physio Steve Allen, who is listed on the FMPA Register, and who was tasked with alleviating a crippling injury list. Dorking went on to win the title and promotion to the National league South division last season which may not be a co-incidence! With this in mind I have recently made contact with over 140 semiprofessional league football clubs to highlight the fact that they too can access experienced practitioners on the FMPA Register and I will continue to liaise with them on a regular basis extolling the virtues of accessing our site in the coming season. Tiers 6 and below most certainly have a need to improve medicine and performance provision at their Clubs and we will make sure we direct them all to our Register accordingly.
Angela Walton Angela Walton Project Manager
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MEDICINE & PERFORMANCE HUB UPDATE
The Medicine & Performance hub is now live hosting an array of information for the grassroots community, including direct access to FMPA Register search engine. If any of our members wish to provide additional content that would be suitable and benefit the grassroots community i.e. blogs, podcasts, videos, injury articles and in turn this will promote you as a unique practitioner within your field. Please send them to register@fmpa.co.uk
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FMPA MEMBERSHIP WHATS IN IT FOR YOU? • Expert LEGAL representation in employment law, medicolegal and Regulatory law AND full contract appraisal • Full support on any issue from the FMPA 7 days a week • Confidential access to clinical experts to discuss issues within your discipline • Annual FMPA Conference & Awards with Member discounts & priority • Priority MEMBER ONLY access to job listings on FMPA website • Regular e-news/updates • Education/CPD via quarterly edition of ”football medicine & performance” magazine delivered to your door plus on-line resources • Member discounts on car leasing, insurance & more • Savings on courses and events for FMPA Members • Eligibility to join the FMPA Register for members moving into private practice or offering consultancy to professional football clubs • Plus much more…….
”Thank you for helping me through my recent exit from my club. Martin Price’s advice was exceptional. In a situation where an 'ordinary' person was in conflict with a large organisation Martin's knowledge and execution was empowering. Being represented by someone who clearly knew more than the opponents was really supportive. I would definitely recommend the FMPA legal team for Members going forward” Fitness Coach, Premier League Club
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