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Northridge advises The FA on landmark transaction for women’s football
Northridge acted for The FA on the transfer of its ownership of the top two tiers of women’s professional football in England to a new independent company, Women’s Professional Leagues Limited (WPLL). This historic deal represents the next phase of professional women’s football in England with WPLL taking over responsibility for the Barclays Women’s Super League and Barclays Women’s Championship. Each club participating in the leagues will be a shareholder in the new company with The FA also holding a “special share”.
Mark Bullingham, The FA Chief Executive, commented: “We are very proud of the growth that, together with the clubs, we have driven in the women’s professional game. I would like to thank everyone who has worked tirelessly to establish and evolve our leagues to be amongst the best in the world. Now is the opportunity for Nikki [Doucet] to lead the next phase of growth, with an independent company purely focused on women’s professional football.”
Northridge has supported The FA team for a number of years on the development of the women’s professional leagues during a period of unprecedented growth. This transaction marks the next chapter for the game with a vision to build the most distinctive, competitive and entertaining women’s football club competition in the world for the players and fans of today and tomorrow.
Northridge worked closely with the legal team at The FA, including Nick Cooper (General Counsel), Bryan Faulkner (Head of Legal (Football Regulation & Litigation)), Olly Beeley (Legal Counsel (Football Regulation & Litigation)), Tom Smith (Legal Counsel (Commercial)) and Laurence Daly (Secondee Trainee Solicitor).
The Northridge team was led by Mike Herbert, Sarah Boulton and Paul Shapiro and included Jamie Feldman, George Willis, Oliver Harland, Philippa Scott, James Norrey, Chris Johnson, Oliver Levett, Beth Wilson and Lara Curtis.
