ABOUT ME
The Full Story
I am a working class lad from a town called Grays in Essex. I have always had a keen interest in sport having played football regularly in my youth, and being fortunate enough to played for various youth teams at Crystal Palace FC for two years between 1994-1996 (who I still support for my sins). As well as this I am a keen (but very average) club cricketer with my local club, Orsett and Thurrock Cricket Club where I can often found at a weekend embarrassing myself on the cricket pitch.
I came to the legal world late, having only started my legal studies in 2015 when I was looking for modules to top up my Foundation Degree in Business at the Open University. Having been nearly talked out of it by the course administrators, I signed up to study contract and tort (i.e. negligence etc) law and found I had a passion for all things legal. I graduated from the Open University in 2017 with first-class honours and then completed the Graduate Diploma in Law at BPP University in 2018. I am now indulging both of my passions by doing an LLM in Sports Law at De Montfort University where I graduated with Merit in 2021.
I am now undertaking a PhD at the University of Westminster, where I am researching whether the design of football club ownership regulations adequately take into account the fan perspective of what constitutes a good football club owner.
Outside of my studies, I work at University College London at the Institute of Clinical Trials and Methodology as a Research Contracts Officer, where I negotiate, draft, and advise on the contracts that underpin clinical research. Eventually, my aim is qualifying as a Solicitor specialising in Sports Law, particularly dispute resolution, private client, and governance. I also sit on disciplinary panels for various County Football Associations, and act as a Trustee for a range of charities.
I founded Sport and the Law: Mark's Musings with the aim to provide simple analysis and explanations of the big legal issues affecting sport.
Take some time to explore the blog, read something interesting, and feel free to reach out if you would like to collaborate on a project together.