Tom Keane

Partner

Tom is a Partner at Brandsmiths and has become a renowned sports lawyer. He is a ‘go to’ advisor for those in the football industry. He is recommended by the Legal 500 and the national media refer to Tom as a “transfer specialist” and a “transfer guru” in reference to his work on football transactions. His clients include national associations and leagues, top level professional football clubs, international football agencies, elite professional football players, media personalities and sports brands and businesses.

Tom has a unique blend of experience which has contributed to making him such an effective and trusted advisor. He qualified as a solicitor 12 years ago and has particular expertise in intellectual property, commercial and litigation matters. He has acted as a football agent for 15 years and is a licensed FIFA and FA Football Agent. Further, in the 2022 Summer Transfer Window he spent 4 months on secondment at Manchester United FC as Head of Football Negotiations where he led on the clubs largest ever single transfer window spend of c.£250 million – working directly with the Owner, CEO and Sporting Director.

The national media frequently approach Tom for comment on current football related legal issues and he has recently appeared in The Athletic and TalkSport discussing issues such as financial fair play and anti-doping.

A selection of some of Tom’s recent sports work highlights include:

secondment at Manchester United FC for 4 months covering the 2022 Summer Transfer Window as Head of Football Negotiations. Led on and completed 22 player transactions (across the First Team and Academy) across 9 leagues globally with combined transfer fees of almost £250 million. Notably led on the high-profile transfers of Casemiro from Real Madrid CF and Antony from AFC Ajax, two of the largest transfers in the history of football. Worked directly with the Owner, CEO and Sporting Director.
regular instructions from Everton FC on sporting, intellectual property, commercial and litigation matters. Advised on the appointment of their manager, Sean Dyche, and his coaching team. Currently advising on a significant intellectual property dispute. Recently advised on the breach by a First Team player of their playing contract. Recently advised on several disputes with football agents. Advised on some of the Club’s principal partnership agreements (e.g. hummel, socios.com and The Tumeric Co.).
advising Ben Foster, the ex-Manchester United and England professional footballer, on all commercial and legal aspects of his hugely popular YouTube channel “Ben Foster – The Cycling GK” and his “Fozcast” podcast which is exclusive to Spotify.
advising Jesse Lingard first on resolving a long-standing agent dispute, then second on all aspects of his high-profile transfer to FC Seoul in South Korea which included a combination of a football contract and a commercial agreement (e.g. a percentage of merchandise sales, corporate partnerships and ticket sales).
advising various international and domestic football agencies on the new FIFA and FA Football Agent Regulations and drafting tailored Representation Contracts for those agencies that our compliant with those Regulations.
advising Umbro (i.e. Iconix Brand Group) in relation to intellectual property, commercial and litigation matters – including the recent successful claim against DreamPairs for trade mark infringement relating to the Umbro double diamond logo.
advising a UK based agent on a multi-million pound commission dispute against a global agency relating to a current England international player – Rule K arbitration ongoing.