INTERVIEW: in-house solicitor takes key role in football's hierarchy

The long-standing connection between football and the law has been strengthened by the appointment of a solicitor as the new chief executive of the Football League.

David Burns, 44, will take over in October.

He is currently chief executive of Airtours' accommodation division, which runs the travel company's hotel and ship assets.

He joined in 1987 as its first company solicitor and built up Airtours' in-house legal function.

Mr Burns told the Gazette his main aim is to maximise the income of the 72 league clubs.

There is continual speculation as to whether so many full-time clubs are sustainable in an age when the gap between the Premier League and Football League is widening, but Mr Burns insisted that there is a future for them.

'Football's healthy at the moment,' he said, referring to the recent television deals for both leagues.

'It's the digital age and football's got the product.' He noted that although many smaller clubs have been threatened with extinction in recent years, 'very, very few of them have actually gone out of business'.

Mr Burns qualified at Sheffield-based Irwin Mitchell in 1980.

After a spell as a prosecutor at Cheshire County Council, he joined Airtours in 1987.

From 1994 to1998, he was group company secretary and head of legal.

As part of his job at the league, Mr Burns said he will be looking at whether it should have in-house lawyers: 'If it is cost-effective to have in-house lawyers and offers the same quality, you owe it to your employers to do it.'

Birmingham firm Edge Ellison - which this month merged with Hammond Suddards to produce Hammond Suddards Edge - is the Football League's long-standing outside law firm.

Mr Burns said the firm must have done a good job to retain its position.

It was a solicitor, Ebenezer Cobb Morley, who had the idea to form an association that became the Football Association in 1863 and then became its first secretary.

He also drafted the first laws of the game.

The previous two FA chairmen have been solicitors, it was a solicitor who faced down opposition to steer Manchester United into European competition in a first for English clubs, while a recent Football League president was solicitor and former Newcastle United chairman Gordon McKeag.

Mr Burns is a fan of Sheffield Wednesday, which was conveniently relegated from the Premier League to the Football League last season.

Neil Rose