The PFA - Judicare Partner

Since 1907 the world’s longest established professional sportsperson’s union has been fighting to protect, improve and negotiate the conditions, rights and status of all professional football players in England & Wales.

The Professional Footballers’ Association (PFA) has achieved a number of notable successes throughout its history. Some of these successes have been achieved through the law courts of the land, including in 1961 the abolition of the maximum wage.

A key figure in all aspects of professional football, the PFA's remit involves caring for the interests of the game as a whole, in addition to the interests of its members.

Essentially, in a changing world, the Association needs to draw on a century's experience and expertise to move with the times, providing the best advice, representation and assistance in all aspects of a player’s career and beyond.

Throughout the modern era, as their careers have drawn to a close, retiring professionals have had to grapple with decisions about life after football and investment strategy. For many this has focussed on utilising some of the gains earned during a third of a life spent in football, to provide pleisure and/or income in the remainder.

While international property values were on the rise they provided an enticing solution, with many investors aiming to fund their own lifestyle property with profits from a portfolio of investments.

Recently and in the wake of the worst economic downturn in recent times, many of these investment strategies are in trouble or at risk. Footballers, managers and coaches up and down the game are encountering problems.

One such ex-player is Neil Heaney. After retirement and like a number of his footballing colleagues before him, Neil's focus turned to the property investment market in the UK and to off-plan opportunities overseas. With a bunch of friends from football he invested in a dream property development in Spain which was later to encounter problems, resulting in pursuit of the developer through the Spanish courts.

"After numerous failed attempts by our group to find trustworthy firms to represent us" Neil recounts, I came across Judicare. The company had a good track record of addressing issues like ours and went to the lengths of flying their legal team to the UK to meet with us how we could recover our monies. They simplified what was an extremely complex procedure and were a constant reassurance throughout the course of action."

Impressed, and then bombarded by requests for advice from friends, family and colleagues over their own problematic property investments, Neil decided to team-up with Jose Dorta - the Chairman of the Judicare Group - to create a UK based legal services company that could offer specialist advice and recovery action for investors with overseas property disputes all around the world. "We now have local expertise on the ground internationally, providing investors with the help they need to recover what in some cases are entire life's savings."

The PFA knows that many ex-footballers have had such problems and that the risk to current players can be managed by making available suitable expert support early in their investment process. The PFA's Commercial Director Christian Smith is therefore delighted to announce a partnership with Judicare who will provide that legal advice for its members: "There are two key areas that the partnership is concerned to tackle; 'resolution' - of existing difficulties, and 'prevention' - by providing educational materials, seminars and an advisory service for those wishing to take advantage of property investment opportunities around the world. With this programme we will be able to support footballers in what for many is a crucial aspect of their futures. It's an important plank to add to the support programme we have in place to help young footballers move through and on from their careers".

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