Fired before full-time
The average tenure of managers in the football league is 1.53 years. Job security for professional football managers is notoriously fragile and every new season sees a new cohort of sacked football managers. The question is not “if” they are going to be sacked, it is “when”. A string of poor results can lead to swift dismissal. Yet behind the headlines, football managers are, in legal terms, employees and are therefore entitled to a range of employment protections.
This raises two key questions: what employment law remedies are available to sacked football managers, and what contractual rights can they enforce if their contracts are terminated early?
Most managers are engaged on fixed-term contracts as senior executives, often including performance-related conditions and early termination clauses. These contracts fall under employment law principles including breach of contract, wrongful dismissal, and in some cases, unfair dismissal. Any UK employee with over two years’ service has the right not to be unfairly dismissed, but few managers stay in post that long.
What employment remedies do sacked football managers have?
If a manager is dismissed before the end of their fixed-term contract, the starting point is the contract itself. Termination clauses may include “pay in lieu of notice” (PILON) or set compensation sums. Failure to follow these terms gives rise to a potential breach of contract claim, with damages typically reflecting the remaining value of the contract.
At the elite level, unfair dismissal claims are rare. Many managers either exceed the statutory compensation cap (of £118,223) or work through personal service companies, limiting their statutory protections. However, in the lower leagues, where contracts and pay are more modest, managers may be able to bring claims – particularly where due process hasn’t been followed.
To defend against an unfair dismissal claim, clubs must show they acted reasonably. This involves setting clear expectations, offering the manager a chance to improve, holding a fair disciplinary process, and allowing for appeal. Failing to do so opens the door to Tribunal claims.
Constructive dismissal may occur if a club’s conduct, such as undermining a manager’s authority, forces a manager to resign. While more difficult to prove, it’s a viable route where there’s a clear contractual breach.
Settlement agreements are common in football, offering a clean break through a negotiated payout in exchange for waiving legal claims, which will likely include confidentiality terms.
A proposed change in the Employment Rights Bill, due to come into force in 2026, seeks to make unfair dismissal protection a day-one right. While unlikely to shake the Premier League, it could significantly affect lower-league clubs.
What about contractual remedies under early termination clauses?
Many, if not all, football manager contracts will contain a provision permitting the employer to terminate the contract early. Usually, this would include a provision that the employer pays the manager a fixed sum in compensation.
Previously, questions have been raised as to whether such clauses are enforceable, or whether they amount to an unenforceable penalty clause.
It is a long established principle of English law that a penalty clause is not enforceable, but what makes a clause penal? Authority from the Supreme Court provides that a penalty clause is one which amounts to a “secondary obligation which imposes a detriment on the contract-breaker out of all proportion to any legitimate interest of the innocent party in the enforcement of the primary obligation”.
Given the legal test described above, one can see why some may argue that the sums paid (in some cases significant sums) to an underperforming manager upon termination may be questionable. Indeed, clubs have previously attempted to argue that such clauses amount to a penalty clause.
Fortunately, the question as to whether termination compensation clauses are enforceable has been answered.
In the case of Berg v Blackburn Rovers Football Club & Athletic Plc, Blackburn Rovers dismissed Henning Berg, the ex-Manchester United and Blackburn player, as the club’s manager. Mr Berg was appointed on a fixed 3-year contract in November 2012, but was dismissed after only 57 days.
The termination of Mr Berg as Blackburn Rovers’ manager triggered a clause in his contract, which required the club to pay him a significant sum in compensation (basic salary on the basis of a set formula, for the balance of his fixed term).
Blackburn initially admitted the subsequent legal claim brought by Mr Berg, but later sought to withdraw the admission on two grounds, one being that the clause in question was unenforceable as a penalty.
The court rejected the club’s submission that the clause was a penalty, holding that “A sum of money payable under a contract on the occurrence of an event other than a breach of contractual duty is not a penalty.” In other words, there was no breach of contract here, but rather the club exercising its early termination rights under the contract. If that clause provided for compensation to be paid upon the exercise of the right, that was not a penalty.
Sacked football managers may have legal recourse through employment law or, more commonly at the elite level, through contractual remedies. Where a contract includes a compensation clause, as most do, this often provides a clearer and more substantial route to redress than Employment Tribunal claims, which are limited in scope and compensation.
How Moore Barlow can help
We offer a comprehensive range of employment law services for both clubs and employees. We have acted for a current Premier League Football Club for a number of years and so we understand how to advise a big employer with diverse interests, over multiple sites, requiring support with a wide range of employment relationships and employee concerns. Contact our Sports law solicitors for advice.
