Udo Onwere: Former Fulham footballer turned partner at City firm
From the pitch to the legal field, former Fulham midfielder Udo Onwere has turned his knack for tackling challenges into a thriving career in law.
He retired from professional football in 2000 after a 12-year career and transitioned into law.
He joined Thomas Eggar (now Irwin Mitchell) in 2006 as a trainee and qualified as a solicitor in 2008. He remained at the firm until 2013 when he joined Farrer & Co as an associate in the firm’s private client and sports group.
Onwere is now a partner at specialist law firm Bray & Krais, where he has lead its sports practice since November 2016. “It’s a very unique place to work. It is really enjoyable and I have a good team working with me,” he explained to City PM as part of Eyes on the Law.
He qualified into private client which encapsulates trusts, wills and tax, but because he had sport in the background, he was able to transfer a lot of the skills he learned as a private client lawyer, into sports law.
As for the practice he leads, he stated that he is steeped in sports, particularly in professional football, “as I’ve been involved in professional football all my life, so it’s something that I’m very comfortable with”.
In recent years, sports law is has experienced a rapid surge in popularity, not only but sports fans, but by the lawyers that want to secure this type of work.
“It is something that’s growing all the time now because of the commercialisation of sport, the more money that comes into any industry, it is going to attract a certain level of lawyer,” he explained.
Unlike many City lawyers vying for sports law work, Onwere brings the unique perspective of having been in the clients’ shoes.
He noted that with this experience, “you do have a good feel for how an athlete will look at things, and you have an understanding of conversations that may occur within the dressing room, and you understand what may not actually reach an athlete’s radar.”
Despite its appeal, Onwere highlighted that sports law is not just competitive but also exceptionally demanding due to the sheer volume of issues. “There are just so many issues,” he observed.
“If you actually sit down and think about the different things that are going on just within professional football itself, you would not have enough hours in a day to be able to really get a grip,” he said.
He elaborated: “Whether that be bringing in the football Governance Bill, dealing with the licensing of agents, or threats to ban football clubs, there’s so many different aspects to it, and it’s just trying to keep on top of that which is the challenge.”
Onwere also discussed the evolving dynamics of the Premier League, driven by unprecedented financial growth.
With this big increase in money into an industry you’re now dealing with Nation States backing football clubs. It’s a completely new dimension.
“The Premier League is having to grapple with this new commercial landscape, but have to constantly review their rules to make sure that there is equality within the league…which makes it such compelling viewing,” he added.
“But at the same time, you’ve got all of this sort of money coming in which makes the League so attractive because you can attract the very best talent around the world.”
Reflecting on the league’s broader impact, Onwere reflected that he thinks “from a UK perspective” the Premier League is “one of our best exports.” He pointed out that as he’s been involved in it, he has seen how it’s changed over the years, “is fascinating.”
Eyes on the Law is a weekly column focused on the legal sector.