Football agent suing Bolton Wanderers and rival agency over £1 million Gavin McCann transfer

The football agent suing Bolton Wanderers and a rival agency for allegedly cutting him out of a transfer nearly seven years ago hopes the court case will give him “closure”.

Tony McGill is accusing Wanderers, their chairman, Phil Gartside, and former manager Sammy Lee of colluding with The Sport Entertainment and Media group (SEM) to complete the £1 million transfer of Gavin McCann from Aston Villa on June 11, 2007, behind his back.

According to Mr McGill, he had verbally agreed to act as agent for Mr McCann and had exclusively secured terms from Villa for the proposed transfer, when the deal was hijacked by unlicensed agent David Sheron, on behalf of SEM.

A seven-day trial will start on Monday at the High Court in Manchester, with Wanderers and SEM accused of two counts of conspiracy, inducing a breach of contract, misusing confidential information, unlawful means/wrongful interference, with SEM also facing a case of unjust enrichment.

Mr McGill also accuses Wanderers of committing quantum meruit, which involves knowingly profiting from someone’s professional services without paying them.

Mr Gartside, Mr Lee and the club’s secretary, Simon Marland, are accused of conspiracy and unlawful means/wrongful interference, while Frank McParland, Wanderers’ director of football at the time, is also accused of inducing a breach of contract.

SEM chairman, Jerome Anderson, Mr Sheron and agent, Jeffrey Weston, will answer the same charges as Mr Gartside, while Mr Sheron also allegedly induced a breach of contract. 

Source

Tell weirdo O'Neill to let me go! Agent uses text message from McCann in Bolton case

Republic of Ireland manager Martin O'Neill was described as a 'weirdo' in a text message by former Aston Villa midfielder Gavin McCann, a court heard on Monday.

Agent Tony McGill is claiming that Bolton Wanderers chairman Phil Gartside, former manager Sammy Lee and two other club officials cheated him out of a £300,000 fee over a £1million transfer of midfielder McCann from Aston Villa in 2007.
Mr Martin Budworth, for McGill, said a text message from McCann to McGill in May 2007 was 'a vivid demonstration' of the relationship between the two.


The message read: 'Gilly - next time you speak to the wierdo (sic), tell him to let me go.' Mr Budworth said: 'That is a reference to Mr McCann’s then manager, Mr (Martin) O’Neill.'McGill claimed that the club brought in sports agency group SEM to represent them 'at the last minute' and paid them the £300,000 fee due to him.





Mr McGill said his claim to be McCann’s sole agent during the transfer would be backed up by former Villa manager O’Neill, who is due to give evidence on Tuesday.  Gartside and Lee sat in the Mercantile Division of the High Court in Manchester on Monday as agent McGill outlined his claims against them and SEM Ltd.


Mr Budworth told Judge David Waksman QC: 'Mr McGill contends he represented as agent under contract the footballer Gavin McCann and brokered the transfer of the player’s registration from Aston Villa to Bolton Wanderers in June 2007.


'He had been given permission expressly to explore the move and indeed the stated transfer fee by Mr O’Neill. Mr O’Neill will say that Mr McGill was the only agent to whom he gave those details.'  He contends he had discussions and meetings with its scouts which were then referred in April 2007 to Mr Lee who was then at the beginning of his brief tenure as manager.'

Mr Budworth said that Lee then referred him to Frank McParland who was the club’s director of football.  He added: 'Having been referred to Mr McParland, there was a telephone call in which Mr McParland opened by saying "what’s the deal", thereby acknowledging his role in the affair and Bolton’s commitment to the potential transfer.

'But SEM appeared seemingly at the last minute and ousted Mr McGill. In broad terms, he says the defendants conspired to keep him out of the deal and they used information he had achieved in negotiation to his detriment and to their advantage.'

Mr Budworth said that the club also 'dishonestly' back dated their agreement with SEM from June 8 to June 1 to 'forestall' any inquiry by the Football Association.

He said part of the defence case was that the claim should fall 'at the first hurdle' because there was no binding contract between former England international McCann and the agent.

He added: 'It is not accepted as fatal as the player himself seems to have been open to the possibility that if Mr McGill had been able to structure a deal to shelter him from tax, then he would have no problem in him being the appropriate representative.'

Mr Budworth told the court that Bolton Wanderers office secretary Rosemary Gregson had been told by club secretary Simon Marland to put the date of June 1 on the representation agreement between SEM and the club rather than the date of the transfer of June 8.


Mr Budworth told the court: 'Back dating is unlawful. If unlawful means are used and the claimant is injured, it is no defence to say the action was to protect themselves. The back dating of this agreement is the basis of Mr McGill’s claim.'

Former Bolton chief scout Dave Worthington, brother of ex soccer star Frank, told the court that he had emails from Mr McGill about McCann whose name was on a list of potential transfer targets he had given to Sammy Lee.
Mr Neil Berragan , for Bolton Wanderers and its four officials , said Lee had no knowledge of having been given the list.

Mr McGill is seeking payment of the fee plus legal costs. The case has been brought against the club and the four officials Mr Gartside, Mr Lee, Mr Marland and Mr McParland as well as SEM , its chief executive Jerome Anderson, agent Jeffrey Weston and employee David Sheron.

All defendants deny the claims. The trial, which is expected to last all week, continues.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/football/article-2599067/Tell-weirdo-Martin-ONeill-let-Agent-uses-text-messages-Gavin-McCann-Bolton-case.html

Someone should definitely be sued for signing McCann.

Natasha Whittam wrote:Someone should definitely be sued for signing McCann.

Theft of service and impersonating a footballer come to mind.