Slaughter and May, who helped Everton with their Hill Dickinson Stadium build and have been brought back for the appeal against the Burnley ruling, are supporting Manchester United over plans to construct a new Old Trafford
The law firm Slaughter and May who helped Everton with their Hill Dickinson Stadium build and have been brought back for the appeal against the Burnley ruling are supporting Manchester United over their plans to construct a new Old Trafford.
London-based Slaughter and May advised the Blues on their new 52,769 capacity home on the Mersey waterfront, which saw the club play in front of the biggest average crowds in their history in its inaugural 2025/26 season. Their assistance was used over aspects of construction, financing, real estate and planning plus the future of Goodison Park, which has now been kept open to be used by Everton Women.
As first reported by the Lawyer on June 12, Slaughter and May has been brought in to act for Everton in their appeal against Burnley after they were told they must pay the Clarets £35million over the impact of a breach of the Premier League’s financial rules.
The case – heard by a Premier League commission – relates to the 2021/22 season, when the Blues were found to have broken profit and sustainability regulations (PSR) over a three-year period. Burnley argued the breach impacted their chances of staying in the Premier League and sought compensation for the losses associated with being relegated.
The Turf Moor outfit were awarded £26million in damages and a further £9million in interest. In response, Everton said they were “surprised and angered by the decision” and claimed “this ruling sets a dangerous and unworkable precedent for English football, given it is constructed on a principle that a club can be in breach of financial rules at any point in a financial year.”
Rules also ensured that those dishing out this punishment were the same panel that handed the Blues their initial 10-point deduction in November 2023, which at the time was the biggest sporting sanction in the 135-year history of English top flight football.
That trio - David Phillips KC, Alan Greenwood and Nick Igoe - produced a verdict that was subsequently pulled apart by the appeal board who gave Everton four points back, stating that they ‘made legal errors’ on two grounds.
Club sources insisted Hill Dickinson Stadium chiefs would robustly and thoroughly contest the ruling while manager David Moyes told talkSPORT, who he is working for as a World Cup pundit, “I felt that we had paid our dues,” and revealed that he had been told by owners The Friedkin Group that the decision would not negatively impact on his summer transfer budget.
A report in the Manchester Evening News states that Manchester United are being supported by Slaughter and May on early-stage construction and procurement aspects of their proposed 100,000-seater stadium.
At the start of the week, the Red Devils announced they had acquired a 25-acre plot of land, allowing plans for their ambitious new stadium to resume.
The article states that Slaughter and May already has a close relationship with Ineos, having advised Sir Jim Ratcliffe’s company on the acquisition of a minority stake in United two years ago but no broader appointment of any firm has yet been made for the stadium project, given the process is still in its infancy.
Additionally, Slaughter and May is currently advising UEFA Conference League winners Crystal Palace on their stadium redevelopment project at Selhurst Park, including a new 13,500-seat main stand.