The case of HMRC v The Football League Ltd (Ch D – 25 May) follows on from the earlier decision in HMRC v Portsmouth City Football Club Ltd Ch D [2010] EWHC 2013 (Ch). HMRC took court proceedings against the Football League seeking a declaration that by giving priority to ‘football creditors’ over other creditors the League’s rules contravened the principles of insolvency law. The Ch D rejected this contention and dismissed HMRC’s application. Sir David Richards held that HMRC had not shown that the League’s rules automatically violated either the ‘pari passu’ principle or the ‘anti-deprivation rule’. He held that the ‘pari passu’ principle only came into play where a company went into liquidation and did not apply to an administration which did not result in a liquidation. The ‘anti-deprivation rule’ did apply to companies in administration but the League rule...
