Mel Stein

Mel Stein was one of the first English solicitors to be regarded as a specialist sports lawyer and has represented footballers such as Chris Waddle, Paul Gascoigne and Alan Shearer as well as Tottenham Hotspur Football Club.

Born on a council estate in Manor House, north London in 1945, Mel Stein attended Central Foundation Grammar School in northeast London and studied law at King’s College London. Articled as a solicitor in commercial law at Michael Kramer & Co, he then started his own practice, which became Finers.

A workaholic from a humble background, Stein was proud of being described as one of Britain’s first specialist sports lawyers. After he had started representing footballers in the late 1980s, he was shocked at the level of corruption in the game. In 1993 he went public, alleging that some managers in the Premier League would only sanction a transfer deal if they received a kickback, known as a 'bung'.Mel Stein shone a light on the corruption in football. He was vilified in the football world, then accused of hypocrisy when shortly afterwards he was extradited to America and put on trial, accused of involvement in an alleged £3 million fraud connected with a bankrupt insurance company. His Cuban client had been arrested and in a bid for clemency had pinned the blame on Stein and others. Stein suffered a nervous breakdown, but the case against him was thrown out.In 1995 George Graham, the Arsenal manager, was sacked after it emerged that he had accepted illegal payments as part of a transfer deal. 'I got banned from every single club in the country until of course George Graham got arrested and I got a letter of apology from them.'

Mel Stein passed away in September 2022.