Osborne Clarke advises Bath City Holding Company on acquisition of Bath City Football Club

International legal practice Osborne Clarke has advised Bath City Holding Company, an investor group led by Executive Chair Andrew Stalbow, on its acquisition of Bath City Football Club. 

This transaction highlights Osborne Clarke’s strength in handling complex, multi‑stakeholder transactions. The deal brought together specialists from across the firm – including corporate, banking, employment, real estate, pensions, commercial and regulatory – reflecting Osborne Clarke’s ability to support investors and rights‑holders on all legal aspects of transformational sports transactions. 

The investor group has raised a seed round of over £6m with the aim of supporting Bath City’s men’s and women’s teams to climb the football pyramid, developing Football League‑ready infrastructure and deepening the club’s connection with its fans and the local community in Bath and Twerton. 

The Osborne Clarke team was led by partner James Taylor, supported by senior associate Andrew Massey (Corporate), partner Laura Hanley and associate Oliver O’Reilly (Banking), partner Lara Fatemi and associate Alex Rose (Employment), partner David North and associate Tom Griffiths (Real Estate), partner Brent Wright, legal director Jo Taylor and associate Kim Arnold Radford (Pensions), associate Ian Solomon (Commercial) and legal director Breige Murphy (Regulatory).  

We’re proud to have supported Bath City Holding Company on this landmark transaction for Bath City Football Club and its community of supporters. This deal brings together a committed investor group, an ambitious board and a club with deep local roots, with the shared goal of unlocking the club’s long‑term potential on and off the pitch. It also underlines Osborne Clarke’s ability to field a genuinely multi‑disciplinary, cross‑border team for complex sports transactions, and we’re excited to see the next stage of Bath City’s journey.

James Taylor, Partner, Osborne Clarke. 

James Taylor and Andrew Massey, supported by their colleagues, blend strong commercial expertise with a genuine understanding of the football world, which made them the right partners for a transaction of this complexity. Bringing together community shareholders, lenders, stadium ownership and a broad set of stakeholders under one structure is no small feat, and the Osborne Clarke team navigated every dimension of it with skill and care.

Andrew Stalbow, Executive Chair, Bath City Football Club.