We cheer along our colleagues regularly, whether it’s during our firm charity events throughout the year, or supporting their individual fundraising efforts for community projects in their spare time. We are consistently excited to see the enrichment sport brings to the everyday lives of our employees and communities.
Most recently, Armin Pishro – a Paralegal in the Restructuring and Insolvency department at Glaisyers, has been taking part in Movember with members of his football team at the club he established. In this article, Armin reflects on the opportunities football has given him and how these have shaped his life, leading him to start his legal career and contribute to so many charities and events.
I first became interested in the sport while watching a game of football when I was 7 years old: May 2005, Liverpool vs AC Milan in the Champions League Final. An introduction to football certainly doesn’t get any better than the most iconic European Cup Final of recent times. Born in Iran and growing up in England, two huge yet underperforming footballing nations, it was really hard not to get captured by the nations’ footballing spirit. No matter where I was, there was a ball being kicked just a stone’s throw away.
My enthusiasm for football continued, and at a young age, it was clear that my goal was always a career in football. A few Saturday morning youth football matches indicated my career certainly wouldn’t be as a professional footballer. Unlike many football fans though, I’m just as interested in the behind-the-scenes of football as I am in what happens on the pitch! This is why a career in law was a no-brainer for me, with the eventual goal of becoming involved in the administrative and legal work within the sport.
During my third year at the University of Central Lancashire, the COVID-19 pandemic sent the UK into lockdown. In June 2020 when the government announced the go-ahead for outdoor sports to resume, I decided to set up Tottington (Totty) Robins F.C., a local, open-age football club that plays their games on a Sunday morning in Bury. I did this because the whole country had been in lockdown for three months, and it felt like our only opportunity to socialise would be through football. I established the club to offer people who had been struggling throughout the pandemic an opportunity to join a football club and to be able to socialise once again. I used the skills I had developed as Vice Chairman of the University football team to run a team of my own.
I’d always had an interest in developing my understanding of Law, so I completed my Masters of Law in Legal Practice. During this, I studied Commercial Dispute Resolution, Employment Law and Insolvency. I took a big interest in insolvency, particularly because the club I grew up supporting, Bury F.C., had recently gone through this, so I found it very educational having the opportunity to learn more about the situation.
My passion for the sport inspired me to write my dissertation on the current measures and regulations in football that attempt to tackle the use of Performance Enhancing Drugs, comparing these to other sports. The opportunity presented by my dissertation topic taught me how each sport is governed differently and made me realise how interested I was to continue learning about the sport.
