The FA are set for a legal battle in the High Court in March with Andy’s Carroll’s former agent Peter Harrison. Harrison maintains he was cut out of Andy Carroll’s £35m move to Liverpool. He claims that under FA rules the agent who had the player under contract is entitled to a percentage of the deal.
He is attempting to force the Football Association to release all documents regarding the transfer of Andy Carroll to Liverpool.
Harrison retired as a football agent after an earlier FA arbitration panel found against him in a legal battle over the £35million transfer. The FA tribunal ruled in favour of Carroll’s new agent, Mark Curtis. Harrison claims Andy Carroll still had two months left on his contract with him when Liverpool made their bid. Harrison remains convinced he should have been involved in the Liverpool deal after investing so much time in the striker and becoming a family friend. He was even named on the custody document with Northumbria police when Carroll was arrested for alleged assault in 2009. Carroll was fined after admitting assault.
Andy Carroll stated at the time he did not use an agent in the transfer to Liverpool; a solicitor called Richard Green, said he had advised him in the deal. Liverpool did use an agent. They employed David Bromley, whose name is noted in the contract. Bromley is not a well-known agent but he did hold a Fifa licence and was authorised by the Football Association, giving the name of his company as Centurion Sports Management, registered in Maidstone, Kent.
Harrison himself found fame at the centre of BBC Panorama’s controversial “bungs probe” programme, he claimed he had relied upon a cut of Andy Carroll’s £35m move to Liverpool at the time to help him pay off a long-standing debt to Sam Allardyce to avoid him becoming bankrupt.
In 2005 the then-Bolton boss Sam Allardyce loaned Peter Harrison and former Hammer Lucas Neill – one of Harrison’s clients – £300,000 to fund a property development. The plan was to develop Laverick Hall Farm in Gateshead into 14 homes and the agreement was to repay Sam Allardyce £600,000 plus interest however the development was never built. Allardyce took legal action against Harrison and Neill to recoup his money through the High Court in 2007, claiming some £650,000 plus interest and costs and the pair conceded and agreed to repay it. In 2009 Harrison faced a bankruptcy hearing in which the court made the order for £782,000 – it emerged Mr Harrison has already paid back around £650,000.
In a 2011 Interview Peter Harrison admitted to the Daily Mail he freely took advantage of the naivety of the then West Ham chairman Eggert Magnusson to pocket £900,000 in commission in the deal to sign Lucas Neill. He claimed that when he took Lucas Neill to West Ham instead of Liverpool he earned £900,000 and we put Neill on £72,000 a week. He said ‘He was going to Liverpool but West Ham wouldn’t take no for an answer. It was incredible. ‘At the time I thought it was just business – I had bills to pay, office, telephone, travel – but when I look back on it now I’m embarrassed’
Harrison previously represented West Ham keeper Jussi Jaaskelainen who is now also with Mark Curtis.
In 2012 Harrison took to twitter to make a number of accusations against Mark Curtis, Sam Allardyce and Bolton Chairman/FA board member Phil Gartside. This resulted in a threat of legal action from the FA to protect Phil Gartside.
This new High Court case will be heard on 25th March