When asked to name a famous Belgian, many reach for Jean-Claude Van Damme but as Andy Burnham said at the time, there is another very famous Belgian who transformed the football transfer market : please step forward, Jean-Marc Bosman. It was the Bosman ruling in 1995 which found that the transfer rules in operation at the time, amounted to a breach of the right to free movement, and meant that, once a player was out of contract, their former club could no longer demand a transfer fee when the player moved to another club in another EU Member State.  

So not strictly a ‘non compete' covenant case in the traditional sense but, like a non compete clause in an individual's contract of employment, the issue was the ability to interfere with someone's right to work after their previous employment ends and, as Andy Burnham announced on 9 October 2026 in his speech at the Innovation Summit, the Government was looking at curtailing the right to use non compete clauses in contracts of employment; ask Andy said at the time “Call it, if you like, the Bosman ruling for the innovative sector..” . 

And so it was announced yesterday, in the small print of the budget, that the Government will legislate to restrict the use of non compete covenants and that it will set out a detailed government position in early 2027.  As ever, watch this space.