More than 25 years across the business of football in the UK and international markets.
“Football is an international language that overcomes racial, cultural and linguistic barriers.”
Introduction
Majid Lavji has spent more than 25 years working across different areas of professional football and the wider sports industry.
His experience has ranged from creating national football initiatives and international academy projects to player representation, commercial negotiations, sponsorship, branding, football consultancy and major sporting events.
He has worked with clubs, football associations, professional players, former players, universities, commercial organisations and football professionals across the UK and international markets.
That breadth of experience provides something increasingly valuable within modern football: an understanding of the game from more than one perspective.
Today his principal focus is using that experience on the club and business side of football, supporting owners, boards and football organisations with strategy, development and selected projects.
The Modern Game
Professional football has developed into one of the world's most competitive and internationally connected industries.
Running a successful football organisation today involves far more than what happens during 90 minutes on a Saturday.
Clubs must balance sporting ambition with commercial sustainability.
They must understand their supporters while developing new audiences.
They must protect their identity while embracing new technology and new markets.
They must manage relationships with players, agents, sponsors, governing bodies, broadcasters, communities and investors.
Majid's career has crossed many of these areas.
That allows him to approach football problems from an unusually broad perspective and provide club owners and executives with practical, independent advice.
Club Advisory
Independent support for owners, chairmen and senior management considering strategy, organisational development, new projects or opportunities.
Majid can work alongside existing leadership rather than attempting to replace it, providing additional experience and an external perspective when required.
Supporting clubs as they consider sponsorship, partnerships, brand development, new commercial relationships and opportunities to increase revenues.
Majid's career has included negotiations involving football organisations, commercial partners and sporting brands.
Football has become a global industry.
Majid has developed relationships and projects across Europe, Asia and Africa and can assist clubs looking at credible international opportunities, partnerships and market development.
More than 25 years working with different participants within football provides Majid with a broad understanding of how the industry operates.
This experience can be particularly useful to new football investors, ambitious owners and organisations seeking an independent football-business perspective.
Majid's previous work includes academy development, international player pathways, football education and player management.
This allows him to advise clubs and organisations considering youth-development or international academy opportunities.
Football clubs increasingly need to think beyond traditional sponsorship.
Majid has experience involving football events, brand projects, international initiatives, former-player organisations and community-focused programmes.
Career
Majid began organising regional football tournaments across the UK, with the aim of highlighting Asian participation and talent within the game.
What started as a series of regional events became the foundation for everything that followed.
The festival became a national event, hosted in Liverpool with the support of Liverpool City Council and attracting around 100 teams from across the UK.
It drew support from The Football Association, the Professional Footballers' Association, Premier League clubs and talent scouts.
Working alongside Liverpool Hope University, Majid co-created the AsiaEurope Liverpool Hope Football Academy.
The project brought football development and education together while creating additional pathways for players from Asian and ethnically diverse communities.
Following the devastating Indian Ocean tsunami, Majid was involved with Tsunami Soccer Aid, which staged a major fundraising football match at Liverpool FC's Anfield stadium involving Liverpool legends and celebrity players.
Majid was appointed European Director of the Gambia Football Association.
His work included commercial development, sponsorship activity, international relationships and involvement in the association's rebranding.
AsiaEurope Football Consultancy and the sports division of Middleton Solicitors came together to create The Football Group.
The organisation combined different areas of football expertise including consultancy, legal support and player-related services.
Majid and The Football Group worked with the Manchester City Former Players Association as it approached its 40th anniversary, providing support around structure, branding and events.
The Football Group's player-agency operation was separated from the wider business and subsequently sold.
For Majid it marked the beginning of a deliberate movement away from day-to-day player representation and towards football business, consultancy and wider strategic projects.
Majid's focus today is on supporting clubs, owners, football organisations and sports businesses by drawing together the experience accumulated across more than 25 years in the industry.
The Difference
Football is an industry built around relationships.
Few major decisions exist in isolation.
A club signing affects its manager, sporting department, player, agent and finances.
A sponsorship agreement affects the club's commercial operation, supporters and brand.
An international partnership must make sense commercially as well as culturally.
An academy must create genuine pathways rather than simply exist as a marketing exercise.
Majid's experience across football consultancy, commercial activity, player representation, academies, international projects and events allows him to consider these relationships together.
It is this broader perspective that now forms the foundation of his work with football clubs and organisations.
“Football is an international language that overcomes racial, cultural and linguistic barriers.”
Currently
Majid remains involved across a number of sports and football organisations.
His current activities include his role as Managing Director of Sports Group and his continued involvement with The Football Group and the wider AsiaEurope network.
He is also an Ambassador of the Professional Football Scouts Association.
These roles allow Majid to remain connected with developments across football business, scouting, education, media, sports events and international sport.
Managing Director
Sports Group
Founder
AsiaEurope Network
Ambassador
Professional Football Scouts Association
Continued involvement
The Football Group
Insights
Football never stands still.
Through Insights, Majid will provide personal observations and analysis on the football industry, including club ownership, commercial development, football management, international markets and the changing relationship between clubs, players and supporters.
Get in Touch
Majid is available for selected football advisory appointments, strategic projects and confidential discussions with club owners, boards, investors and football organisations.
Whether the conversation concerns a specific challenge, commercial opportunity, international development or the wider direction of a football organisation, the starting point can simply be a conversation.
All initial discussions are treated confidentially.
