I always joked it would be a real pain if I wanted to leave but they probably would have only held me until they found a replacement, with fee earners, they often just negotiate a deal now on shared fees with newco etc but would still freeze out typically 3 months and no garden leave.
Anyway, if anyone is hiring, am available for work from 1st October, I have applied to be COO of the club but a lack of running a club before may hinder that, otherwise, if you can remove your COO's then I am happy to replace them, more likely, going to go back and work in Finance and be a business partner though as I enjoyed that for years before.