With the dawn of another premiership season comes the familiar debate about the increasingly cosmopolitan make-up of our top teams, an issue so divisive that almost no one seems to be able to formulate a clear opinion on it. Of course there are the hardliners who would prefer a return to the glory days of brown lace-up footballs and Danny Blanchflower, and would happily see the Premiership as a foreigner free zone- then you have Arsene Wenger who decrees that the sheer mention of foreign players in the Premiership is tantamount to racism (although he has kept the old guard happy by ensuring that we have players with proper names, like Jack Wilshere and Henry Lansbury).
Such needlessly inflammatory statements aside, it should be noted that in recent years the FA and Premier League have been discussing options intended to nurture and safeguard “home-grown” talent whilst retaining the over-seas maestros that have helped cement the Premiership’s position as arguably the best league in the world. For this season the Premier League has unveiled the 25-man squad rule, which not only tackles this issue but also a the equally pressing issue of super rich clubs hording players that smaller clubs would give their right arms for.
Presumably accelerated by Manchester City’s 33-man squad of last season and by a desire to save Roberto Mancini the anguish of devising a system with 6 holding midfielders in it, the rule serves to limit squad sizes and promote a healthy youth academy. The main points of the ruling are outlined below.
· Basically, each Premiership club must have a registered squad of 25 players at the end of each transfer window, including at least eight ‘home-grown’ players.
· This 25-man squad can then be added to with an unlimited number of players under the age of 21.
· A ‘home-grown’ player may not necessarily be a British player. The official ruling is that a ‘home-grown’ player must “have been affiliated to the FA or Welsh FA for a period of three seasons or 36 months prior to 21st birthday". This is irrespective of age or nationality.
· Changes can only be made within transfer windows, excluding emergency loans.
So the new rules will increase the amount home grown talent gracing Premier league pitches each week, but I’m unconvinced whether such knee-jerkery will have much effect on the woeful performances of the national side. I think the problems of facing the Three Lions run somewhat deeper than Jonny Foreigner squeezing our up-and-coming talent out of the limelight, maybe the FA’s money would be better spent taking the national squad away on a team-building weekend, or enrolling them on a course in ego management.
The new system has also come under fire from those who arguably stand to gain most from it; Tottenham Hotspur manager Harry Redknapp, whose team are looking to galvanise their position as a top four club, expressed concern that the rulings may force injury prone players such as Jonathan Woodgate and Ledley King into retirement.
To an extent I agree with Harry here; with only 25 players at your disposal, what manager would take a chance on a player who may only play one game in five, or even spend the whole term on the treatment table? Even the massing Championship clubs eager to snap up a loanee from the Prem might baulk at that prospect.
We are still very much in the early stages of a new season, but it will be interesting to see how the new rulings stand up to the rigours of practical application. Come May, we could see the FA breaking out the red pen and making some amendments to stave off the flood of Bosman-esque ‘restriction of trade’ lawsuits. Or it could be the saviour of English football. Only time will tell.
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