Impact of Football Association’s introduction of the home-grown players rule on the Premier League
The F.A. announced that from the start of this season, all the Premier League clubs are to include atleast 8 home-grown players into their 25 man squad. The names of the 25 man squad are to be submitted by 5 pm, September 1, 2010.
The General Secretary of the Barclays Premier League, Mike Foster, stated that the aim of such a rule was to encourage more home-grown players, and to give more and equal opportunities to players who climb the ranks in their clubs. For a typical player, their career begins at a young age, when they join their home town academies or the academies of their favourite clubs, provided they make it through. The secretary explained that at the meeting held in 2009, the board dedicated a whole day to the youth development process and praised the good work that is being done in the academies. He, however, knew that it would be difficult for players to get first team opportunities, and therefore came up with lots of suggestions to help solve the opportunity issue.
He explained that the squad system idea with a quota of home-grown players was met with much appreciation, as most of the board thought it to be the solution to the problem. He added that the board took other systems into account which are placed in different countries around Europe, and clubs therefore opted to replicate the model which is currently in use by UEFA. This is because of the fact that most clubs are already accustomed to the model, having participated in various UEFA affiliated tournaments.
However, the difference between the UEFA system and the Premier League system is that UEFA divides the home-grown players into two distinct categories: association trained and club trained. The Premier League, however, only refers to the association trained players. To make it simpler, for a player to be deemed as home-grown, a player must have been registered with either the FA or the Welsh Football Association for a total of three years, before he turns 21.
"If this does increase opportunities for young players as we hope, then it will encourage further investment in youth development,” he stated. He added that the more quality U-21 players a club has, the more choice they will have, as they have no restriction to the amount of U-21 players they can keep. He added that clubs may change their 25 man squad after the transfer window closes, but under extreme circumstances. However, he expected that it may be highly unlikely for the changes to actually happen. One exception is when all three goalkeepers are injured, and only then can a team be permitted to add a new goalkeeper.
The main reason behind such a rule is that talented English players will surface and perhaps replace the old guns, who failed to fire in 2010 FIFA World Cup. The board hopes that this rule might make an impact on English players, and create a greater pool of English Internationals.
In addition, clubs are expected to make huge savings on transfer fees and wages, as home-grown players are expected to be less demanding in terms of wages. He explained this point, stating that although the main reason behind such a rule is the youth development and to provide a platform for young players to play, the financial side of the rule cannot be ignored. This rule will make clubs work on a smaller pool of transferred players and a huge pool of young home-grown players, which perhaps cost nothing to make, as compared to the huge transactions for transfer fees. He hoped that the aftermath of the new system would create better young players and internationals for England, which are to replace the failed “Golden Generation” of England. The time is now for young players to surface.
He explained that statistically, around 85% players in the academies are English, while the remaining are from other countries. If the ratio remains the same, it is of high probability that many English players will find themselves in the first team of major clubs, which will help them develop and make a name for themselves, both in the club as well as on the national level.
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