English Premier League to Grow Their Own

By: Daryl | September 16th, 2009

There’s a bit of a shakeup happening in the world of football right now, with more than one organization taking steps to self-correct the problems they’ve (more than likely) caused.

First there was Europe’s big spending clubs approving the Michel Platinin-led plan to only spend what they earn. No debt, no sugar daddies from 2012 onwards.

And now English clubs – which notably feature fewer English players than they used to – have agreed to a self-imposed “homegrown player quota”.

Starting next season (2010-11) English clubs must submit a squad list (or roster) of 25 players, eight of whom must be “homegrown”.

Homegrown doesn’t necessarily mean English. It just means that the player spent three seasons with an English league club prior to their 21st birthday. Here’s how the Prem’s website puts it:

A home-grown player will be defined as one who, irrespective of his nationality or age, has been registered with any club affiliated to the Football Association or the Football Association of Wales for a period, continuous or not, of three entire seasons or 36 months prior to his 21st birthday (or the end of the Season during which he turns 21).‬‪

So Cristiano Ronaldo (who joined Man Utd aged 18 in 2003 and so was with an English clubs for three seasons before he turned 21) and Cesc Fabregas (with Arsenal since age 16) are considered just as homegrown as Steven Gerrard or Ashley Cole.

This doesn’t necessarily discriminate against foreigners, but does force teams to pick players who’ve spent their careers in England, which for the most part will be English kids.

The bigger upheaval may be the squad size of 25. Especially for teams like Liverpool, whose current first team squad is considerably bigger right now. But 25 isn’t a hard limit, as the club can still call on as many players aged under-21 as it likes.

I see ups and downs to this.

I see clubs being forced to use their young players in the first team more regularly. As a neutral football fan, that could be quite exciting, as everyone likes to see the next generation of superstars as soon as possible. As an England fan it makes me optimistic that more young English players will get a chance, as their path to first team football won’t be blocked by ageing foreigners.

On the downside… this could lead to either a) a drop in quality as clubs are forced to field players that aren’t quite read, or b) the existing problem of English teams going around ~~poaching~~ buying up all the young talent (Rafael at Man Utd and (famously) Gael Kakuta at Chelsea) going into overdrive.

Either way, should make for an interesting summer of transfer activity as teams get ready for the rule change.