I understand the mechanics of transfer windows. I've read the Regulations on the Status and Transfer of Players. I understand how the various federations set their transfer windows. And I understand what teams and players can and can't do during transfer windows. Here's what I don't understand. Why are there transfer windows? Who do they benefit, and how? From what I can tell, after the Bosman ruling came down and reserve clauses were no longer available, UEFA and FIFA got together to try to cut down on player movement some other way--and this is what they came up with. And obviously it must be protecting someone's financial interest. But whose? And from what? Or, in other words, what would really change if FIFA dropped Article 6 and just let national leagues set a cutoff date after which newly registered players wouldn't be eligible to play in that league, which--as I understand it--is how the system worked until 2002?
there is 2 kind of transfer windows.international(you can sell a players outside your league) and national.not always those 2 "windows" are open at the same time. soccer is a different sport,with different sets of rules.by exemple,a player cant play for more than 2 teams over 1 year period.this rules helps the clubs by not paying a huge number of players.otherwise,over 1 year, the player could move to more teams.for sure this rules,doesnt help the soccer players agents.
Like I said, I understand the rules and how they work. I don't get how it helps the clubs to only be able to buy or sell players within a specific window.
I think it is based on the traditional soccer idea that a club has the close season to sell and buy players, and once the season opens it should play the season with the squad it has assembled. The idea that a player can change the club he is registered with in mid-season - like they can in Europe in the January registration period - is difficult to understand for many people. Remember that players can be bought and sold at any time of the year, it is the registration with their new club that is limited to the so-called transfer windows, meaning that they are really registration periods, not transfer periods.
MLS owns the player's registration rather than an individual team. So he played for 3 teams but never had to be have his registration changed. It's also why up until recently clubs were unlikely to sell a good player because they barely saw any of the transfer income.
Except that it's not a traditional idea. Up until FIFA introduced transfer windows in 2002 or so, clubs could bu and sell players whenever they wanted, unless the league had a transfer deadline for the season. In England, I thought you could do as many. Transfers as you liked up until March or so.
Am I the only one that liked having Transfer Window throughout most of the season then the 2 window system? The league and especially the day to day news cycle to me was more exciting when teams could buy and sell till like March with the end of season being when transfers could commence again. That said I'm sure that a lot of clubs are still around because it does stop clubs from trying to buy out of desperation by spending over their heads trying to stave off relegation.
OK, here're the basic deal with the TW's. In the olden days, teams could buy and sell prior to the very end of the season. It often resulted in teams selling their top stars to the contenders into April/May and, presumably, gave somewhat of a distorted incentive to the clubs firmly in the middle of the table. Since then, FIFA decided that there will be two windows for each league to move the already registered players (free agents can be picked up at any time). The reason for the winter and the summer must be due to the different calendars of the various leagues. This allows some leagues to sell/buy after their seasons are over while others can bring in people to cover for injuries or the "roster/talent" overflow while they still have something to play for. Mind you, most leagues outside of the EPL do not have any roster limits, so they can always move a few players here and there. Personally, I am for an MLB type of transfer activity - anything up to about 2/3rd of the season. However, if you prorate the major Euro leagues' 9-10 month long internal competitions, the end of the winter window (usually, Jan, 31st) is pretty much 2/3rds in anyway.
If players can be bought and sold whenever the clubs like then it gives even more of an unfair advantage to the richer clubs. If their season is not going well then they can just buy their way to the top (even more than they do now). Teams like Man U and Arsenal who are not doing as well as they would like could just bring players in after 5 games and use it to turn the whole thing around. The same can be said for the other end of the table. If a club is looking like they are going down with a couple of months/weeks to go then they can improve their chances artificially which is unfair on the other contenders. This is of course just my take on the situation and may by no means have nothing to do with the real reason.
That didn't really tend to happen though. A lot of the resoning was that without a window for transfers, transfer activity and speculaltion would be limited to those windows. That doesn't seem to have worked at all from a speculation point of view.