Addicks: What Think of Homegrown Player Quotas?

[hartley]

In a general sense, I agree with FIFA's idea of requiring clubs to have a certain number of "homegrown" players on the 25-man roster.

What I don't agree with is the idea of requiring that a certain number of those players be developed within your own academy. I understand the reasoning behind such a rule, so why would I not like this? Well, how do you hang on to great players you have developed in your academy when they want to go to other clubs [bigger or not]?

How do you keep a Scott Parker or Jermaine Defoe or Lee Bowyer? Even if such players are not moving on to bigger clubs, sometimes they are moving on to stay up in the EPL instead of being relegated with their "home" club.

I think that as long as the player is developed within England, that should be good enough. Players and clubs change their minds about each other all the time. Why shouldn't a player be able to move to another club if he wants since he is developed in England?

Your thoughts?

[kevruth]

I think you are missing a very important point. Teams that don't qualify for Europe usually use plenty of homegrown players because they can't afford to bring in the top names. They have no problem meeting the UEFA regulation unlike an Arsenal or a Chelsea who haven't really brought up their own players through their system (however, Ashely Cole is the only exception I can think of for Arsenal).

Chelsea and Arsenal may have some problems next season or they may just add to two nonames from their academy and only play with the other 23.

Charlton wouldn't have a problem. They've got Murphy, Thomas, Perry, Euell, Lisbie, etc. who qualify as English players and Fortune and Konchesky as the two youth players. So, again, the lesser clubs meet the requirements much easier.

[RobtheAggie]

I think you are missing a very important point. Teams that don't qualify for Europe usually use plenty of homegrown players because they can't afford to bring in the top names. They have no problem meeting the UEFA regulation unlike an Arsenal or a Chelsea who haven't really brought up their own players through their system (however, Ashely Cole is the only exception I can think of for Arsenal).

Chelsea and Arsenal may have some problems next season or they may just add to two nonames from their academy and only play with the other 23.

Charlton wouldn't have a problem. They've got Murphy, Thomas, Perry, Euell, Lisbie, etc. who qualify as English players and Fortune and Konchesky as the two youth players. So, again, the lesser clubs meet the requirements much easier.

Very good points. I think that this rule would really only affect six or seven teams in England. That is a guess, but I think that it is a pretty good one.

[hartley]

Well, as the rule stand now, yes. But those quotas are to go up each year.

2006-2007 = 2 homegrown from your acadamy and 2 homegrown in another English academy

2007-2008 = 3 and 3

2008-2009 = 4 and 4

Will even EPL clubs like Charlton be able to meet the quotas for 2008-2009? Looking at today's roster of players that would/could be [remember, some of these men don't play as of yet][Also note, some of these players are not necessarily in the 25-man roster -- this taken from the CAFC website that lists 28 in the senior roster.]:

Charlton Academy: Konchesky, Fortune, Lisbie, Sam, Sankofa, Varney, Fuller, Long, McCafferty, and Ricketts.

Other English Academy: Murphy, Thomas, Perry, Euell, Holland, Hughes, Jeffers, Royce, and Young.

Remember, nationality or what national team you play for doesn't matter. What matters is where you were developed. Nationality is nixed due to European Union legal contraints.

On the surface, it looks like the Addicks are in great shape. But will the likes of McCafferty [on loan] or even Sam ever see the field or be in the 16-man game day roster? Only time will tell.

I find it interesting that the success of the MLS is hinged on a reverse of this FIFA quota idea. The MLS restricts the number of international or other-national players on each squad. Thus, most squads are made up of many many Americans. This has helped develop American talent for the US National team. But of course, the MLS is not restricted by some union laws as FIFA is.

Eventually those MLS international numbers will go up just as the FIFA numbers do.

I just find the whole thing very interesting. I don't think Charlton will ever have a problem. And maybe this will not only help the England team, but also clubs like Charlton keep the talent they have developed. There will have to be replacements for homegrown players that are being sold or at least a surplus ready to step up. That sort of thing could really slow down quick deals in the January window.

And just think if you could add back in to the present squad players like Parker, Bowyer, and Defoe. That's a wow. You won't always be able to keep players like that, but quotas will help keep some players "home".

[kevruth]

Maybe we shouldn't get so excited about this. Charlton has to qualify for Europe for these rules to apply. Since we're not a regular in European competitions let alone ever qualified I doubt we should worry ourselves about the makeup of the squad. We need to get into Europe first.

[hartley]

Well, right now these quotas apply to Cup play. But they could eventually be applied to all leagues.

I'm not excited about the whole thing. I just find it interesting to discuss.