Homegrown rule: Read full article at UEFA.com This rule has sparked some controversy regarding the EU policy for freedom of movement and work in the EU. But, recently the EU has issued a statement in support of UEFA: Read full article at UEFA.com
That rule screws up my championship manager game every time. I was hoping they'd shoot it down. Anyway, it's a good rule for the purpose that it's designed for, but this "specifity of sport in Europe" argument is thin as paper. Hopefully the clubs will get into the spirit of the thing, but one well-timed lawsuit in Strasbourg by a player or club that think that they are being screwed over, and down it goes. There is no way this rule can stand against EU labour law.
Here's hoping. It can only be a good thing for youth development. The prohibitive work permit laws in the UK will need to be fixed next, as it puts UK clubs at a distinct disadvantage to their continental neighbours, particularly in terms of youth development.
From Yahoo! World Soccer Home-grown talent still good for the people's game by Simon Baskett After a dreadful start to the season, Athletic Bilbao are in serious danger of being relegated for the first time since the Spanish League began in 1928. Bilbao, famously, only recruit players from the Basque country and some observers are now saying the policy is to blame for their present predicament. They argue that a club that relies exclusively on players from a small region in the northern part of Spain can no longer compete with clubs that trawl the globe for talent. In an era of relentless globalisation, reliance on such a limited pool of players is seen as a suicidal anachronism. Others claim Athletic's reputation as one of the biggest clubs in Spain rests on past successes achieved when the restrictions on foreign players prevented free competition. In an age when winning counts for so much it might be thought that Athletic would bow to the pressure and ditch tradition in exchange for bringing some much-needed success to the club. Nothing could be further from the truth, however. Close to 80 percent of fans say they would prefer the ignominy of relegation to the dropping of the club's recruitment policy. For Bilbao supporters the importance of maintaining their links with the local region clearly outweighs their desire for silverware. Commentators point out that Athletic are an exception only because of the very special circumstances that prevail in the Basque region. The club's historic status as a symbol of Basque nationalism, the institutional support it enjoys and its stable fan base mean that it can afford the luxury of following a policy that would be unthinkable for many other teams. BOSMAN RULE Despite its present difficulties though, Bilbao's policy has struck a chord with other clubs, fans and even the game's top administrators. Part of the reason is because of the impact the Bosman Ruling has had in the past decade. The ground-breaking judgement exposed soccer to unrestrained free trade in players with almost every club taking the opportunity to fill their squads with talented, and on some occasions, not so talented, foreign players. The ruling was meant to end the restrictions on the free movement of players within the European Union, but it also opened the door to players from all over the world as many found ways of gaining European citizenship. While the move has undoubtedly broadened the horizons of clubs and fans, it continues to have negative effects. Fans frequently complain that many players are simply mercenaries who lack any loyalty to their club's colours and are only concerned about selling their skills to the highest bidder. Many clubs have got their fingers burned trying to keep pace with the inflationary spiral of the transfer market. The game has become increasingly dominated by rich and powerful oligarchies with the resources to recruit the top players and exploit lucrative marketing opportunities, leaving the rest to scrap for survival. However, there is an increasing recognition that soccer must rein in the worst excesses of the free market and rekindle some of the passion that helped make it the world's most popular sport. HOME-GROWN FIFA president Sepp Blatter believes one solution is for clubs to field at least six home-grown players, while UEFA are moving in the same direction. From next season, clubs in European competition will have to include at least two players they have trained themselves and two more developed in the same national association. Many clubs are also coming to recognise that nurturing local talent may be their only route to survival. Not only is it cheaper to develop your own players, but the rise of home-grown talent also increases fan loyalty, commitment and boosts team morale. Real Madrid's Raul, Liverpool's Steven Gerrard, Roma's Francesco Totti and Barcelona's Carles Puyol all enjoy a special status amongst supporters because they came through the youth ranks, while their presence allows young fans to cling to the dream that they too may make it one day. Even the mighty Real Madrid recognise that an over-reliance on foreign Galacticos has had a detrimental effect on team morale. Real's new director of football Benito Floro said recently that the club has lost its identity and needed an injection of players from the cantera (youth sides) to help foster better team spirit. It is, of course, unlikely that any future winners of the Champions League will be able to emulate Celtic's achievement of nearly 40 years ago when they won the European Cup with a squad comprised entirely of players born within 30 miles of Glasgow. But a re-emergence of local identity can only be good for a sport that still claims to be the people's game. And if Bilbao do survive the drop, many fans, with no particular allegiance either the Basque country or the club itself, will, though, probably be very pleased on their behalf.
And from Football365.com A column by John Nicholson Full article -> link Is there anything wrong with wanting a team of mostly British players complimented with one or two top-class overseas players? Is that such a bad thing? Wasn't that actually how it was supposed to work? Are you really telling me we can't find a lad in the north east who can play just 1% better than Rochemback? A drunk monkey could play better. The irony is because of a good youth policy we have the chance to do something shocking. We could have 75% of our first team as home-grown talent. Top it up with a few judicious buys and we'd all be much happier. Is it really so shocking to think that might be the answer? Surely, that is the future and all this buying in a striker from Machu Pichu will be seen for the foolish delusion it is. Would it be so shocking to try? I'd rather be relegated with that team than stay up and have to look at Viduk'as big square head and JFH's ridiculous big sticky-out granite horse's arse every week. Maybe I'm just old-fashioned. Maybe. Or maybe it's the most modern of thinking. But Middlesbrough should be a warning, an illustration of what can happen if your club is one of the many unfashionable, out-of-the-way clubs who are trying to pretend to be a big boy.
another club for whom this is excellent news is olympique lyonnais. presently on the squad they have 8 homegrown players. but this is less than last year, indeed there are fewer every year. OL keeps growing players, but recently they generally end up in other clubs... if your ambitions are to win the big cup, you have to prune thinner in your own ranks and upgrade with upmarket add-ons. that's why it's urgent to get this through. the more they wait, the less of a youth system there will be to save.
I believe it will benefit football in the overeall sense. There used to be a time where most of the players on an English team were English.. That's not the case anymore. I'm not a racist I just think it would be nice to see clubs like Arsenal produce youth talents instead of depending on cheap foreign markets. In truth if this rule was implemented 10 years ago, West Ham would've ruled the premiership alongside Manchester United. I watched the FA Cup final of 1979 a couple of days ago and I couldn't believe my eyes. Only one foreigner on the pitch, and I speak this as I'm a foreigner where I live. Just look at my hometown team of Red Star Belgrade. We are a perfect example. Before the massive movement of globalization in the Western world we used to challenge for European glory every year. It wouldn't be strange to see us in the quarters of the ECC every other year. This also goes for other teams in the East. By today's standards all the players are leaving for foreign markets and in turn the game in these countries suffers. Nikola Zigic is a prime target this week.. It's only a matter of time until he leaves. Therefore I give UEFA full backing, because I want to see the playing field leveled, as well as to see who are the TRUE football magicians, instead of us commending Chelsea for winning the EPL and for coming together in such a short time when they bought a whole squad in 2 seasons. This doesn't just go as far as Chelsea, it goes everywhere, AC Milan, Real Madrid, Arsenal, Manchester United, Inter Milan, etc. The list goes on and on. Let's give other teams without the financial backing a chance... the way it used to be. We've forgotten the magic of football in my mind.
haha. or you can cheat like me. i use the football manager editor...change the players to an EU nationality...boom, problem solved. theyre still their original nationality if theyre on the national team. so, you make then danish or something (i prefer random, like cyrpiot or maltese), but they are still on their original team, like colombia...since they are still on the team, they retain the colombian citizenship, but gain EU citizenship! haha. and yes, I'm waiting for Bosman II to show up. There will be a guy who whines and says being a footballer is no different than being an electrician. i dont mind too much this rule. of course, you have rafa benitez out there who is right as well. he goes for the best value. he cant help it if english players are just more expensive, so he goes for cheaper alternatives like spaniards or scandinavians. agger was a great purchase. a british player of his quality likely would have been much more.
That's exactly what's gone wrong in this sport for me. I believe that's what they are trying to achieve by introducing this rule.
It will have a few effects: 1. Native players won't have to be as good to get picked due to lack of competition so the standards will go down. 2. The quality of football will go down, so players will be playing a lower standard of football every week. 3. Worse football to watch for the fans. 4. Only the rich teams in England will be able to compete as they'd be the only ones able to buy the overpriced English players. English players are already expensive enough, £21 million for SWP, £7 million for SWP, £12 million for Walcott, now imagine only English players are allowed, it'd be insane. 5. Instead of English players playing amongst skillful foreigners and learning from them, they'd just stick to English long-ball football. So you'd have no problem with foreigners brought up through the youth system? And you'd be against English players who are bought? I don't see why the clubs whose academies have the biggest catchment areas or with the biggest transfer budget should get all the best players. Players have no choice over where they're born, so why should they be judged on it? This petty tribalism should be kept to the international game. Teams without financial backing can't afford English players, they can only afford foreigners because they're cheaper.
If you take the foreigners away the English market could only get cheaper and if all the teams are throwing so much money around how many players will they have? 200? Maybe the best will go to the biggest clubs but not all. You're forgetting the memories of the 70 and 80's where teams like Derby County and Norwich City used to be a force. So what if the quality of football goes down? At least you'll see a true team winning for one instead of 11 foreigners in the starting 11...
although i agree with the homegrown idea, and with anything in general that will bring football back down to earth and closer to the fans in the terraces, it's wrong to think that foreigners can't constitute a team. the club spirit of players like puzkas or henry is undeniable. and closer to home i have a prime example. diarra may be from mali, he sees OL not just as a group of friends, but as a real family. as for brazilians, they're not really foreigners in lyon anymore! if only they sat in the end, i would join the red and blue; they arbor their section with the flags of all the foreign players in the club.
Yes, it is even more so to take it up in a discussion about UEFA's new rules which will when fully implemented demand 4 "home-grown" and 4 others from the same FA in a 25 man squad. That will leave 17 places for players from other FA's.
Full article -> uefa.com Review on EXCO agenda Monday, 16 January 2006 Plans for an independent review of European football will be discussed at the next meeting of the UEFA Executive Committee in Nyon, Switzerland on 25 January. Taking the lead FIFA President Joseph S Blatter, in agreement with UEFA President Lennart Johansson, proposed at a meeting involving UK sports minister Richard Caborn in Leipzig in December that UEFA should take the lead in all matters concerning the European Union and European football. As a direct result of that agreement, UEFA CEO Lars-Christer Olsson is to chair a review of the European game, with findings scheduled to be reported to the EU this summer. Adapting to new circumstances In the ten years since the Bosman ruling changed the face of European football, UEFA has adapted to the game's new sporting and commercial circumstances, and maintains constant dialogue with the European authorities and other major stakeholders in the European game. Major impact "The specific character of sport lost out to the rules of business," said Olsson of the Bosman verdict. "Nobody can deny that the Bosman decision has had a major impact on European football. We would like to create a reasonably even playing field and fair competition in the European game." Review update Olsson will give the Executive Committee an update on the review process at the Nyon meeting. Areas set to be covered in the review include club ownership, levels of expenditure for players, concentration of wealth among certain clubs, regulation of players' agents, distribution of revenue within European football and the role of the EU institutions and football authorities.