If Greg Dyke of the English Football Association has his way, the overseas pathway for young Australian footballers is about to become a lot more difficult.
The Guardian reports that the FA has developed proposals that will ban Football League clubs from “signing non-EU players altogether,” while banning Premier League clubs from sending them out on loan. The reason? Preventing mediocre foreigners from swamping home-grown English talent.
To balance these rules, the FA is making it easier for top internationals from non-EU countries to play in England. Rather than having to play 75 per cent of matches in the past two years, for a top-30 ranked country, the limit has been lowered to 30 per cent.
From the English perspective, one could argue that this will merely increase the footballing arms race between the top clubs. To gain an edge, clubs will sign more top-30 players and possibly promote even less English talent as the stakes get higher. A lot more spending and a lot more unsuccessful World Cup campaigns.
From the Australian perspective, as a non-EU nation currently ranked outside the top 30 and with little prospect of returning soon, it is easy to see how these proposals could be disastrous.
Consider the Socceroos line-up against Saudi Arabia. Where would Bailey Wright be without Preston North End? Where would Massimo Luongo be without Swindon? Had he not been allowed to sign for League One side Bristol City, would Gus Hiddink have turned Luke Wilkshire into an 80-cap Socceroo?
And the list hardly ends there. Adam Taggart would not be currently pursuing his footballing dreams at Fulham, as Adrian Leijer did before him. Even our captain, Mile Jedinak, would not have been allowed to sign for then-Championship side Crystal Palace and develop into the leader and player he is today.
While some disdain the quality of the English game and prefer that our youth head to Germany or the Netherlands to develop their craft, there can be no denying that the English pathway has been crucial to developing the games of many a Socceroo, both past and present.
The lower leagues offer a tough, uncompromising brand of football, and the constant pressure of relegation reinforces accountability and discipline that the A-League as yet cannot provide. And the familiarity of playing in an English-speaking country can be a great comfort for young lads away from home.
Losing such a valued pathway to the top, of course, will not be a death knell to Australian football. But if these proposals succeed they will make the climb up the rankings that much more difficult.
Freddie
Guest
No surprise at your comments fadida. You clearly had a bad time there, your constant negativity towards the English stands out like dogs balls. There's good & bad football in most countries, but you can clearly only see one side. As for your argument regarding numbers watching overseas football in England, care to back that up with any stats? Or is it, like most of your arguments, based upon assumption and stereotype?
Fussball ist unser leben
Roar Guru
I'd rather develop an Muller, Ozil, Kroos, Reus, Goetze, Benzema, Origi, etc. etc. I can't think of a single English footballer that I think "wow, that's what we need".
Lionheart
Guest
Good points Freddie. We tend to overstate issues when they relate to England. I look at some of the young guys in the premier league, say Sterling, Wellbeck, and wish we could develop players that good. Coaching seems to be an issue for the national side, I think.
Fadida
Guest
Wrong. Lived in the Uk and watched games at all levels there. Sorry Freddie, English football is high in excitement but low in technical quality. Ironically it's the English who are less likely to watch football from other leagues.
Bondy
Guest
Freddie Good post ..
Freddie
Guest
Actually, all three of England's World Cup campaigns have been better than Australia's. 2006 - Australia R16, England quarter-finals 2010 - Australia group stage, England R16 2014 - Australia group stage (0pts) England group stage (1pt) Agree that more Australians should go to other nations in Europe for their development, but to say that the FA is telling young Aussies to "piss off" is an overly exaggerated headline, and typical of the Australian mindset. It's nothing to do with Australians, its the FA trying to improve their own national team. Also, the amount of stereotyping here when it comes to the style of game in the English system is mind-boggling. I doubt half of these people have ever set foot on English soil, let alone watched games live in the different leagues.
Jayden
Guest
Pretty sure the Serie B and lower divisions have to follow these regulations, we have plenty of Aussies there as well.
Bondy
Guest
England's last three World Cup campaigns realistically have been no better than Australia's ,you'd be brave to argue that point.
Fussball ist unser leben
Roar Guru
This article provides startling evidence of the paucity of top quality of footballers being developed in England. On Matchday 1 in the Uefa Champions League, England had the maximum number of clubs participating. However... .. English players playing time on Match Day 1 was very low. Players from Portugal, Belgium & Sweden had more playing time in the UCL this week than English players. Another startling statistic - English players in the UCL were only playing for English clubs. Data: http://infostradalive.com/2014/09/19/analyse-this-more-swedes-than-english-in-champions-league/
Alex Kiefer
Roar Rookie
To answer your question, the Championship is considered a part of 'the football league', but regardless I'd have to agree with you still that the move made by the FA is certainly beneficial to Australia and its players, with some either returning to the A League or playing in leagues offering better development. The comparatively low number of players currently in the English system, when compared with other nations and also stats of Australians in England 5-10 years ago, and this is most likely testament to that low capability for development that the English system offers. Despite this, I'm also not sure of how much benefit this will prove to be to the FA. Surely there is a reason why the lower leagues contain quite a large number of foreign players, this being that local players, who it must be noted do not involve the hassle of visa management, are not of the desired quality. The removal of these players will surely reduce the quality of these leagues, in particular the Championship, thus creating an environment in which the plethora of English players will still fail to develop technically. Under the proposed changes, the Premier League will still however maintain its quality, this being only due to the marquee players, who assumedly as they must attract a large sum of money, have probably completed most of their technical development. The league itself, even with more english players occupying the ranks of mid table clubs, will therefore fail to develop and may potentially become even more unbalanced, however the extent of this will most likely be reduced due to the presence of European players.
TheMagnificent11
Roar Guru
I'm not a writer so I give you permission to go ahead a write it...feel free to use any of my comments :-)
Patrick Effeney
Editor
There's an article in that!
TheMagnificent11
Roar Guru
Cheers :-)
Fadida
Guest
But it won't. Take away competition for places and the standard won't improve. The youth coaching is still poor overall in the UK which is the major issue, not "foreigners". I'd rather out players play second tier in Germany than anywhere in England. I believe there is a clause that allows clubs to buy players over a certain price, regardless of nationality? for English players at the top end therefore won't increase anyway. Can anyone confirm this, or have I made it up? :)
Fadida
Guest
Great post
Magic Sponge
Guest
Great and understandable call to improve their players
TheMagnificent11
Roar Guru
Totally agree. Over even if our best young talent spends a bit more time in the A-League before moving to a Holland, Belgium, Japan etc.
TheMagnificent11
Roar Guru
Personally, I think our best young players are better off playing in the A-League than playing in League One, Two or Three in England. The Championship is decent quality but is it considered part of the Football League? The EPL certainly isn't. The standard of football in the A-League is such that A-League teams are competitive (and in even some cases beating) EPL opposition that come here for pre-season tours. Yes, these are lower half teams in their pre-season, but the A-League teams are in pre-season too. And, that's just results. Look at the style of football that most of the teams play in League One. It's very helter-skelter without much emphasis on possession (not all teams are like this but definitely more than half). The Football League is not a breeding ground to develop highly technical players. You only have to look at the English national team over the last decade. The only strikers and centre midfielders they have produced that could get a gig at Barca, Real or Bayern are Rooney and Wilshire. Yet the Spanish, German and French leagues are producing several players of this quality. It would be more of a concern if Australian players weren't allowed to play in the lower leagues of Holland, Belgium, Germany, Italy Spain or France. These are much better countries when it comes to nurturing and developing talent. And, keeping our best young talent in the A-League a little longer improves the standard of the A-League.
Mister Football
Roar Guru
I was about to say the same thing. Many do not appear to appreciate that one of the great advantages of Australian players is that so many have access to EU passports, certainly a far greater proportion than can be found in most parts of the world. So, if a young Australian player is at a similar level to a Chinese or Iranian or Egyptian player, but that Australian player has an EU passport, he has a definite advantage over the others in gaining a contract with the English FA (or other leagues in Western Europe). That will not change, in fact, if anything, Australians have an even greater advantage (if they have access to EU passports).
The Minister
Guest
If this is what it takes to get more Aussies playing on the continent instead of the UK, they have my vote.