When Britons went to the polls on June 23rd, 2016, the question “how will Brexit affect my football team?” was of very little concern.Yet Brexit’s impact on the Premier League could change the rosters, structures, and quality of the game as we know it. With the official terms of the UK’s break from Europe hanging in the balance, the future of the English game finds itself in a highly volatile state.
From the league’s perennial champions like Manchester United, Manchester City, and Chelsea, to its bottom-feeders fighting off being pushed to a lower division, known as relegation, each club could face significant financial and demographic changes after Brexit. Without addressing the financial, regulatory, and immigration challenges Brexit poses, the Premier League could undergo one of the biggest legal and governance alterations since its inception.
The most dramatic repercussion could be a decrease in the number of European players eligible to play in England. Under the UK’s immigration system, the Football Association (FA) has to endorse all non-UK footballers in order for the Home Office to issue a work permit. Prior to Brexit, EU and EEA (European Economic Area) players enjoyed the freedom to move and work in the UK without the need for this endorsement.
As it stands, Brexit will nullify EU and EEA players from automatically qualifying to work in England, and as a result, many of them will be unable to meet the requirements for an endorsement. This could force clubs to pay heightened transfer fees and wage costs to increase the chances of their players receiving an endorsement through a separate Exceptions Panel hearing. Without stipulations or exceptions for European players in the post-Brexit immigration system, over half of the Premier League would require work permits.
Such immigration restrictions could lead to a considerable demographic shift for Premier League rosters. Clubs would see a rise in the number of English players as a result of decreased European eligibility, and in a league already composed of more foreign players than English ones, Brexit’s impact on league demographics may actually be a welcome occurrence for the FA.
In their ongoing effort to end the English national team’s 54-year drought since winning a World Cup, the FA has spent years trying to limit the number of European players allowed on each roster in order to give English players more playing time. While nationality quotas are banned under EU law, the FA may have plans to institute such a change after Brexit. Former Chairman of the FA, Greg Dyke, made this notion unambiguously clear in his parting letter to the FA:
“Getting our young players real experience at the top level still remains, I believe, English football’s biggest problem…Although I was not a supporter of Brexit, it could be that by leaving the EU this problem could be solved. If the FA and the government were to have the determination to restrict the flow of European players coming to play in Britain to the very best and introduce quotas…it could be changed quickly.”
For teams like Manchester City, Chelsea, and Arsenal, whose rosters are strongly dependent on European talent, a nationality quota could prompt a sizable shift in ideology. This could cause them to pursue less senior European transfers and rely more heavily on players under 21 years old, since there are no restrictions on the number of U-21 players on any given roster.
For smaller clubs, a major concern is losing access to European youth players. FIFA, football’s highest governing body, prohibits the transfer of players under the age of 18. However, EU member states currently enjoy the ability to transfer players with ‘minor’ status (those between the ages of 16 and 18), as long as they are transferred within the EU or EEA. For small clubs, these young players are often a lucrative investment opportunity because of their relatively cheap cost. Once a player is bought, the club can develop him over the course of a few seasons, hoping to increase his value. If the player attracts attention from a bigger club, he can be sold, and the small club turns a profit. While larger clubs may have a buffer from Brexit’s new regulations because of their financial resources, smaller clubs will likely be hit hard by the restrictions.
If English clubs lose access to these youth players following Brexit, it will significantly limit their ability to develop Europe’s most talented young footballers and secure their services as they become notable stars in the game. It’s possible the Premier League will be able to adjust to the new restrictions under Brexit, but if it can’t, the future of English football may look significantly different than it does today.
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