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The Homegrown Player Rule is an initiative of the English
Premier League The Premier League is a professional association football league in England and the highest level of the English football league system. Contested by 20 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation with the English Football Lea ...
to allow for more domestic players to be developed from an earlier age in the hope of nurturing more homegrown talent. It forms part of the League's
Elite Player Performance Plan The Elite Player Performance Plan (EPPP) is a youth development scheme initiated by the Premier League. The intention of the EPPP is to improve the quality and quantity of home-grown players produced by top English clubs. Measures introduced by t ...
. The Premier League proposed a maximum of 17 non-"homegrown" players in each club squad, and the squad size is a maximum of 25. This means that in a full squad of 25 players, there must be at least eight homegrown players.
Greg Dyke Gregory Dyke (born 20 May 1947) is a British media executive, football administrator, journalist and broadcaster. Since the 1960s, Dyke has had a long career in the UK in print and then broadcast journalism. He is credited with introducing " t ...
, the former chairman of the
Football Association A football association, also known as a football federation, soccer federation, or soccer association, is a governing body for association football. Many of them are members of the sport's regional bodies such as UEFA and CONMEBOL and the world gov ...
(FA), wanted to implement much stronger regulation of foreign players. His intention was to help England to win the
2022 World Cup The 2022 FIFA World Cup was the 22nd FIFA World Cup, the quadrennial world championship for national football teams organized by FIFA. It took place in Qatar from 20 November to 18 December 2022, after the country was awarded the hosting ri ...
in Qatar, as he stated in an op-ed piece. Some of the most significant of Dyke's 2015 proposals included: * Homegrown players in a top-flight 25-man squad be increased from eight to 12 two of whom must be brought up in the team's youth system * Tightening the definition of what it is to be a homegrown player. As a consequence, fewer foreign-born players would qualify


Foreign-born, home-grown

Currently, to be classified as homegrown one must be on an English team for at least three years before the age of twenty-one which Dyke wanted to reduce to eighteen. This would mean that a teenager would have to start at the club by the age of fifteen at the latest and, since players are not allowed to move across national boundaries before sixteen (except under exceptional circumstances), this would mean fewer foreign players could qualify as homegrown. Each season the Premier League lists the squads for each of its clubs for the season on 1 September (after the summer transfer window closes). Each club is able to list up to 17 senior players that are not English or Welsh and did not spend a significant period in an English or Welsh academy, plus any number of homegrown players up to a maximum squad size of 25, plus an unlimited number of academy and under-21 players. For example, the list for 2017 contained a number of homegrown players who were not English or Welsh born or qualified, including Chelsea's
Cesc Fàbregas Francesc Fàbregas Soler (; ; born 4 May 1987) is a Spanish professional football manager and former player who played as a central midfielder. He is currently the head coach of club Como. Fàbregas came through La Masia, Barcelona's you ...
(Spain) and
Victor Moses Victor Moses (born 12 December 1990) is a Nigerian professional Association football, footballer who plays as a winger (association football), winger for club Luton Town F.C., Luton Town. He has also been deployed as a wing-back (association f ...
(Nigeria), Manchester United's
Paul Pogba Paul Labile Pogba (born 15 March 1993) is a French professional footballer who is a free agent. He primarily plays as a central midfielder. Born in Lagny-sur-Marne, Pogba joined the youth team of Ligue 2 side Le Havre in 2007. He joined Ma ...
(France) and
Romelu Lukaku Romelu Lukaku Bolingoli (; born 13 May 1993) is a Belgian professional footballer who plays as a Striker (association football), striker for club SSC Napoli, Napoli and the Belgium national football team, Belgium national team. Lukaku began h ...
(Belgium), and Arsenal's Héctor Bellerín (Spain).


Brexit

Miles Jacobson, director of
Sports Interactive Sports Interactive Limited is a British video game developer based in London, best known for the ''Football Manager'' series. Founded by brothers Collyer brothers (game designers), Oliver and Paul Collyer in July 1994, the studio was acquired in ...
, the company behind the ''
Football Manager ''Football Manager'', also known as ''Worldwide Soccer Manager'' in North America from 2004 to 2008, is a series of football management simulation video games developed by British developer Sports Interactive and published by Sega. The game beg ...
'' video game series, suggested that some EU-born players will not get work permits to work in the Premier League after
Brexit Brexit (, a portmanteau of "Britain" and "Exit") was the Withdrawal from the European Union, withdrawal of the United Kingdom (UK) from the European Union (EU). Brexit officially took place at 23:00 GMT on 31 January 2020 (00:00 1 February ...
. 152 current Premier League players who were born in the EU would probably not get a work permit if they are subjected to the same rules as non-EU players. Of the players who would not automatically qualify for work permits, they may qualify via the Football Association's Exceptions Panel. Some football lobby groups are using the tax paid by footballers as a reason to press for an exclusion for EU players - while the opposite view was the basis for Dyke's original proposal, that by reducing foreign born players there would be more room for English players. Since Brexit, clubs will not be able to sign players from overseas until they are 18. With this rule, overseas players can still become homegrown if they are signed at 18 years old and evolve 3 years on an English team, such as William Saliba.


Post-Brexit

The implementation of the Governing Body Endorsement (GBE) system following
Brexit Brexit (, a portmanteau of "Britain" and "Exit") was the Withdrawal from the European Union, withdrawal of the United Kingdom (UK) from the European Union (EU). Brexit officially took place at 23:00 GMT on 31 January 2020 (00:00 1 February ...
has led to significant challenges for
Premier League The Premier League is a professional association football league in England and the highest level of the English football league system. Contested by 20 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation with the English Football Lea ...
clubs. Since the United Kingdom's formal departure from the
European Union The European Union (EU) is a supranational union, supranational political union, political and economic union of Member state of the European Union, member states that are Geography of the European Union, located primarily in Europe. The u ...
on December 31, 2020, clubs have expressed widespread dissatisfaction with the current rules. The consensus among the 20 Premier League clubs is that the system, which was intended to balance the recruitment of international talent with the development of English players, is restrictive and drives up transfer prices. This, in turn, is seen as detrimental to the business of football in the top flight. Despite the original intent of the GBE system to protect opportunities for homegrown talent, Premier League clubs have increasingly called for a relaxation of these rules. The
Football Association A football association, also known as a football federation, soccer federation, or soccer association, is a governing body for association football. Many of them are members of the sport's regional bodies such as UEFA and CONMEBOL and the world gov ...
(FA) has acknowledged these concerns but remains focused on its objective of nurturing domestic players. In response to these challenges, new rules were introduced in the summer of 2023 to provide clubs with more flexibility. Premier League and
Championship In sport, a championship is a competition in which the aim is to decide which individual or team is the champion. Championship systems Various forms of competition can be referred to by the term championship. Title match system In this sys ...
clubs can now sign up to four overseas players per season who do not meet the standard GBE criteria. This adjustment is part of a broader effort to give clubs additional access to exceptional international talent while still incentivizing the development of English players. The FA has indicated that these changes will be reviewed and potentially expanded if they prove successful. This shift has resulted in increased recruitment of players from leagues in continents previously subject to greater restrictions, such as South America. These leagues are now considered to offer better value for money compared to many European leagues. The changes in recruitment patterns have been most noticeable in the Premier League, where clubs are looking to capitalize on this newly accessible talent pool. The post-Brexit adjustments in player recruitment rules have also impacted the composition of Premier League academies. Reduced access to teenage overseas talent may provide more opportunities for British players in the long term, but it could also limit the quality and diversity of talent available in these academies. This has sparked debate among top managers and club officials about the potential long-term effects on the quality of English football.


References

{{Reflist Association football rules and regulations Premier League