The Brexit Effect
RICHARDS JAMES looks at what the British people’s decision to leave the EU could mean for our football…
restricting non-British EU players coming to clubs in Britain.
Clubs would be forced to start developing and giving first team opportunities to homegrown talent.
Only about 30% of players competing in the English Premier League are English, a fact often cited for the national team’s lack of success.
There could be an opportunity to set limits on the numbers of foreign players in match-day squads as is currently the case in countries like Russia and Turkey.
However, rules could also be relaxed for nonEU countries which may have the opposite effect and see even higher numbers of foreign players coming to Britain.
Another big effect could be in the transfer market with the value of the pound already taking a hit.
“Transfer fees and wages may rise,” said Simon Chadwick, professor of sports enterprise at Salford University. "Clubs could suddenly find players are much more expensive because the pound is worth less."
With the new £5bn TV deal kicking in, this may not be a problem for English Premier League clubs who could easily afford to pay higher wages to compensate for a lower valued pound, but for those clubs in the Championship and Scottish Premiership it may not be so easy.
In the uncertainty following the leave vote, transfer activity may be slower as clubs sit on the fence until it is clear what will happen next.
With Brexit consequence time frames being quoted as anything up to two years, a period of restraint is more than likely.
Of course, all of this is pure speculation as no one is sure yet what a Britain outside of the EU will look like politically, financially or in any other public or sporting sphere.
In the short-term, there is unlikely to be much of an impact on British football or its popularity, especially the English Premier League.
However, it will be very interesting to observe the longer- term influence of the Brexit vote on football in this country and on British life in general.