FA thinks Brexit would help English footballers: Here's how
England football's governing body, Football Association (FA), feels that the Brexit could help the English footballers in the long run. As per reports, FA is considering to raise the number of locals in a Premier League club to 12 from 8. The players might not be British but must be signed to an English or Welsh club for three years, prior to turning 21.
According to FA's new technical director, Les Reed, they currently possess 32-34% of English players in the EPL, while they are looking to maintain the same rate following the Brexit. "What we don't want to do is have regulations which knock us back to where we were at times last season, down to 26-27 percent," said Reed, as reported by AFP.
"By going worldwide, it's going to be a massive market so we need to have regulations around the endorsement that mean we can protect our pool of talent that is home-grown," Reed further opined.
Speaking on if EPL would continue to remain the best league in the world following the Brexit, Reed sounded optimistic and put forward the example of all English final in the UEFA Champions League and Europa League last season. However, he maintained the fact that their prime objective would be to give enough exposure to young English players.
Reed also expressed his delight as the EPL clubs are trusting local players form their academy. "We've got a number now kind of leading the way in actually making appearances and getting in the top-six teams and showing that they can do that, which hopefully will change a little bit of the mindset around whether young English players can do that," added Reed.
"I think the combination of interest from abroad, plus one or two now making headway at the top end of the game, hopefully, will then open the door for a lot more," concluded Reed.
