**** OFFICIAL Premiership 2006-07 season Thread!*****

[JaredL]

Do McBride and/or Bocanegra have European passports, or are they planning on using all their foreign spots on Americans? Have the rules changed in England so that playing more than 3 foreigners is no longer prohibited?

[shoxbb6]

I'm pretty sure that bosman removed limits on the number of foreigners that clubs could have.

[ThaSaltCracka]

when you say foreigners, you mean non euro's right? It sounds like Gooch already has one, what with playing in Belgium.

[shoxbb6]

Onyewu hasn't played in Belgium long enough to get citizenship there. He'll still need to get a work permit to play in England and would count as a foreigner if there still were quotas.

[JaredL]

[ QUOTE ]
when you say foreigners, you mean non euro's right? It sounds like Gooch already has one, what with playing in Belgium.

[/ QUOTE ]

Yes, non Europeans.

They have this requirement in Spain, and I know they used to in England (including post Bosman). Friedel for example, had a German passport as I recall so he wasn't considered a foreigner.

[shoxbb6]

England doesn't have a limit on the number on Non-EU players that a team can have. They instead use work permits to limit the number of Non-EU players in English Clubs.
According to Gordon Taylor:
[ QUOTE ]
Governments in European countries which are similarly affected, Spain in particular, are working with the sports authorities to try to develop their own talent in the interest of the national team. Unless we are going to give our own youth an opportunity, what chance have we got for a successful national team?

[/ QUOTE ]
http://www.findarticles.com/p/articl...4/ai_n14237664

From an article in the Guardian:
[ QUOTE ]

Non-EU nationals require a work permit to play in Britain and should have played in 75% of their country's internationals over the previous two years to qualify. Premier League clubs approached the Home Office about introducing a quota system that would scrap the 75% rule in exchange for limiting the number of foreign players at any club to three. They had hoped the change would allow English clubs to bid for promising young foreign players, rather than limiting them to established international stars, but they were swiftly rebuffed.

[/ QUOTE ]
http://www.buzzle.com/editorials/8-4-2003-43828.asp

However, all English teams playing in continental competitions must have at least 4 home grown players.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/foot...pe/4233353.stm

[JaredL]

This makes sense. Freidel was the second keeper on the US team, so that's probably why he needed the European passport.

[ThaSaltCracka]

[ QUOTE ]
Governments in European countries which are similarly affected, Spain in particular, are working with the sports authorities to try to develop their own talent in the interest of the national team. Unless we are going to give our own youth an opportunity, what chance have we got for a successful national team?

[/ QUOTE ] This seems retarded to me. The US just got schooled in Baseball and Basketball, leagues chock full of local players. Not only that, it totally lowers the overall level of talent in your domestic league. So basically your local boys are learning to play against worst players. It is a very interesting topic though, especially when you look at Italy, where all members of their WC team played in their domestic league.

[JaredL]

[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
Governments in European countries which are similarly affected, Spain in particular, are working with the sports authorities to try to develop their own talent in the interest of the national team. Unless we are going to give our own youth an opportunity, what chance have we got for a successful national team?

[/ QUOTE ] This seems retarded to me. The US just got schooled in Baseball and Basketball, leagues chock full of local players. Not only that, it totally lowers the overall level of talent in your domestic league. So basically your local boys are learning to play against worst players. It is a very interesting topic though, especially when you look at Italy, where all members of their WC team played in their domestic league.

[/ QUOTE ]

I'm not sure the US example is a good one for your point. We used to dominate these traditionally American sports and no longer do. Some have actually argued that this is partly due to an increase in foreign players playing in the NBA and MLB. I don't think it's causal, I think both are due to international leagues and players getting much better.

In the case of domestic soccer leagues, the problem isn't really with the top players. Ronaldinho surely makes the Spanish national team better by playing in la liga. The problem comes when the lower-level or utility players aren't local guys. If these guys are foreigners, there is no room for domestics to make squads and get better so the national team will suffer.

[shoxbb6]

Not only at the lower levels, but also in the youth academies. The FA want to be sure that English clubs are developing English players and not just youngsters from South America, etc.