The Economics of Sport
  • Sports Economics
  • About
  • Workshop
  • Selected Publications
  • Book Reviews
  • A Primer on Gaelic Games
  • Upcoming Events
  • Media
  • Education
  • Resources & Links
  • Data

Brexit And The Premier League

25/5/2016

 
By Robbie Butler

The vote on whether the UK should remain in the European Union will take place on Thursday 23rd of June 2016. The "In" side appears in control as they currently trade at odds of 1/7 with bookmaker Paddy Power to win the vote. These odds are obviously subject to change. One external shock could be England's performance at Euro 2016. England play their final group game in Saint-Étienne three days earlier. Commentators have suggested that a positive performance by the team during the group stages is more likely to see people vote to remain in the EU.

While I doubt the impact of England's Euro 2016 will be in any way sizeable, the possibility of Brexit would have consequences for the English Premier League. Last week David Butler discussed the origins of players within the "Big 5" leagues in Europe and presented the graphic below.

The stats make for very interesting reading. 
Picture
During the 2015-2016 season the Premier League had almost double the number of EU nationals (excluding English players) than the other four leagues listed. In fact, the number of EU born players (35.84%) almost matches that of English born (39.77%). Many of these come from the Home Nations. England, it seems, is far better at importing from its neighbours than Spain, Italy, France or Germany. There are a plethora of reasons why this might be the case. It is not the objective of this post to explain why, simply to state the facts.

Should the UK decide to leave the EU the implications for 35.84% of players could be big. The free movement of labour with EU borders would no longer apply to these players and they may not be eligible to earn a living in the UK due to visa restrictions. 

Additionally, in theory, the Bosman ruling will no longer apply. This ruling was passed by the European Court of Justice in November 1995. Under EC Treaty Article 45 (1) of the Treaty on the functioning of the European Union, all EU football players are permitted to move freely at the end of their contracts, with the provision that they are transferring from a club within one EU Association to a club within another EU Association. The UK will no longer be covered by this provision. While players refused a move following the expiry of their contract will probably challenge this in the High Court, it will lead to legal battles and uncertainty. 

The wider implications for UK/EU trade will require the establishment of bilateral agreements between the EU and UK, much in the same as Switzerland and Norway. The Football Association and the Home Office will need to do something similar and create new work permit rules to allow for EU imports.  

We may also head back to the days of the "Three Foreigners Rule". For those of us old enough to remember, the 1994-1995 season was the last when only three non-national players could represent a team at club level. For example, Alex Ferguson had to juggle Peter Schmeichel, Denis Irwin, Andrei Kanchelskis, Eric Cantona and Roy Keane, with two players often missing out in European football games simply because they weren't English. There is nothing to suggest this would return but it would be possible under Brexit. 

Added together, these changes could have a sizeable impact on the Premier League. That said, those advocating a "Leave" vote might hark for a return to the days of English players predominately appearing in their national league.

Back in 1995 Gordon Taylor, chief executive of the Professional Footballers' Association said "I think this (end of the Three Foreigners Rule) will lead to a flood of foreign players coming here, which I believe will be to the detriment of our game. The only way to control the number of imports will be to ban non-European footballers from competing here." Taylor was somewhat correct, but the the foreigner arrivals have been largely from the EU not outside of it. Brexit, should it happen, will no doubt have the desired effect.   

Comments are closed.

    Archives

    February 2023
    January 2023
    December 2022
    November 2022
    October 2022
    September 2022
    August 2022
    July 2022
    June 2022
    May 2022
    April 2022
    March 2022
    February 2022
    January 2022
    December 2021
    November 2021
    October 2021
    September 2021
    August 2021
    July 2021
    June 2021
    May 2021
    April 2021
    March 2021
    February 2021
    January 2021
    December 2020
    November 2020
    October 2020
    September 2020
    August 2020
    July 2020
    June 2020
    May 2020
    April 2020
    March 2020
    February 2020
    January 2020
    December 2019
    November 2019
    October 2019
    September 2019
    August 2019
    June 2019
    May 2019
    April 2019
    March 2019
    February 2019
    January 2019
    December 2018
    November 2018
    October 2018
    September 2018
    August 2018
    July 2018
    June 2018
    May 2018
    April 2018
    March 2018
    February 2018
    January 2018
    December 2017
    November 2017
    October 2017
    September 2017
    August 2017
    July 2017
    June 2017
    May 2017
    April 2017
    March 2017
    February 2017
    January 2017
    December 2016
    November 2016
    October 2016
    September 2016
    August 2016
    July 2016
    June 2016
    May 2016
    April 2016
    March 2016
    February 2016
    January 2016
    December 2015
    November 2015
    October 2015
    September 2015
    August 2015
    July 2015
    June 2015
    May 2015
    April 2015
    March 2015
    February 2015
    January 2015
    December 2014
    November 2014
    October 2014
    September 2014
    August 2014
    July 2014
    June 2014
    May 2014
    April 2014
    March 2014
    February 2014
    January 2014
    December 2013
    November 2013
    October 2013
    September 2013
    August 2013
    July 2013

    About

    This website was founded in July 2013.

    RSS Feed

    Categories

    All
    American Football
    Athletics
    Baseball
    Basketball
    Behavioural Economics
    Boxing
    Broadcasting
    Competitive Balance
    Cricket
    Cycling
    Darts
    David Butler
    Declan Jordan
    Drugs
    Ed Valentine
    Epl
    Esports
    Expenditure
    F1
    Fifa World Cup
    Finances
    Funding
    Gaa
    Gaelic Games
    Gambling
    Game Theory
    Gary Burns
    Geography
    Golf
    Greyhound Racing
    Guest Posts
    Horse Racing
    Impact Studies
    John Considine
    John Eakins
    League Of Ireland
    Location
    Media
    Mls
    Mma
    Olympics
    Participation
    Paul O'Sullivan
    Premier League
    Regulation
    Research
    Robbie Butler
    Rugby
    Simpsonomics
    Snooker
    Soccer
    Spatial Analysis
    Sporting Bodies
    Stephen Brosnan
    Swimming
    Taxation
    Teaching
    Technology
    Tennis
    Transfers
    Uefa
    Ufc
    World Cup
    Wwe

Related

The website is not formally affiliated to any institution and all of the entries represent the personal views and opinions of an individual contributor. The website operates on a not-for-profit basis. For this reason we decline all advertisement opportunities. 

Contact

To contact us email sportseconomics2013@gmail.com or find us on Twitter @SportEcon.