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New Premier League Squad Rules Explained

Posted on 01. Aug, 2010 by John Pring in Football

There’s been a lot of talk recently about new limits on squad numbers and ‘home-grown’ talent over the last week or so, with a lot of people appearing confused as to what the new rules actually are and when they come into force.

The FA has bought in a number of new rules, designed to increase the number of home-grown footballers in the league. A spokesman on the FA website explained the long-term aim of the new guidelines as being ‘to give more options to the England manager’.

But what exactly are the new guidelines?
To help clear up any confusion, here’s a brief overview of the situation:

• The rules will be in place for the 2010/11 season, just to clear that one up.

• Each team will have to register a squad of 25 players, with a minimum of 8 home grown players.

• The term home grown doesn not necessarily mean English, nor British. The FA rules describe a home-grown player as:

players who have been affiliated to the FA or Welsh FA for a period of three seasons or 36 months prior to their 21st birthday, irrespective of nationality or age.

• Clubs must register their 25 player squads at the end of each transfer window

• Changes to the 25-man squad can only be made during transfer seasons, although the FA will look at individual special cases, such as goalkeeper injury.

• Clubs can add to their squad with an unlimited number of players under the age of 21

• The first registration deadline is 17.00 British Standard Time on 1st September 2010

• Rules only apply to Premier League games, FA Cup, League Cup, Europa Cup and Champions League matches are not affected.

So those are the new rules in brief; generally I think it’s a good idea and nice to see the FA doing something to encourage new English, Welsh and youth talent.

The new rulings will affect some clubs more than others, with Manchester City almost certainly being the most affected. The Manchester club currently have a squad of 37 players, with more potentially on the way. That surely means we’re about to see an exodus of players from the City of Manchester stadium, with other Premiership clubs likely to benefit. I’d predit at least two or three to rejoin old manager Mark Hughes at new club Fulham.

Tags: FA, FA guidelines, FA Premier League, Football, new rules, Premiership, squad rules