The mixture of Brexit and the global pandemic English football changed, so are affiliate clubs now the solution to maintaining transfer of foreign players?
What we know so far
Long before Brexit we had a very much cosmopolitan system where mixed nationalities of players, coaches and managers which contributed to having the best quality of football globally in regards to the football pyramid.
More than one year and a bit on from Brexit, the FAs new ruling has begun to have an influence on the transfer market. English players have much more inflated values which isn’t exactly ideal in an economy recovering from the effects of the pandemic.
Previous policies and the points system made it difficult to receive work permits for Non-EU players. African and South American based players would usually be loaned out for a large portion of their contract.
The entry requirements have been changed to make it easier for Premier League and EFL clubs to sign players outside the UK following Brexit.
The
band system has categorized and provided guidelines in order to define the main leagues within world football along with their respective continental competitions.
Sporting directors now face a whole new challenge, when it comes unearthing foreign gems. A new structure is very much needed if bargain buys are going to continue.
Historic Club Affiliations
Football Manager fanatics will be familiar with affiliate clubs. The concept of an affiliate club includes expanding beyond your existing network for a variety of reasons.
One of the most popular reasons behind affiliate partnerships is player development. Also, we have seen such a partnership used in order to help achieve work permits.
Parent or ‘senior affiliates’ would distribute players to their ‘’feeder’’. The main reason is for them to gain experience playing in competitive men’s football in return.
Manchester United’s twelve-year partnership with Royal Antwerp between 1997 and 2013 resulted in 29 players making a temporary switch to develop on Belgian soil.
The most successful product of this affiliation was John O’Shea who enjoyed a successful 12-year trophy-laden career at Old Trafford, leaving some memorable moments during his time.
Most recently, a friendship between owners Alexander Chigirinsky (Vitesse Arnhem) and Roman Abramovich (Chelsea) bore fruit to an affiliate relationship where 28 Chelsea players have developed in the Dutch League.
A partnership which most notably aided in the development and rise of Chelsea and England star
Mason Mount.
Expansion of club portfolios look to be the investment model of the future. There model is very much complex but investors would mainly look to invest based on business reasons.
The commercial expansion and enticing broadcast revenues has meant multi-club ownership has become a more attractive to any prospective investors.
Some models of multi-club ownership look to market their flagship investment and bring in an audience globally in an attempt to match the audiences of their competitors.
A Primary example are City Football Group. CFG are leading the industry in multi-club ownership and the primary jewel amongst their wealthy portfolio is Manchester City Football Club.
New York, Melbourne and Mumbai inherit the ‘City’ brand, with a view of establishing international fan bases on multiple continents.
The European portfolio members: Girona.C.F, Lommel SK and ESTAC Troyes didn’t inherit the ‘City’ name. They do primarily serve as a hot bed for loaning young exciting prospects both homegrown and internationally sourced.
In 2017, Leicester City’s beloved owners completed the acquisition of a sister club OH Leuven in the Belgian First Division A. The recent League performances of OH Leuven suggests they are influenced by their sisters.
Shrewd recruitment which includes loaning Leicester City talents. Talented 20-year-old Ghanaian
Kamal Sowah being the most promising of the loanees.
Comparisons can be drawn between their immediate future as well as the strong evolution off the Foxes.
This model is very much a fierce area to step into. We are already witnessing financial disparity and therefore this option isn’t available to everyone.
This model however invites super clubs to expand their operations globally. However, players then turn into certified commodities and could lose control of their careers as owners look to increase their value.
The Multi-club ownership model contentious amongst football fans but for the wealthy elite it is simply taking advantage of the imperialist shift taking place in global football.
Affiliate clubs in the modern landscape:
A key aspect of any sport is to maintain some level of integrity when it comes
to competition. Now that there are 3 European club competitions, more clubs in Europe will have higher expectations of their club.
The top sides separated with ‘top 4’ labels over the years ‘top 6’ sides and now with the introduction of a new European club competition the owners of sides finishing 7-10
th have incentives of investing in their playing squad.
Owners have to implement transfer strategies and contingencies in order to use the band system to their advantage.
For any affiliate relationship to be successful there has to be a clear definition of the hierarchy between clubs, financial implications and the structure in place to prevent any conflict of interests.
It could be then become difficult for these super clubs when negotiating a position. Everyone is striving for their own club to exceed and reach new levels.
Fan voices have become as loud as ever, it can be hard to present any form of partnership; no-one really wants their club to be labelled as ‘’feeders’’.
But, given the impact of COVID-19, some of these clubs need to be able to rely on a strategy that gives them the quality of player to be able to compete in their respective leagues.
Outcomes & Future implications
Premier League clubs won’t really be affected with senior players but when it comes to academy level players there may be complications.
English clubs should find it much simpler to sign foreign players over 18. Although there has been a trend of bring foreign young talent to academy sides.
Scouting networks from English clubs may have to start laying the foundations of a partnership in Latin & South America as well as any other ‘’lower band’’ leagues in Europe.
Given the fact that the owners of PL and Championship are more financially well of than years gone by, there will certainly be intense competition to establish partnerships in this region of the world.
It is important that these owners aren’t allowed to run away and build on any potential capitalist desires.
The market however between the clubs in lower bands may be disrupted and set a scenario where they now have to secure unofficial partnerships with members of the top 5 European Leagues.
The idea of an affiliate club is very exciting it gives both sides of the partnership more flexibility in their recruitment strategies whilst providing players a reliable pathway.
