'British jobs for British workers’ was once the clarion call of the British National Party in the 1980’s, and, since the Brexit vote, this slogan has been revived. With work permits potentially becoming harder to obtain, it could be more difficult for players coming from abroad to be signed by Premier League clubs. This begs the question, what would the Premier League look like without foreign players?
As of 2011, each first division club can include a maximum of 17 foreign players. With a maximum squad size of 25, the rest of the players must be ‘home-grown’.
In fact, these ‘home-grown’ players don’t have to be British at all. They simply have to have been through a Welsh or English academy system, so players like Fabregas and Clichy (both signed by Manchester City after passing through Arsenal’s academy) fit into this category.
In addition to the squad, a club can register an unlimited number of under-21’s for the season. Under the current system, not one player has to have been born in England.
In 1999 Gianluca Vialli of Chelsea was, to the horror of the old guard, the first Premier League manager to field an entirely non-British starting XI. Arsene Wenger followed suit in 2005, recording a 5-1 win over Crystal Palace.
Now, attitudes have changed. No longer is it unusual to witness a team of foreigners. Manchester City have just five English players in their squad currently not on loan, amassing just 100 appearances between them. The trend continues for all the big clubs.
Many English players are only there to fill a quota. It was surprising to see Raheem Sterling often sitting on the bench after his £49 million signing.
However, young English players have exorbitant, disproportionate value because they count towards the ‘home-grown’ group. This is not a way of developing our youth, we need a quota for the starting line-up if we want to see real improvement.
English players need experience if the FA expect to be successful at an international level. However, if this quota system were to be enforced, there would be an outcry.
Ironically, there would be demands not for the characteristic Brexit line of 'British jobs for British workers’, but demands for 'British jobs for foreign workers’. No-one wants to see David Silva left on the bench to make room for Fabian Delph.
In Spain, no such quota is necessary. 58 per cent of players in La Liga are Spanish, compared to the 33 per cent of English players in the Premier League. As a result, Spanish international success has been incomparable to that of England.
So what can be done to halt the foreign takeover of English football? In short, nothing. Football is a business, and the demand for English players just isn't there, because most of the talent comes from abroad. Until English players start being given a chance on a regular basis, we will see no sign of improvement.
But in the era of short tenures and demands for immediate success, it doesn’t make sense to risk playing English players purely because of their nationality.
We are heading for a world in which your club team is more important than your national one, because your national team just isn’t worth watching.
Joshua Korber Hoffman is a 15-year-old football fanatic and Arsenal supporter. He writes a football blog called The Young Gun, in which his love for writing and the beautiful game intersect.