Effect of Brexit on English football
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With the continued poor displays of England over the recent
years, be it in the World Cup or the Euros, the Brexit can only stand as a
symbol for development of English football.
The English team at its peak, consisted of players like David Beckham,
Frank Lampard, Steven Gerrard, Tony Adams, John Terry; a few among the many
legends The very mention of such names would strike terror in the hearts of
their international opponents. However, the English football team today is
a mere shadow of its predecessor and has constantly struggled to reach higher
stages at the international competitions.
The sole reason for this is the lack of focus that has been
given by English clubs to develop English talent. The easy availability of
players from abroad is the main reason for this lack of concern. By just
throwing in a few more Euros, the clubs in England can acquire talent
overnight, rather than taking the longer route of developing English talent at
the academy level. The richest of the clubs like Manchester United, Manchester
City, Arsenal and Chelsea have a constant habit of spending big on Non- English
players and only a small chunk of their team compromises of British talent. The
majority of the players of the England national team come from mid table teams
like Liverpool, Stoke City, Tottenham, etc. It isn't a huge surprise then as to
why the English teams perform poorly at the international level. When the
players of a particular country do not play for the top clubs of their country,
then they cannot in their wildest imagination hope to be on top with their
nation.
With the exit of Britain from the EU however, players from
abroad would become more expensive and the availability of work permits for
them would become harder. The natural remedy for the English clubs then would
be to turn to the homegrown English talent, and as a result give more
opportunities for the players from England to improve their game. Constant
playing at the first team level would logically improve their game and thus
improve the quality of players that enter the English national team.
Also work permits would be handed out only to the best of the
foreign players that would want to play in England, thereby improving the
overall quality of talent that plays in England.
Write up by Rajat Prabhu.
Counter View
The exit of Britain from the European Union can only harm the
prospect of developing an ecosystem of world class footballers. The Premier
league which is the highest tier of English football is arguably the best
league to play in. With global viewers exceeding 3 Billion as of 2016, the
premier league generated an annual revenue of 4 billion euros in this financial
year. This provides English clubs the leverage to attract the best talent by
providing the prospect of top salaries.
The exit of Britain from the EU however will severely impact the
advertising industry that the Premier league draws most of its revenue from.
Companies would now advertise themselves using the Spanish or the German
leagues as platforms and provide clubs from there with the prior mentioned
financial advantage. Thus, players are more likely to go and play in such
leagues where they would get better salaries and better recognition.
While Britain was a part of the EU, the availability of a work
permit to the players was a mere formality. The exit of Britain however would
certainly complicate the approval. Players would most indefinitely move to
countries where work permits are available without any complication.
These effects of the Brexit only come across as unnecessary
hindrances to the wonderful game. The economy of Britain too would lose out on
a lot of revenue that they earn from the Premier league once they have exited
the EU.
Write up by Gaurav Parekh
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