In a recent blog about Newcastle’s new arrivals I suggested the cost of fielding a fully English team would be far too much for any Premier League team, outside the current financial powerhouses, to consider. Whilst I stand by this, there is a solution to the free-spending required to build the full English of Premier League teams.
In Spanish football Athletic Bilbao continue to buck the trend of importing foreign superstars, instead producing teams of players of Basque origin. Whilst Athletic have loosened the criteria needed to qualify in recent years, accepting players with an affiliation to the Basque region through football development or ancestry, the concept should still be admired.
Before I go any further I should point out that I am not xenophobic and personally think that importing players is important for a league to grow. However looking at Athletic Bilbao and how they maintain their place in La Liga year after year (having never been relegated) without heavy spending, and knocking Manchester United out of the Europa League last season, it is worth considering whether this model would work in the Premier league.
Admittedly the Basque region is quite large and making a team capable of playing at that level made of players solely from Hampshire, Lincolnshire or another county would be very difficult but a team that engineers a policy of only signing English players could still be successful and widely supported in a period where the English national team set-up is undergoing significant restructuring. I’m no suggesting a new title contender, just a side that plays a part in the development of the national side.
This week the England senior squad would have had training sessions at St. George’s Park in advance of the showpiece friendly against Brazil to celebrate the anniversary of the FA last night.
The development of St. George’s Park is impressive and will surely help usher in a new dawn for the England national team, but this will likely take 15 years at least to show signs of progression. Whilst creating a new team within the English league pyramid (with potential obstacles on where to begin) with an english only policy would also take time, there is a chance for this to gain immediate recognition and backing, helping it to rise up quickly alike AFC Wimbledon have. It would also be worthwhile basing the new side at St. George’s Park, enabling a young English side to gain valuable experience within the set-up to push them on in their development to reach one of the English teams.