Freedom of Movement of Footballers: Brexit and the EPL
All opinions, analysis and conclusions are my own. All data was obtained from publicly available sources. On the 29th March 2017 the UK government activated Article 50, initiating a two-year countdown to the UK's departure from the EU. The government has already stated that freedom of movement of people will end in March 2019. From that date onwards, all foreign footballers – regardless of their origin – could require a work permit to sign for a club in the UK. This would have enormous consequences for British clubs and the future of British football. Over the last 20 years, Freedom of Movement of People (FoM) has transformed English football beyond all recognition. FoM bestows citizens of the European Union (or the wider European Economic Area [1] ) with the right to travel, reside and work in any member state. When an English football club decides whether to buy a foreign player it must consider the passports he holds. If the player holds an EU passport then there a