Transfer fees have been banned by the FA between Northern League clubs as it endorses freedom of movement and choice for non contracted players.
With immediate effect, transfer fees for non contract players between Northern League clubs – as well as all non league clubs in the national system – have been outlawed, which will give players almost total control of where they play, in some ways a Bosman system for non league.
The FA has been considering the issue for over six months, and now they’ve instructed the league, and all the others in the system, that transfer fees are no longer necessary, and instead a simple procedure to sign players from other clubs will be adopted, even if that particular club doesn’t want the player to leave.
In his annual report at the AGM last week, Northern League chairman Mike Amos said: “The league has long believed that not only such (transfer) fees were allowed within the FA’s own rules, but has operated honestly and openly at all times. It must stop because a club secretary wrote to the FA to complain, while all the time making maximum use of the system as it existed. That was his prerogative. What greatly disappointed me, apart from the fact that the relevant FA committee appeared not to understand the point he was trying to make and had to rescind its own minute, was that neither I nor the league were consulted – or even told – beforehand. I had hoped that my relationship with those concerned was better than that.
“Non-contracted players must now be transferred with no kind of compensation. The FA’s word appears to be that a club must still put in seven days’ notice. My fear is that this will open a pandora’s box when there was absolutely no need to do so, that illicit payments will continue to be made, and that we will revert to the same sort of tawdry, underhand and obviously illegal dealings which infamously characterised the game before the abolition of amateurism in 1974. The rich will get richer, and the poor poorer. We’ve come a very long way to go back 40 years.”
Clubs are looking at ways to protect themselves within the rules, but there seems to be little they can to do to prevent players leaving individually or en masse, unless they’re placed on contract. There has been a complete power shift in the last decade, from when clubs stubbornly and inflexibly held players to their registrations, to the new situation in which players will be able to determine where they’ll be able to play without any backward glance.
From July 1st, a club will be able to submit seven day’s notice of approach for a player to another club, and on the eighth day, be able to sign the player. There will be no restrictions on the number of moves a player can make during the season until March 31st every year as long as he stays at a club for a fortnight. There are fears now that some of the bigger clubs in the league will hold large squads, but others point out that clubs will only be able to keep a certain number of players happy.
Back in February, disgruntled West Allotment secretary Ted Ilderton revealed that he had gone as high as FIFA president Sepp Blatter to highlight the issues associated with transfer fees.
At the time, Ilderton stated in the league magazine: “As we all know, this breach of FA rules has for years gone unchallenged in the Northern League – in some cases in fear of retribution from the league itself, though even management committee people privately knew that the practice was incorrect.
There have been players who’ve been used like political pawns until the latter’s cash demands have been met and that cannot be correct.
“The league should know that. Some clubs demand fees for players who’ve never turned out for them. If agreement can’t be reached, the player’s only option is to go to a lower league under the seven day rule.
“Some clubs can’t afford fees, so there’s not a level playing field. Like the Premier League, the bigger clubs just get bigger. It would be interesting to know the cost of “donations” over the years.
“Some clubs’ inflated demands are a disgrace and in no way reflect the present financial world. Clubs are wasting money through an illegal practice, rather than improving their grounds which should be the priority. West Allotment and myself should be complimented for our stance and not condemned. We’ve gone about things correctly, it’s time for the League to admit the error of its ways.”
The transfer procedure for contracted players is unchanged.
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