Sideline Sports Talk

When it comes to English football clubs there is sentiment that most are in favour of at least 4 players are actually English. This is a good rule because in today’s sport, there are multi-billionaire owners who are more interested winning than in promoting the fact that the winning club is mainly English. See, in American football there aren’t too many clubs (or teams) that hail from outside the U.S. Why? Well, the tradition is most players start off in college football and make a name for themselves in order to be drafted into the NFL (National Football League). In England it’s quite different and even though some players can be recruited as a tender teenager, many are “bought” from other countries or European clubs.

At the end of the day, the main difference is that English football clubs would prefer to see players from their own country. That doesn’t mean if a Spanish player is traded to an English club that they won’t be accepted with open arms but to understand football is to realise that fans absolutely love to back their hometown hero. The World Cup is a classic example of the patriotic fervor a people have toward their team. This is only emboldened even more so when a player from the local community plays for the team of that city and goes on to play at an exceptional level.

English football clubs are in favour of the rule that fosters the home grown player and we think that’s a good rule. People are proud where they come from and in many ways sports personalities that achieve great success are in their own way ambassadors for not only the sport in which they excel but also for their country.