Menu
International Football

Study Suggests Top European Football Clubs Have More Internationals, Older Players

The number of int'l footballers in Europe drops from 46% for Big Five clubs to 15% for fourth echelon leagues, according to a paper written by three CIES Football Observatory researchers. At the start of the current season, Man City had 24 int'l players, the highest figure in Europe. Man City is also the team employing the highest number of players with int'l caps in '12 at 19. These figures raise the issue of player hoarding and competitive balance in European football (Football Observatory).

THE STUDY: FOOTBALLPERSPECTIVES, which published the report, noted the profile of players in the first division of football "varies greatly from one country to another." The average age of a player is higher in the richest leagues and diminishes progressively going down the rankings. The squads of "the biggest champions have more experienced players." Conversely, young players "are less numerous" in the Big Five where only 16% of players are under 22 compared to 24% in the fourth economic level. The int'l recruitment of players was for many years" hampered by the quotas limiting the number of foreigners." The Bosman ruling decreed by the European Court of Justice in December '95 "changed the rules for clubs of European Community member countries or those having signed free movement of people agreements with the EU." Communitarian players were "effectively no longer bound by quotas." At the same time, numerous leagues "liberalised the presence of non-communitarian footballers." For the Big Five, the percentage of players imported from abroad increased from 19% to 43% between '95 and '12 (FOOTBALLPERSPECTIVES, 3/21).

SBJ Morning Buzzcast: April 25, 2024

Motor City's big weekend; Kevin Warren's big bet; Bill Belichick's big makeover and the WNBA's big week continues

TNT’s Stan Van Gundy, ESPN’s Tim Reed, NBA Playoffs and NFL Draft

On this week’s pod, SBJ’s Austin Karp has two Big Get interviews. The first is with TNT’s Stan Van Gundy as he breaks down the NBA Playoffs from the booth. Later in the show, we hear from ESPN’s VP of Programming and Acquisitions Tim Reed as the NFL Draft gets set to kick off on Thursday night in Motown. SBJ’s Tom Friend also joins the show to share his insights into NBA viewership trends.

SBJ I Factor: Molly Mazzolini

SBJ I Factor features an interview with Molly Mazzolini. Elevate's Senior Operating Advisor – Design + Strategic Alliances chats with SBJ’s Ross Nethery about the power of taking chances. Mazzolini is a member of the SBJ Game Changers Class of 2016. She shares stories of her career including co-founding sports design consultancy Infinite Scale career journey and how a chance encounter while working at a stationery store launched her career in the sports industry. SBJ I Factor is a monthly podcast offering interviews with sports executives who have been recipients of one of the magazine’s awards.

Shareable URL copied to clipboard!

https://www.sportsbusinessjournal.com/Global/Issues/2013/03/22/International-Football/Football-study.aspx

Sorry, something went wrong with the copy but here is the link for you.

https://www.sportsbusinessjournal.com/Global/Issues/2013/03/22/International-Football/Football-study.aspx

CLOSE