Just a question

[irishultra]

move to world soccer forum if ya like but i was just wondering are clubs in a different country prohibitied now from signing a player under-18?

i'm not so sure, i know of a guy that liverpool signed recently, and his family have gone over there to live as well so i'm thinking thats the only way they can sign players now. also i remember manchester united signed a guy from roma(might have been the macheda player not sure) and gave his dad a job as a groundsman or something.

[ofjames]

move to world soccer forum if ya like but i was just wondering are clubs in a different country prohibitied now from signing a player under-18?

i'm not so sure, i know of a guy that liverpool signed recently, and his family have gone over there to live as well so i'm thinking thats the only way they can sign players now. also i remember manchester united signed a guy from roma(might have been the macheda player not sure) and gave his dad a job as a groundsman or something.

think that was davide petrucci.

clubs in england have done this type of thing before (moving the whole family over). I'm pretty sure that's how Arsenal got Anthony Stokes over at 16.

[tetsujin1979]

The law in England is that you can't sign a player if they live more than an hour's drive from the club, but it doesn't apply to non-nationals. That means that if the club wants the player then they'll move the whole family to a house owned by the club. I've heard stories of parents being given jobs as well.

You might be thinking of Rossi there, although I wouldn't be surprised if Macheda is in the same situation.

Fergie had a rant against the law before, saying that if a promising player lives in Carlisle (for example) then he won't have a chance to reach his full potential because he can't train at one of the top academies.

I think Norway has a law that a player can't leave the country until they have completed their education.

[ofjames]

i was right. davide petrucci's dad got sorted with the groundsmans job.

http://soccerlens.com/manchester-united-sign-romas-davide-petrucci/7849/

[dr_peepee]

The law in England is that you can't sign a player if they live more than an hour's drive from the club, but it doesn't apply to non-nationals. That means that if the club wants the player then they'll move the whole family to a house owned by the club. I've heard stories of parents being given jobs as well.

You might be thinking of Rossi there, although I wouldn't be surprised if Macheda is in the same situation.

Fergie had a rant against the law before, saying that if a promising player lives in Carlisle (for example) then he won't have a chance to reach his full potential because he can't train at one of the top academies.

I think Norway has a law that a player can't leave the country until they have completed their education.

Read something before about this... Some dude was advocating a better set up of the regional Centres of excellents to counter the things Fergie was saying. Like the aforementioned talented player from Carlise would spend some time at a centre for Excellence with the best of Newcastle, Sunderland, Boro, Hull etc (Not sure about my Geography but you get the point). Better for the players and league clubs all round. I beleive France operates like this..

[irishultra]

So the situation of an Irish player going to an English club at 15 is over? Great thing imo.

[Razors left peg]

So the situation of an Irish player going to an English club at 15 is over? Great thing imo.

It would be a great thing if the facilities were in this country to coach the best young players we have

[irishultra]

good point. think i might have read it on here before and it was a good point, players like keith fahey cleary benefited from being in the arsenal youth team which in turn made the league of a higher quality.

although on the flip side it will eventually force the facilities to improve as we can't rely on england to develop our players

[John83]

...although on the flip side it will eventually force the facilities to improve as we can't rely on england to develop our players

Yeah, because the league is known for nothing if not long term planning and infrastructural development.

[DmanDmythDledge]

So the situation of an Irish player going to an English club at 15 is over? Great thing imo.

I don' think it's positive for the national side. Only will be a good thing if the standard of coaching here was sufficient.

[irishultra]

just let every kid play futsal instead of 11 a side. all we need is a change of culture, what they need is someone who will encourage them and not someone who think they are the next alex ferguson on the line. underrage football in ireland is a joke especially DDSL, not sure how it is now but gave up playing when i was 13.

[tetsujin1979]

So the situation of an Irish player going to an English club at 15 is over? Great thing imo.

Sort of, the law doesn't apply to Irish players AFAIK. But the top players will always be cherry picked by English clubs. Clifford and Henderson were both at English clubs before they turned 17.
But I'd imagine that the amount of players going over to Championship-level clubs will drop significantly due to the costs involved in bringing over an entire family, getting them a house, and paying one or both of the parents.

[DmanDmythDledge]

just let every kid play futsal instead of 11 a side. all we need is a change of culture, what they need is someone who will encourage them and not someone who think they are the next alex ferguson on the line. underrage football in ireland is a joke, not sure how it is now but gave up playing when i was 13.

It is a joke but saying off you go and play futsal instead of off you go and play 11-a-side isn't going to make a whole lot of difference without proper coaching.

Plenty of other things wrong as well. One thing they should do is get rid of competitive games until players are much older. Too much emphasis is placed on winning rather than development of players. Schoolboys shouldn't be playing 11 a side until they are 14/15.

[irishultra]

Sort of, the law doesn't apply to Irish players AFAIK. But the top players will always be cherry picked by English clubs. Clifford and Henderson were both at English clubs before they turned 17.
But I'd imagine that the amount of players going over to Championship-level clubs will drop significantly due to the costs involved in bringing over an entire family, getting them a house, and paying one or both of the parents.

Kind of confused by this.

Wasn't Henderson born in England?

[Razors left peg]

It is a joke but saying off you go and play futsal instead of off you go and play 11-a-side isn't going to make a whole lot of difference without proper coaching.

Plenty of other things wrong as well. One thing they should do is get rid of competitive games until players are much older. Too much emphasis is placed on winning rather than development of players. Schoolboys shouldn't be playing 11 a side until they are 14/15.

totally agree, have an uncle that has been involved in football in galway for years now and he is adament that his son will not be allowed to join a local club until he is about 13 or 14.
His reasoning being that by playing street football and with his mates he will learn better ball contol and basic skill and learning to enjoy going past players and things like that. Rather than from the age of 10 having a coach shouting at the young lads to give it to the big lad all the time or giving out to them for giving the ball away. I find it hard to argue that he is wrong.... seems to work for the Brazilians