Brexit has had a massive impact almost everywhere in society, but what effect has it had on Celtic?
Before we start let’s take a look at what “Brexit” actually means. In the summer of 2016, as a whole, the United Kingdom controversially voted to leave the European Union. The word “Brexit” is the words “Britain” and “exit” conjoined together, Britain is exiting the EU.
Many aspects of Scottish football will be affected by the UK’s decision to leave the EU.
The main issue being player transfers, just in time for the January transfer window the UK had completed its transition period and was completely out of the EU. From December 31st, 2020 at 11 pm players transferring to clubs would need to wait for a work permit to be accepted. Clubs would need to apply for a Governing Body Endorsement (GBE) for players. To be automatically accepted the player would need to play three-quarters of international competitive games for their country in the past two years, but only if their country is ranked 50 or above in the FIFA rankings. And if players pass that criterion the club must simply be registered with the SPFL. If all 3 criteria are met the player in question will automatically get a GBE.
For those aged 18 and 19 the GBE criteria are relaxed and are based on the number of times the player is named on their national team sheet, even if they did not feature in the match. Youth matches will also be taken into consideration. The Head of Manchester United academy talked to the BBC and said that the new rules would put British clubs at a disadvantage compared to their European rivals in recruiting top talent.
Clubs can no longer sign 16–18-year-olds from EU countries, 16–18-year-olds can still move between Scotland, Northern Ireland, England and Wales. This is the same for outgoing transfers too and will follow the buying club’s national guidance while completing the transfer.
If we relate this to Celtic it doesn’t take too much affect on us, apart from a delay in transfers similar to Aberdeen’s new signing Florian Kamberi. Despite playing for both Hibs and Rangers in the past, it took 10 days for his application to be accepted.
We don’t usually sign a footballer from Uganda who sits 78th in the FIFA world ranking. But it may make it harder to find rough diamonds like Van Dijk, who hadn’t played 75 per cent of games for the Netherlands, therefore making it harder for him to be granted a GBE. Neil Lennon recognised this saying:
Speaking to Celtic TV the manager said “We have looked at that and we’re probably looking at the British market more than anything else” and “I think it’s going to be difficult after the end of the year to get players in from the continent as far as we’re aware, so Nick Hammond and his recruitment team and obviously the board are looking into that ways we can if you want to bring players on what’s the right way, in accordance with the laws now, of going about that.”
In the January window, we had demonstrated we were looking into the English market, coming close to signing Ben Davies and heavily linked to Ben Pearson to name a few. Celtic could be forced to pay higher fees when shopping in the English market as prices are naturally inflated down south.
However, this could turn good for us. As a fan base, we have been crying out for the club to capitalise on our youth players and facilities. So, with these restrictions in place for the foreseeable future, we could see our wishes being granted, only time will tell.
Aaron Haire
