Southampton got Bale from a non-league club; presumably got lucky with Walcott

I agree with you regarding restraint of trade. Much of football's rules are dubious from a legal point of view and rely on the members (ie. the clubs and to a lesser extent country FAs, which are in any case controlled by the clubs - at least in Europe) for continuity. And therein lies the problem. The clubs with most clout are the richest and they're happy enough with the current situation. They make piles of money and are prepared to wait for the windows to complete transfers, which they have often been negotiating outside the windows anyway (with the aid of a compliant media and agents who don't care so long as they get their cut). And, as you note, they have the finances to go outside the system and take a relatively small risk on a young player.

Bosman found he had no choice - he wasn't wanted by his club, but no-one else wanted him for the price being offered. He knew he wasn't a great footballer, but just wanted to play. But it ruined his career and what club wants to challenge a system that could f**k them totally even when most receive little benefit? Well, they could all club together as they did over the ITV Digital collapse - and still lose ...

Football as we used to know it is f**ked. Eventually, there'll be some European Super League along the lines of American Sport - regional leagues, play-offs, final and no promotion or relegation. Entry determined by finances alone. And the rest can go to hell.

Posted By: BerlinCanary on January 18th 2007 at 12:32:41

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