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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

To think that footballers should only be able to play for the city they're from?

150 replies

BrownTrowsers · 10/07/2018 18:46

I know it would never happen but it would stop football being all about money. It would stop teams like Man Utd dominating the premier league simply because they have money. It would stop the ridiculous £5m a week type wages, it would make cities invest more in young people (currently, why would Hull City bother when they know that anyone decent will bugger off to the premier league once they have the opportunity) - it wouldn't make football be about community, talent, pride and football rather than money.

I mean, how does Man Utd represent Manchester when most of their players (if not not all) are from various parts of the world?

OP posts:
funinthesun18 · 10/07/2018 19:00

That should apply to all jobs then. Nobody should ever be able to leave their home town and work somewhere else.

kaytee87 · 10/07/2018 19:00

It would have to say the place you were born on your birth certificate

In Scotland you can register a birth in any district so that wouldn't work

SharronNeedles · 10/07/2018 19:02

So if you moved when you were a baby, you would only be able to play back where you were born? What if your family is in London but you were born in Newcastle?

Timeandtune · 10/07/2018 19:02

What if you are from Inverness or Perth? Lovely cities but a bit limited in terms of football.

caoraich · 10/07/2018 19:03

Hilarious and ridiculous in equal measure. Football is a business.

Are you seriously saying that e.g. Scott Brown should be forced to play only for that classic team, Dunfermline Athletic??

How do you even decide what "city" they're from?

What about the 20% of people who're not even from a town, let alone a city? Are they just not allowed to play for anywhere?

oblada · 10/07/2018 19:04

I'd just cap the amount of money footballers can earn or be bought for. That's just obscene.

WittyJack · 10/07/2018 19:05

Wasn’t this the case for county cricket years ago? I’m sure my friend’s father drove her mother miles out of the way so she’d be born in Yorkshire and could therefore play cricket for Yorkshire...

Original poster
BrownTrowsers · 10/07/2018 19:05

Ok ok, plan B

A massive cap on footballers wages so the best players don't all bugger off to the top teams. If someone is Man City is played the same as someone playing for Hull City then why would Brian from Hull bother going to Manchester? He could if he chose to, but it the pay was the same, maybe he'd stay at home and be a great asset to his home team?

I know a lad who DS went to school with. Was brought through the local football academy as a kid, got to be a big name and then buggered off to the premier league.

OP posts:
ThroughThickAndThin01 · 10/07/2018 19:05

It would have to be the place you were born on your birth certificate

SupposIng mum gave birth early when visiting friends in a distant town. How does child play football then?

Supposing dad got job transfer when child is 5. Child can’t play for town he now lives in. Or the one he was born in.?

You don’t just decide to play football at 18. You train with the professional teams from 8+

Lucyccfc · 10/07/2018 19:06

United aren't even in Manchester. They play in Stretford, which is Trafford, not Manchester.

I would like to see a limit on foreign players in the Premier League, as this may even things out a bit. The big clubs all spend a stupid amount of money on players - Pogba £89 million, Lukaka £90 million (Yank money).

ThroughThickAndThin01 · 10/07/2018 19:07

It was the case for Yorkshire ccc years ago, but they’ve had to move with the times (rather like the OP needs to........)

MonaLisaSimpson · 10/07/2018 19:07

I was born in a town near a big city that has a Premiership team but moved hundreds of miles away when I was a baby. I have absolutely no connection to my place of birth!

DD was born in Warrington. Warrington is approximately half way between Liverpool and Manchester. We have a lower (3rd?) division team in Warrington. If DD was fabulous at football would she have to play for that team forever? If not would you have to get a mileometer out to see if Warrington hospital is closer to Anfield, Goodison Park, Old Trafford or the Etihad?

No, OP, you've not thought this through. You're fired as Director of Football!

TheFairyCaravan · 10/07/2018 19:07

Well that would rule my kids out because where they were born don't have a football team. Not only that we're a military family so moved a lot, as a result they aren't really 'from' any where.

What a stupid idea.

bellinisurge · 10/07/2018 19:08

Has anyone told the op that Man U often has local players. And yes, Man U is technically not Manchester.

stellenbosch · 10/07/2018 19:08

I've always thought this!

Batmanwearspants · 10/07/2018 19:08

I know a lad who DS went to school with. Was brought through the local football academy as a kid, got to be a big name and then buggered off to the premier league.

but its not always about the money? Its about playing for the top teams. If you were good why wouldn't you want to do that.

bellinisurge · 10/07/2018 19:09

Op, football clubs are private businesses. They can pay whatever they like.

GameOfMinges · 10/07/2018 19:10

Caps on wages are another extremely stupid idea. You'd never impose them globally, so all you'd do is ensure the best British talent goes abroad. What would actually happen is that Brian from Hull would leave the UK entirely.

hedgebackwards · 10/07/2018 19:10

How about all those born in towns and villages? Our county doesn't even have a city.

Your idea would prevent anyone from Arsendofnowheresville from ever achieving their full potential.

knittingdad · 10/07/2018 19:10

When football as we know it started it wasn't professional and this was essentially how things were done. Teams were formed by people who lived in a local area. Many teams were what is known as "works" teams, formed by people working in the same factory, or other employer. Woolwich Arsenal are one of the more obvious examples. Guess who they are now?

The problem now is that there is so much money in the game that it will always find a way around any attempt to return to a more innocent time.

starzig · 10/07/2018 19:10

Don't think anyone has won a European cup with all players from the team's home city since 1967.

Original poster
BrownTrowsers · 10/07/2018 19:10

But they wouldn't be the top teams if they were all payed the same because they'd be no incentive for the best players to move there!

OP posts:
WittyJack · 10/07/2018 19:10

Yes, Wikipedia suggests players could originally choose between county of birth and county of residence, but that rule is long gone.

OP is BU but not about capping wages. I’m all for people being able to earn a high salary, but when you get to Rooney-esque levels of £300k a week, it’s just obscene.

hammeringinmyhead · 10/07/2018 19:11

And what exactly would happen if Liverpool and Everton wanted the same kid from Liverpool? Or Man U/City? Massive wage offers to tempt them, same as now.

starzig · 10/07/2018 19:11

Bilbao actuallý do this. They only have basque players

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