In England I understand a club borrow four players with only a maximum of two from one other English club. From other nations' clubs there is no limit as a temporary loan is seen as a transfer. Does the international loan arrangement apply to footballers moving to and from Welsh clubs as some play in the English leagues and are controlled by the FA Wales and also Scotland as well, where the nation occupies the same island as England and Wales? For example could QPR borrow the entire Celtic team as international transfers?
Ak, in answer to your last question, yes. In the case of Abertawe/Caerdydd/Wrecsam/Casnewydd/Merthyr, as they play in the English leagues any loans from clubs within that league structure would count towards their quota but in the unlikely event they were to take someone on loan from a club in the Welsh Premier League, I'm not sure what the situation would be.
Domestic loans (the ones that count towards the quota) are just ones from teams that play in the same league structure, so all the Welsh clubs that play in England count as English for it, Berwick (in England) count as Scottish because they play in Scotland, etc. As a rough guide look at who can make emergency loans (the ones done outside the main transfer windows). They can only be domestic loans. Loaning players from teams in the Welsh and Scottish setup doesn't count towards your loans, they're treated as completely independent countries as their football setup is completely independent from the FA, so yes someone could borrow the entire Celtic team. It would be more likely that Rangers would buy a lower league club and send all their players there though, then when they were Championship or Premiership they could try to swap places with them.
Are you sure of that Ricardo. I thought that "domestic" players were those from Great Britain and subject to the stricter loan rule whereas foreign meant non-British.
Please don't overlook Colwyn Bay in the list. They play in the Blue Square North and are currently playing a game every 2 days to complete their fixtures and avoid relegation. They have resolutely refused to play in the Welsh Premier League where the clubs in the towns around them are playing - because allegedly they don't want to lower their standards.........
Yes, as far as FIFA are concerned seperate FAs = seperate countries so they don't count as domestic transfers (that's why you need international clearance to sign a player from Scotland or Wales). The only exception to that is when it comes to teams playing outside of their own FA (like Cardiff and Swansea) the team will be allowed to make the same transfers as the other teams playing in that competition to maintain equality.
Ipswich have Daryl Murphy on loan as an international transfer We (at Ipswich) have become well learned in the rules of the loan system given our revolving door policy that we have operated for short terms loans.. to the point of having to regularly leave loaned players out of the match day squad entirely as we already have our quota of 5 domestic loaned players on the pitch and on the bench... Murphy (loaned from Celtic) doesn't count as a domestic loan as his parent club are playing in a league governed by a different FA to the football league we are competing in
Basically, if they don't play for a team in the English Leagues, then they count as a international loan, regardless of nationality.
And fairly soon, clubs in England won't be able to buy, never mind borrow, players from Scottish clubs - unless they meet the current International player criteria. An independent, non-EU country......
