MP Andy Burnham suggests English football should limit foreign players following Brexit vote

The prospective Manchester major argued that the Premier League should place greater emphasis on its home-grown talent in the wake of Brexit

Andy Burnham speaking in Manchester at the Soccerex Global Convention (Getty)

MP Andy Burnham has suggested that English football should look to promote more home-grown players while subsequently limiting the number of foreign footballers that play within the country.

The prospective Manchester major argued that a "quota" could be introduced to help the Premier League foster its homegrown talent and prevent it from turning into a "playground" for the world's best overseas talent.

Speaking at the Soccerex Global Convention, Burnham said: “Could Brexit mean something different for football? Could Brexit mean that English football takes a step away from the European directives with relation to free movement in sport and could we look at introducing a quota for our home grown players?

“So that the Premier League doesn’t become a playground for the world’s best talent but, actually, we make sure that we bring through more English and home-grown players in our domestic league.

“I think that’s a debate that is worth having.”

The anticipated abolishment of freedom of movement that comes with Brexit will drastically affect the Premier League which registered a total of 432 European players last year.

Due to the outcome of Britain’s referendum last June, it’s expected that England’s top flight of football will be forced to introduce and comply to new legal framework in order to ensure Europe’s players can continue to play within the country.

Burnham’s comments suggest that Brexit could be utilised to the advantage of the Premier League’s sides, with greater emphasis being placed on home-grown talent instead.

The former culture secretary made the remarks as he sought to address the issue of England’s lack of international success over the past five decades.

“The English Premier League was set up with a very specific objective: to improve the England team”, Burnham said in Manchester at the Soccerex Convention.

“Can anybody in this room put their hand up and say, ‘Yes, it’s succeeded in improving the England team?’

“We all need to do some hard thinking about this. Clearly, that hasn’t happened. And the question is: can you have both, can you have it all, can you have the best league in the world and the most successful international team?

“In 25 years of the Premier League, we’ve had one semi-final at our own home European Championships in 1996 and that, quite frankly, isn’t good enough.”