Starting in season 2021-22, Women’s Super League squads must have a minimum of eight homegrown players and clubs can have up to six long-term loans.
WSL teams are permitted squads of 25 registered players, and as of 2021-22 at least eight of those must have been at an English for a minimum of three years before they turned 21. Championship squads will have to be 60% homegrown, or have a contingent of 15 if their player total reaches the maximum of 25.
FA director of the women’s professional game, Kelly Simmons, said at an FA briefing: “We have an agreement with the clubs and the board that from 2021-22, we’ll bring in homegrown quotas that will be the same as the men’s game.”
“The other big one that will impact a club’s abilities to access foreign talent will be once we ‘Brexit’.
“That will inevitably make it more challenging [to sign for an English club], unless you’re a top talent.
“Of course, we want to make sure that we’ve got space for English talent as well. It’s always about trying to find that balance and work with the clubs and the league board to get the right balance.”
Meanwhile, long-term loan deal limits stand at two per club but that will shoot up to six.
Head of league operations Lauren O’Sullivan explained: “We went through a consultation process with the clubs and we also reviewed that type of regulation across the professional game as well. The ambition is to give players better access to meaningful minutes.”
