FIFA is to scrap the emergency loan system and the changes have received mixed opinions from managers up and down the country.
Starting next season, players will only be allowed to go on loan in the summer or in January, leaving no opportunity to sign on a short term loan. Currently, lower league clubs are able to sign players on a month’s loan, with little risk and cost, as if it doesn’t work out the player can return to their parent club.
Premier League manager Sam Allardyce is worried that lower league managers will be reluctant to take the gamble on inexperienced youngsters, due to the increased pressure to get their loans right because of the longer term deals.
And his views have been echoed in League One, where Bradford City boss Phil Parkinson has expressed his concern at the new rules increasing the expenditure on wages, which could put smaller clubs under huge financial strain.
However, Doncaster’s Darren Ferguson has stated the changes will influence lower league managers to give their home grown talent an opportunity.
I have to disagree with Ferguson, as I feel with football being a results driven business, many managers will be unwilling to risk blooding academy products, instead opting to play more senior players out of position. I am therefore concerned it will have a huge knock-on effect on youth development.
It is invaluable experience for youngsters to be part of a first team dressing room. Working with different managers who rely on you to perform on a Saturday, each implementing their own style of play and game plans, can not be obtained in academy football.
Adapting to these different styles helps to mature you as a player. It is no surprise to see the likes of Harry Kane and Jesse Lingard now flourishing at the top level having nurtured their talent at several different loan clubs.
I have been on loan several times and each spell has been a learning curve that has shaped me into the player I am.
At 19, I signed for my first loan club Brentford and after a blistering start, helping to secure two excellent wins, I was given a sharp wake up call when we suffered a 4-0 home defeat to Huddersfield Town. I struggled with the physical presence of their forward line, something I had never experienced in youth football at Sunderland.
The changing room was understandably sombre after the game and it made me realise how critical results were to my new team mates and manager.
After two months, nine appearances, some hard lessons and severe homesickness, I returned to Sunderland.
It was vital experience for me however, as having that know-how of the league proved to be a platform for me to have successful loan spells at Northampton Town and Coventry City.
What is worrying though is young players, under the new rules, may not get a second chance to prove they can handle the rigours of Leagues One and Two like I did.
I fear there will be an alarming amount of talented youngsters falling out of the game after an unsuccessful loan during the second half of the season, or with not having an opportunity at all to prove themselves at first team level.
The current short term deals are a win-win situation for both clubs involved and scrapping it could harm the chances of developing the next Kane and Lingard.
Life in the Lower Leagues 
I wonder if this means players will be loaned out to levels lower than they could probably play at? Maybe you would have been loaned out to L2 or even the Conference rather than Brentford for your first one? That would make sure you’re getting first team games and helping the new team, rather than possibly being another sub as you could have been at Brentford.
Great read
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