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In one newspaper Stan said, "'Obviously I have now got all four of the loan signings I can make in, so I can't bring in anymore new players now. So we just have to grin and bear it and carry on with what we have already got."
So Burnley will not be making any more loan signings until at least one of the current loan players has returned to his club but Stan we can tell you has got it wrong, we don’t need to grin and bear it, and there is nothing at all to stop us bringing in more.
In fact we could make as many as four more loan signings currently although there would be a restriction on how many could play. The rules only allow for five loan players in the sixteen man squad for any game. That still means we could add one more at the current time and still play all the loan signings.
The rules all changed over a year ago to relax the previous loan conditions and it seems, somewhat incredibly, that managers up and down the country are not aware of them. They certainly caught out both Alex Ferguson and Bobby Robson recently.
There are restrictions on the numbers of loan players at a time, the numbers over a season, the numbers from any one club and very importantly the age restriction on players eligible for long term loans and this explains just why the likes of Gareth Farrelly and Andy Todd could not be signed on long term loan deals.
It is all there in The Football League’s Rules and Regulations for the 2003/04 season and below we reproduce those applicable regulations.
47.3 | There shall be two categories of temporary loan transfers allowed – Short Term Loans and Long Term Loans. The following restrictions shall apply to both types of loans. |
47.3.1 | A maximum of five loan Players (either Short Term or Long Term) can be named in the sixteen Players listed on a team sheet for any individual Match. This figure shall include any additional loan of a goalkeeper approved by the Executive. |
47.3.2 | No more that 4 loan Players (either Short Term or Long Term) may join one Club from any other Club in any Season. |
48.1 | Short Term Loans : Subject to the provisions of Regulation 47.3, Short Term loan transfers shall only be approved in accordance with the following provisions: |
48.1.1 | A Club can have up to 8 Players on Short Term Loan during any Season, but no more than 4 at any one time. |
48.1.2 | Short Term Loan transfers shall be for a period of not less than 28 days or for more than 93 days in any one Season. The loan deal is inclusive of the start date and the finishing date. |
48.1.3 | The Short Term Loan of a goalkeeper may be subject to a recall clause (including within the original 28 days) but this may only be implemented in exceptional circumstances with the consent of the Executive. |
48.1.4 | The Executive shall not permit a Short Term Loan transfer for a period in excess of 93 days in any one Season save in extenuating circumstances, a the discretion of the Executive. |
48.1.5 | Short Term loans which subsequently become permanent transfers, or simultaneously on termination become Long Term loans., shall not count against a Club’s quota of Short Term Loans for that season. |
48.2 | Long Term Loans: Subject to the provisions of Regulation 47.3, Short Term loan transfers shall only be approved in accordance with the following provisions: |
48.2.1 | A Player can only be transferred on a Long Term Loan if he was under the age of 23 on the 30th June prior to the Season in which the Long Term loan is intended to take place. |
48.2.2 | A Club can have up to 4 Players on Long Term loan at any one time during any season. |
48.2.3 | The registration of a Long Term loan will only be permitted during the period 1st July to 31st December in any Season. |
48.2.4 | The period of a Long Term loan shall expire no earlier than the end of the Season in which the Long Term loan takes place and a player signed on such a transfer must complete the loan period and may not be recalled by his original Club at any time during that loan period save:
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48.2.5 | Long Term loans transfers which subsequently become permanent transfers before 31st December in the same Season shall not count against a Club’s quota of Long Term Loans for that season. |