Loan players: who really benefits?
Done well, everybody wins. Done badly, a young player spends six months on a bench in a town where he knows nobody.
Loan deals are one of the busiest parts of the transfer market in the Northern League. Bigger clubs send young players to get experience; smaller clubs get talent they could never afford. Done well, everybody wins. Done badly, a young player spends six months on a bench in a town where he knows nobody.
How a loan works
A loan is a temporary transfer. The parent club keeps the player's contract; the borrowing club usually pays some or all of the wages for the length of the loan. Most loans last half a season or a full season. Some include an option to buy at the end.
At this level, the borrowing club often pays only part of the wages, or nothing, because the parent club values the experience more than the money.
Who benefits
The player, if he plays. Twenty games of real competitive football teach more than a season of reserve matches.
The parent club, which gets back a more experienced player and finds out whether he is ready.
The borrowing club, which gets a player it could never afford to buy.
When loans go wrong
The most common problem is simple: the player does not play. Borrowing clubs sometimes take loan players as insurance, and then pick their own players. The young player sits on the bench, falls out of form, and returns worse than he left.
Smart parent clubs now write minimum playing time into loan deals. If the player does not start a certain number of games, the loan ends early.
I learned more in one season at Ashford than in two years in our reserves. I also learned that nobody gives you a place.
Daniel Okafor, on loan from Riverside Rovers
The off-pitch part
Good loans look after the person too. A nineteen-year-old in a new town needs a place to live, someone to show him around and a way to get to training. The best borrowing clubs assign an older player to help. The worst leave him in a hotel.
The recall clause
Most loan contracts at this level include a recall clause. It lets the parent club bring the player back early, usually in January. Parent clubs like it as insurance: if their own first team has injuries, they can call the player home. Borrowing clubs dislike it, because they may lose a key player halfway through the season.
A fair loan balances the two. The best deals we have seen allow a recall only if the player is not starting, or only for a fee. That protects the player's playing time and the borrowing club's plans.
Who does it well
Last season, Riverside Rovers had eight young players out on loan, and seven started regularly. Their academy director calls each of them every week and watches at least one game a month. It shows: Rovers' loan players come back ready, and three are now in their first team.
