Green on BPL: The foreign invasion

The top professional soccer leagues have traditionally used imported players as a way to gain a competitive advantage.

With that in mind, it’s become conventional wisdom to believe the country with the best domestic league must certainly then have the one of the best national teams. However, when looking at the FIFA world rankings, this correlation doesn’t quite add up.

The English Premiership (BPL) is arguably the top league in the world in terms of quality from top to bottom, yet England’s national team continues to underachieve, having last won a major tournament in 1966 when it claimed its only World Cup title.

It is easy to understand why British players make up the majority in the BPL, as scouting and signing local talent is much cheaper than bringing in imported players. However, if a team feels it needs to gain an advantage over its peers and has some money to spend, more often than not managers like to take a flyer on a foreigner who may have untapped potential rather than spending money on well-known and heavily scouted local talent.

It is also interesting to note that Englishmen only make up 38 per cent of the players in the BPL. This number is a less staggering 47 per cent if you include the rest of Britain (Wales, Scotland, Northern Ireland) and higher still at 53 per cent if Ireland is added to the British Isles mix.

Without further ado, here are the top ten nations based on total number of players in the BPL.

Note: Information used is from first-team rosters only and includes players on loan.

ENGLAND: 213 players

The BPL’s Argentine contingent is highlighted by striker Sergio Aguero (pictured) of Manchester City, where he will soon be re-united with the controversial Carlos Tevez, along with defender Pablo Zabaleta. Elsewhere, Fabricio Coloccini captains Newcastle.

WHAT ABOUT CANADA?

There are currently two Canadian players who compete in the BPL.

Forward Simeon Jackson, a 24-year-old native of Mississauga, Ont., has two goals in 15 appearances this season for Norwich City. Jackson struggled for playing time at the beginning of the campaign, but has become a semi-regular starter for the Canaries over the past two months.

Winger David Hoilett, a 21-year-old native of Brampton, Ont., is a key player and regular starter for Blackburn, having scored three goals in 22 appearances for Rovers.

OVERALL NUMBERS

There are 567 BPL players on first-team rosters

There are 67 nations represented in the BPL

38 per cent of BPL players are from England

47 per cent of BPL players are from the United Kingdom

54 per cent of BPL players are from the United Kingdom and Ireland

81 per cent of BPL players (458 in total) are from Europe

7 per cent of BPL players (40) are from Africa

6 per cent of BPL players (32) are from South America

4 per cent of BPL players (22) are from North America and Central America

2 per cent of BPL players (15) are from Asia, Australia and New Zealand

Wigan is represented by 15 different nationalities (26 players)

There are four players from Iceland (population of 320,000 or one player per 80,000)

There is one player from the Faroe Islands (population of 50,000)

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