Willo, you're 64.... go enjoy life away from the computer mate. if my old man was on here with the rep you have (deserved or not) i would be disappointed. you seem a nice bloke, don't let this bog you down.

This was once a quality forum....

And of those nine British player how many do you think would be proud to read how we behave on here? You can include Damo in your answer.

(FFS there's children dying in Syria and none of that is Willo's fault!)

So I manage a Workshop which provides a safe learning environment for blokes struggling with PTSD and other mental health issues. Being a Palace fan isn't listed yet.

mate just back down, your wrong in what your saying just back down and leave it. after all we are all palace fans! agree to disagree, just leave it there and move on

True, and a good point. The deciding factor though is money, nationality has nothing to do with it really. The money of the premier league skews everything.

I suspect however, if we broke the Premier League down by individual nationalities that there are more British Players than any other nationality in the league.

It makes a more interesting story when its couched in terms of 'foreigners' as it fits a simple good - bad argument, without addressing the reason why the worlds best players tend to gravitate towards English football - TV Money (and its money that defines the game - notably the inequality it creates between teams and leagues).

The same I suspect isn't an issue in other British leagues (Welsh, Scottish, Irish and Northern Irish leagues). Even when you drop out of the premiership, then the number of non-national players drops dramatically.

The absurdity of the 'British Player rules' is that they're deliberate obfuscations of the real issue, TV money.

There are also very few British players who play outside the UK, likely for the same reason.

"One Nation Under God, has turned into One Nation Under the Influence of One Drug"
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There will clearly be more British players than any other single nationality, but if it was broken down in to; players with a British Passport, players with an EU passport (non GB) and players with passports from anywhere else that the first two groups would be very close, if not more of the EU passport holders.

The problem with that is lots of people from outside the EU can get one via a grandparent and automatically get the right to work here, even if they or their parents have never visited the continent.

It's not foreigners bad and British good either, it's a case of only letting players come over who increase the talent pool, not simply because they're a cheaper option.

The lack of British players taking the opportunity to play abroad has always annoyed me. I wouldn't say it's because of money primarily, I would put it down to a lack of language skills and fear of change.

The Championship isn't short of foreigners as the next most attractive league in the British Isles, with the carrot of potentially making promotion of course helping. The other leagues couldn't keep hold of their own national players if the PL comes calling, never mind attracting quality foreign players to it.

Optimistic as ever