The rules governing loans (or "temporary transfers" as the FA officially likes to call them) are long and detailed. They need to be in order to avoid clubs exploiting the system, but this does make them difficult to remember. This page sets out the regulations that apply during the 2003/04 season.
Note: I have not heard of any changes to the loan system for 2003/04, other than as stated below. That does not mean that there are no other changes!
There are two types of loan, which I
shall refer to as "short-term" and "long-term".
A short-term loan is for
a period between 28 and 93 days, including the start date
and the finishing date. (All loans are for a specific
number of days, and technically there is no such thing as
"a month's loan".) The player cannot be
recalled by his original club during the first 28 days (although
it's possible that such a recall is allowed for
goalkeepers in an extreme case), but can be afterwards
regardless of the original period of the loan. A club can
have up to eight players on short-term
loan during the season, but no more than four
at any one time.
Short-term loans which subsequently
become permanent transfers do not count to the limit of
eight such loans during a season.
A club is allowed to sign the same player
on short-term loan more than once during a season.
However, the total number of days on loan cannot exceed
93. Furthermore, a club can extend the length of a short-term
loan as long as the total length is not more than 93 days.
A long-term loan can
only apply to a player aged under 23 on the 30th June
before the start of the season (so for 2003/04, a player
on long-term loan has to have been born on or after 1st
July, 1980). The loan must commence betwen 1st July and
31st December, and must run to the end of the season. A
player on a long-term loan cannot be recalled by his
original club unless he is permanently transferred to
another club. A club can have up to four
players on long-term loan during the season.
No club can send out more than six
players on long-term loans during a season.
A club can take a maximum of four
loan players (short-term and long-term combined) from any
one club during a season.
A club is able to name a maximum of five
loan players (short-term and long-term combined) in the
16 players listed on the team sheet for a game.
Under extreme
circumstances, a club is allowed to take a goalkeeper on
loan even if it infringes some of the regulations listed
here.
The club receving the loaned player must
play at least half of his wages during the period.
Any short-term loan to or from another
country must last for 93 days. Note that Welsh clubs
playing in the Football League or other parts of the
English pyramid do not count as being in another country,
but other Welsh clubs, and those in Scotland or Northern
Ireland, do count as being in another country.
(NB This very important rule applied in
2001/02 but I believe that it no longer applies unless
the number 465 has increased.) A club may use up to 465
loan days each season. Short-term loans which
subsequently become permanent transfers do not count to
the limit of the number of loan days during a season.
(A rule changed for 2003/04) A
Premiership club can take players on loan from other
Premiership clubs, but only a maximum of two at a time, a
maximum of four per season and only during the transfer
window (previously Premiership clubs were not allowed to
take players on loan from another Premiership club).
A rule that I am not exactly sure about came to light during 2003/04 when Oldham Athletic attempted to sign a player on loan from Nantwich Town. They were not allowed to do so, supposedly because of Football Association rules, because Nantwich were too low down in the English Pyramid system. Nantwich play at level 8 of the pyramid, which is the same level as the Hellenic League Premier Division, Ryman Division 2 and the Combined Counties Premier Division. This seems a strange rule as there appears to be no equivalent bar from taking players on loan from foreign clubs at a similar or lower level (such as the Scottish Premier League).
The most common type of loan is one that lasts for 30 days, expiring on a Saturday. This allows a club to sign a player on the Friday so that he can take part in training on that day, and then to play him in five Saturday games plus any midweek games during the period.
The next most common type is a loan that lasts for 93 days, again expiring on a Saturday. Any such period will also begin on a Friday, so that the player is available for 14 Saturdays.
The two common types above explain why so many loans expire at midnight on a Saturday.
Something that appeared in 2002/03 was the loan that expired on midnight on 1st January. This was obviously so that the original club had the player available to sell during the January transfer window, but also allowed that player to play in the game on 1st January given that probably not too many transfer negotiations are concluded on dates with full League programmes.
The long-term loan was only introduced a few years ago, and is intended principally for Premiership clubs to develop their young players in serious League action. This is why there is an age limit on such loans. The rule about no recall is designed to give the receiving club some stability in their own team. This type of transfer can be risky, for obvious reasons, but so far it seems that these loans have usually been successful. Insignificant clubs with no decent players, such as Bournemouth, have discovered that their entire season can be turned around by the presence of one major talent.
Players in:
(a) Omar Daley from Portmore United (Jamaica) on a long-term loan
starting on 11/8/2003 or at least once he gained his work permit.
The first occasion that Reading have made use of the long-term
loan facility.
(b) Lloyd Owusu from Sheffield Wednesday on a short-term loan -
initially this was for 28 days from 21/12/2003 to 17/1/2004 and
then extended up to 14/2/2004. Due to a lack of fixtures, Lloyd
left Reading on 7/2/2004 but re-signed on 20/2/2004 up to 4/4/2004.
This would have made it a 93-day deal but Lloyd signed
permanently before the loan expired.
(c) Paul Brooker from Leicester City on a short-term loan (27/2/2004
to the end of the season). Initially this was for 30 days but
then extended. His last possible day with Reading will be 29/5/2004,
the day of the play-off final.
(d) Dean Gordon from Coventry City on a short-term loan (23/3/2004
to the end of the season).
Players out:
(a) Joe Gamble to Barnet on a long-term loan. Initially, this was
a 93-day (?) short-term loan from the start of the season,
although Joe joined up early with Barnet to play in some pre-season
friendlies. On occasions he has trained full-time with Reading,
presumably because not all of Barnet's squad are full-time
professionals.
(b) Andre Boucaud to Peterborough United on a short-term loan (8/8/2003
- 7/10/2003?). Andre joined up early with Peterborough to play in
pre-season friendlies. He then signed a 30-day loan which was
later extended. Peterborough manager Barry Fry had said he would
like to extend the loan to 93 days or even to the whole season,
but it appears to have instead been for a further 31 days before
Andre returned to Reading.
(c) Darius Henderson to Brighton & Hove Albion on a short-term
loan (8/8/2003 - 4/10/2003). Initially this was for the minimum
28 days, but was then extended for a further 30 days before
Darius returned to Reading.
(d) Andre Fashanu to Farnborough Town on "short-term loan
work experience" whatever that is. I can't quite explain
this one - Fashanu is too old to be a member of our Academy
although Reading say that he is still a scholar. He is one of our
registered players with a squad number, but Reading say he was
eligible to play for either us or Farnborough, which I find very
difficult to believe. It's possible that he was eligible to play
for our reserve side but not the first team. However, the loan
was cut short when Andre suffered a broken leg. After regaining
fitness, Andre rejoined Farnborough on 12/3/2004.
(e) Jamie Ashdown to Rushden & Diamonds on a long-term loan (13/11/2003
to the end of the season). Originally this was a 31-day short-term
loan and then extended to 59 days. It was later extended to the
end of the season.
(f) Nathan Tyson to Wycombe Wanderers on a short-term loan -
initially this was from 2/1/2004 (?) to 31/1/2004 (?), but was
later extended to run up to 2/3/2004. It was then further
extended to 6/3/2004 pending a permanent transfer.
(g) Chris Davies to Woking on work experience starting on 27/2/2004.
(h) Mario Noto to Watford on work experience starting 3/2004.
(i) Simieon Howell to Farnborough Town on work experience
starting 25/3/2004.
Players in:
(a) Matthew Upson from Arsenal on a 93-day short-term loan (6/9/2002
- 7/12/2002). Upson's date of birth is 18/4/1979 - because this
is before 1/7/1979 we could not sign him on a long-term loan to
the end of the season.
(b) Luke Chadwick from Manchester United on a short-term loan (7/2/2003
to 17/5/2003 with a short gap). This was originally a 37-day loan
to 15/3/2003 but then extended. Manchester United recalled
Chadwick to Old Trafford on 19/3/2003, after he had been on loan
for 41 days. They then allowed us to re-sign him on loan on
transfer deadline day (27/3/2003). The loan could then have run
until he had been at Reading for a total of 93 days, which would
have been 17/5/2003. He actually left Reading after our last game
of the season on 14/5/2003
(c) Glen Little from Burnley on a short-term loan (27/3/2003 to
presumably 26/5/2003 but he actually left Reading after our last
game of the season on 14/5/2003).
Players out:
(a) Ricky Allaway to Basingstoke Town on a 93-day short-term loan
(16/8/2002 - 16/11/2002). However, before the loan expired Ricky
left Reading and joined Basingstoke permanently.
(b) Jamie Ashdown to Bournemouth on a short-term loan (21/8/2002
- approximately 21/9/2002).
(c) Adi Viveash to Oxford United on a short-term loan (6/9/2002 -
16/11/2002). Initially this was a 30-day loan and then extended
to 72 days. The two clubs were unable to agree a further
extension.
(d) Phil Whitehead to Tranmere Rovers on a 33-day short-term loan
(27/9/2002 - 29/10/2002).
(e) Alex Smith to Shrewsbury Town on a 93-day short-term loan (13/12/2002
- 15/3/2003). Initially this was a 30-day loan and then extended
to 63 days. Finally it was extended to the maximum length.
(f) Adrian Whitbread to Exeter City on a 37-day short-term loan (24/1/2003
- 1/3/2003). However, when Exeter changed manager, Whitbread
returned to Reading a day or two early.
(g) Anthony Rougier to Brighton & Hove Albion on a 30-day
short-term loan (21/2/2003 - 22/3/2003). Brighton tried to extend
the loan but Reading refused.
(h) Andre Boucaud to Peterborough United on a short-term loan (27/3/2003
- presumably 3/5/2003).
(i) Sammy Igoe to Luton Town on a short-term loan (27/3/2003 to
the end of the season). However, before the loan expired Sammy
picked up an injury and returned to Reading.
(j) Phil Whitehead to York City on a seven-day loan (15/4/2003 to
21/4/2003). A rare example of the emergency loan rule that can
apply to goalkeepers even after the transfer deadline.
In addition, scholars Alex Stanley and Steve Warren had spells at other clubs. These counted as work experience or trials rather than loans because they were part of our Academy. When on work experience, players can't appear for the first team of another Football League side but they can play in reserve or youth matches, or for the first team of a non-league side. (Stanley had three months at Aylesbury United and one month at Swindon Town. Warren had two months at Walton & Hersham and one month at Mansfield Town.)
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