League One Recruitment: The frontier for GBE signings this summer

Why GBE recruitment is so important for League One clubs right now, and what they should do about it

When the FA introduced their post-Brexit immigration structure for football in December 2020, League One clubs would've been forgiven for shooting it a quick glance, deciding that it wasn't for them, and never bothering to check the paperwork again.

In reality, even pre-Brexit, when freedom of movement in the EU meant that you could feasibly sign anyone you wanted with an EU passport, League One largely ignored the foreign market.

As you can see from the chart above, well over 90% of business done in League One is of a domestic nature. Almost all of the money spent by League One clubs has been spent on domestic players, and, in most seasons, the amount of money spent (on disclosed fees at least) was also domestic.

The introduction of clubs such as Birmingham City, Huddersfield Town, Wrexham, and Stockport County made a massive difference to the league this season though. Birmingham embarked on the largest spending spree ever seen at third tier level, and that seemed to have something of a knock-on effect to their rivals as well.