Why could there be a GBE/ESC system overhaul after this season?

Key clause in ESC documentation and a slide in domestic minutes combine for a concern in the current system

The title for this piece has sat in my drafts since January 13th.

January 13th was the day that I realized two things:

1. There was a clause in the ESC regulations which stated that:

   

2. That the percentage of minutes being played by English players in the Premier League was actually down below 25%

It would seem as though I am not the only person to have noticed this, as you would hope! As per the reporting from Matt Slater in The Athletic:

There is an important caveat buried in the small print of the ESC deal: the FA can scrap it if EQP minutes fall below 25 per cent for the season in any league. And that is the lever the FA is threatening to pull right now.

So, some EFL clubs are wondering why their access to ESC talent is under threat because Premier League clubs have bought too many foreign players, and the only solution is to let Premier League clubs lend more of their stockpiled young English players to EFL clubs, further disincentivising EFL clubs from investing in their own academies, and staging more games against under-21 sides that nobody pays to watch.

There is much to dig into and wade through here, and that is what I want to look to do in this piece.

This is an opinion piece, backed up by data and research, but is not intent on building up an agenda or tearing down the establishment. I want to concentrate on the facts and then give my educated opinion on where we are at with regard to GBE and ESC.

As the clause in the regs suggests though, there should have been reviews of the ESC system in any season where the percentage of minutes for EQP (English Qualified Player) was below 30%, so this begs the question, what has happened to the percentage of minutes for English players over the last few seasons?