Bristol City were left empty-handed as reigning champions Chelsea secured the capture of one of their top-rated youth talents without having to pay compensation.
The Blues have announced the signing of highly-rated defender Brooke Aspin, 18, from Bristol City with no compensation given to the Robins, according to the club's official statement. This is despite a landmark rule change earlier this year that requires women’s clubs to receive a fee if an out-of-contract player from their academy is signed by a rival team.
Last month the FA announced it was closing a loophole in women’s football transfers that allowed young players to move on free transfers. Rather, WSL and Women’s Championship clubs would be required to receive remuneration for the development of an out-of-contract academy product if they are signed by a rival club, a directive more in line with the men’s game.
Under the rules and regulations of the men’s Premier League and Football League, a club signing an out-of-contract player under the age of 24 is obliged to pay compensation to the former club for its training and development of the player.
The rule change in the women’s game arrived as part of the new Professional Game Academy (PGA) system implemented earlier this year. Teams in the WSL will receive £5,000 for every year the player has spent in the club's youth system, if signed by a fellow top-flight club.
Meanwhile, players moving from a Championship club to a WSL side would require the selling club to receive £2,500 for every year the player has spent at the club. A youth player transferring between Championship clubs will cost the receiving club £500 per year spent at her original club.
The rules would have seen City pocket a low five-figure sum for Aspin’s departure to Chelsea, who are set to loan the player back to the Robins for further development next season. However, because the new rules have been implemented this summer and clubs have only been recognised under the PGA system this year, the FA's newest rules will not be backdated.
Thus those academy players such as Aspin who signed with clubs prior to the new ruling would not be subject to recognition fees.
Aspin, who turned 18 earlier this month, joined Bristol City’s academy at the age of 14. She has since rose through the academy system with aplomb, cementing a place in Lauren Smith’s first team two years later and becoming a key cog in the team's promotion back to the WSL.
The defender has attracted significant interest from around the league for her consistent performances in the backline and has captained England’s under-17s on the international stage. She scored her first professional goal in City's final home game to secure the Championship title.
On the lack of compensation afforded Bristol City, head coach Smith said: "It’s disappointing that there isn't a sustainable model in place to ensure that clubs like us, that are proud to develop and support youth players, are supported and compensated in these situations."
Financial sustainability has been a significant talking point within the women’s football pyramid in recent years as the women’s game continues to grow at an exponential rate in the UK. Last month, Reading Women announced they were devolving to a part-time operation following their relegation from the top-flight after a turbulent few years battling against teams backed by Premier League clubs.
Bristol City’s promotion makes them the only team in the WSL not backed by a corresponding Premier League club, and Smith has emphasised the need for City to be creative in their approach to life in the top-flight if survival is to be maintained. City’s academy has a long history of producing high-calibre talent, with Lioness and Manchester City star Lauren Hemp plucked from the Robins Academy by the former WSL champions on a free in 2018.
However, frustrations continue to gurgle amongst those clubs in the table’s bottom half and lower tiers as the compensation for academy development is viewed as menial in comparison to that in the men’s game, where disputes over the size of fees often leading to tribunals.
