Transfer window

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In association football, the transfer window is the period during the year in which a football team can transfer players either in or out of their playing staff. However, an existing loan deal can be made permanent at any time outside the transfer window. The window was introduced in response to negotiations with the European Commission.

The system has been used in many European leagues before being brought into compulsory effect by FIFA during the 2002-03 season. There are two windows per season, one from the close of the season until midnight of 31 August and one from midnight on 1 January until midnight on 31 January the same year. Clubs from the Football League Championship to the Football Conference can loan in players from 8 September to 23 November and also from 8 February until 23 March.^[1]

1 Transfer deadline day
2 Calls to end the transfer window
3 See also
4 References

[edit] Transfer deadline day

The day upon which a window closes is known as deadline day. Deadline day is usually one of the busiest days of the transfer window. Typically this day generates a rash of media interest and can also see big moves, notable recent examples of transfers agreed on the deadline day include:

Date of Transfer	Player	Transferred from	To	Fee
August 2004	Wayne Rooney	Everton FC	Manchester United	£27 million
August 2005	Michael Owen	Real Madrid	Newcastle United	£16 million
August 2006	Carlos Tévez and Javier Mascherano	Corinthians	West Ham United	£12 million
August 2006	Ashley Cole	Arsenal FC	Chelsea FC	£5 million plus William Gallas
January 2008	Jermain Defoe	Tottenham Hotspur F.C.	Portsmouth F.C.	Undisclosed

If the last day of a transfer window is on a Saturday then the deadline is usually extended to the Monday for business reasons.^[2]

[edit] Calls to end the transfer window

Steve Coppell, manager of Reading FC in the Premier League, and others have called for the transfer window to be scrapped in favour of the previous system, where deals could be struck throughout the season until the closing weeks.^[3] Coppell said that the transfer window breeds panic and encourages “scurrilous” transfer activity adding that “I cannot see the logic in a transfer window. It brings on a fire-sale mentality, causes unrest via the media and means clubs buy too many players” adding that “The old system, where if you had a problem you could look at loans or make a short-term purchase, was far better than this system we have at the moment.”^[4]

On the January 2008 deadline day Portsmouth manager Harry Redknapp said the club had received a call at 11.55pm (five minutes before the transfer window closed) from Manchester City to say they had submitted the relevant documents to sign Benjani. Redknapp said "That's when Peter Storrie gave the go-ahead for our forms (to register Defoe) to go through. Once their forms were sent, we had to get ours off very quickly." Portsmouth were contacted by Premier League officials at 12.15am to say they had not received all the documents to complete the Benjani deal.^[5]