March 29 2017 will go down as one of the most significant days in British history. It’s the day that the Prime Minister Theresa May triggers “Article 50” to begin the UK’s formal negotiations to leave the European Union.
 

Last June’s historic vote to leave has left some people elated, others deflated and you cannot switch on a news channel without watching debate after debate about whether it was the right decision. For many, it still seems inconceivable that a country that has played such a key role in European politics since joining the Common Market in 1973 will be leaving within the next two years. For others however, the departure cannot come soon enough as their wish to see an independent country draws ever nearer.
 

So how will this affect the Premier League which at the moment is seen as the most glamorous in world football?
 

For a start, Britain’s decision to leave the EU will mean that from 2019, any players wanting to go and play there will have to have a work permit and the rules that used to apply only to players from countries outside of the EU, could be imposed on all “foreign “nationals. At the moment, a player from one of the top 10 nations in the FIFA rankings is required to have played in 30 per cent of games in the two years prior to applying for that permit. This percentage increases the further down the rankings you go.
 

To give you an example using current players in the Premier League; N'Golo Kante, Anthony Martial, and Romelu Lukaku would all have failed to qualify for a permit when they first moved to England. A survey taken last year revealed that in English football’s top two championships, 332 players would fail to meet the current standards.


 

This not only applies to players wanting to play in the UK either; British players wanting to ply their trade overseas will also face new problems. Take the example of Gareth Bale at Real Madrid; under the new guidelines he would be classed as a “non EU” player in the squad and would obviously take up one of the two slots available under current FIFA regulations, a situation that would force clubs to off-load players to accommodate talents like the Welshman.


 

Another factor that must be taken into consideration would be transfer fees. It remains to be seen how the pound will stand-up on the financial markets when the UK finally does depart the European Union. After the country voted to leave last summer, there was a sharp decline on the stock exchange and events such as this may have a huge impact on players’ market-value. 
 

Buying players may also be problematic as they could become more expensive and whilst some observers would say that this is a good thing as it encourages teams to introduce young home-grown talent from their academies, it could lead to the big money men such as Roman Abramovich at Chelsea and the Glazer family at Manchester United, deciding to take their cash elsewhere thus potentially leaving big name clubs financially crippled.
 

So what is the solution?
 

It’s still unclear as to what the UK government will do regarding overseas players coming to play in the Premier League. There have been many ideas floated around such as a quota system being put in place. 
 

The whole situation could of course, see top-flight clubs looking further afield. Players from South America, Africa and Asia would be able to travel more freely to the UK and as one leave campaigner explained shortly after last summer’s vote; “Once we leave the EU, the UK will be free to treat footballers from all countries equally, which will broaden the pool of talent for our teams, not reduce it.”
 

Then there is the subject of television rights. The Premier League has been bankrolled by lucrative deals in recent years and the current Premier League chief executive Richard Scudamore recently negotiated a huge £5.14 billion agreement. Shortly after the “Brexit” vote, he was quick to state that the Premier League needs to remain a competitive league to attract audiences around the world. When the potential new regulations are put in place, will we be able to say with confidence that it will remain the most watched football championship in the world?