Is Club Loyalty Dying?

In the modern era, there is a dying breed of loyal players, and fans are slowly losing their connection to the players. Players now roughly spend on average three to six years before plotting their next move. But why is this the case? Are players no longer worried about creating a legacy at a club? Would they rather move clubs to secure more money? Why do clubs no longer have a player they can proudly say has spent their whole career with them?

Premier League Loyalty

Amongst the Premier League, many of the longer serving players at clubs feel like they have barely been there for five minutes. For example, Manchester City’s longest serving players is the magician himself Kevin De Bruyne, who to many football fans will feel like he only joined a few years ago, but is in fact almost into his tenth year at the club.

Bukayo Saka is the longest serving player at Arsenal, and to many he will seem like a young star coming into his prime, but he is somehow the longest serving player at a club the stature of Arsenal. Same goes for Reece James, who seems like a young player who has got many years left at the top, but is the longest serving player at Chelsea, although it is Chelsea, who seem to buy and sell every day of the week.

Of course, there are some outliers, players who still know what it means to stay loyal to their clubs, and want to be cemented into history books for their team. Seamus Coleman has spent 16 years at Everton, joining in 2009 for £60,000. Lewis Dunk has spent 14 years at Brighton, and Joel Ward has spent 12 years at Crystal Palace. The three players have shown unconditional loyalty to their clubs, and could be the last of a dying breed.

🇮🇪| 14 years ago today, Everton signed Seamus Coleman from Sligo Rovers

Since then:

Longest serving Premier League player ✅

334 PL appearances ✅

67 Ireland caps ✅

Captain of club and country ✅

For £60,000… legend 💚👏 pic.twitter.com/Zzhrf4A5BB

— IrishPropaganda🇮🇪⚽️ (@IrishPropaganda) January 1, 2023

The thing in common with these players is that they have always been able to put in consistent performances for their clubs, and have always pledged their loyalty. Seamus Coleman was a highly rated fullback in the league many years ago before his horror leg break in 2017, and Lewis Dunk has captained and led Brighton through the lower divisions up into the Premier League and even European football. To these players, their clubs mean far more to them then just moving away at first chance.

Although, the common theme with all longest serving players across the Premier League are the level of clubs they play for. The top five longest serving Premier League players all play for clubs you would consider outside of the ‘big six’. This could be because the management and structure of the clubs differ from the bigger clubs in the league. Players at clubs in the big six have less of a window to settle in and perform, with the staff looking to cut their losses and sell players as soon as they can.

For example, Jadon Sancho had two seasons at Manchester United, and now is being told to go play elsewhere as he is no longer wanted at Old Trafford. A player who was bought by the club for roughly £70million, and is being actively shipped off within a couple of years because he hasn’t hit the ground running.

That is the difference between the clubs in the Premier League, the big clubs in the Premier League cant afford to keep players for too long if they’re not performing, as the longer they hold onto them, the less money they will make from the sale and the losses will be huge.

‘Smaller’ clubs in the league can afford to hold onto some of their players, as the fees they were signed for wont match up to some of the bigger clubs transfer fees, so the losses they would record are less of an issue for them. They can afford to give players time to settle in, before making a big impact at the club.

Brighton for example, they can sign many young players and have done so, like Moises Caicedo, and can afford to give the players a few years to settle in at their new club, and can send them on loan to develop, before implementing them into the first 11, which is where they make an impact.

This is one of the reasons as to why loyalty at certain clubs is easier to achieve, as players aren’t demanded top standards as soon as they walk through the door, they can be given time to develop and settle in.

Irresistible packages

In the era we live in, the financial scale of modern football has developed to a scale that can be seen as preposterous. Players are now on hundreds of thousands of pounds a week, and for those in Saudi Arabia a monthly salary is enough to retire all of the family and be settled for life. The average salary of a top level footballer roughly at £67,000 a week.

The finances within football are lucrative, and for players it can seem tough to resist these big deals they’re offered. In previous footballing years, it is understandable as to why players are loyal at their clubs, as the money they would earn at other clubs would be fairly even, and there would be no point to move.

However, with the big deals involved in football now, it may be easier to understand why players don’t hang around at clubs for long, and move all around the world. We all grow up playing football and dreaming of making it pro, because we love to play the game so much. But as players make it pro, they understand it is also their job, and they still need to maximise the money they can make so they can look after their families and live a nice life.

So, if they were offered more money elsewhere to do the exact same thing, wouldn’t it be silly to turn down that offer?

With the players moving to Saudi, many did not hide their intentions in their interviews, admitting the money played a huge part in the move, as it allows them to look after all of their family and ensure that they leave money behind for the loved ones. To some it will seem selfish and even greedy, but for footballers, they’re also human beings, and need to put their personal lives ahead of staying loyal to a football club.

Cristiano Ronaldo tops Lionel Messi as the highest-paid footballer in the world, according to Forbes 💰 pic.twitter.com/CI6un9Cw0x

— ESPN FC (@ESPNFC) May 29, 2020

Is It Dead?

Even though it may be even more difficult and harder to see loyalty within football, there are still players and staff who remain loyal to their teams. Depending on the team a fan may support, they may find it harder to have a connection to the set of players on pitch, due to the fact they could move on only a season later, but there is still loyalty within clubs.

For fans, their loyalty to their clubs will never change, whoever may be playing for them. Football clubs bring their fans together, and they all want their clubs to have success.

So yes, loyalty for players within Football may be difficult to see, and could in fact slowly be dying. But there is still an abundance of loyalty for fans within football, and they will always support their clubs, and wouldn’t dream of switching allegiance.