Does anyone care where they are from? The importance of locally trained players in English football

Figures & data

Table 1. Agreement by sub-group.

	Age			Team				Local		No.	Games
	Ave	<40	>40	PL	Champ	L1	L2	No	Yes	None	1–4	5–9	10–15	16+
I am proud when a local player from ‘our’ Academy makes it to the first team	4.74	4.67	4.79	4.72	4.77	4.83	4.66	4.68	4.76	4.65	4.63	4.70	4.76	4.79
I am proud when any player from ‘our’ Academy makes it to the first team	4.56	4.44	4.66	4.53	4.66	4.67	4.41	4.61	4.55	4.49	4.41	4.53	4.62	4.62
I am proud when local players from my club play for their national team	4.56	4.50	4.60	4.58	4.66	4.56	4.29	4.47	4.58	4.30	4.59	4.56	4.56	4.58
I am proud when players from my club play for their national team	4.48	4.47	4.49	4.48	4.55	4.58	4.27	4.44	4.49	4.13	4.52	4.49	4.52	4.50
I am prouder when a local player makes their debut compared to a non-local player	4.01	3.94	4.06	4.09	3.95	3.88	4.00	3.97	4.02	3.91	4.00	4.04	4.03	4.02
Having local players in the team is an important part of my clubs’ identity	3.93	3.89	3.96	3.97	3.99	3.89	3.70	4.01	3.91	3.98	3.87	3.92	3.85	3.96
I would like to see my club have locally born players in the first team every game	3.77	3.77	3.76	3.64	3.86	3.96	3.82	3.74	3.77	3.63	3.80	3.76	3.67	3.79
I would rather my club win the league than my country wins the World Cup	3.66	3.49	3.78	3.63	3.80	3.47	3.78	3.80	3.62	3.59	3.43	3.21	3.61	3.85
I don’t care where players are from as long as they win	3.63	3.73	3.56	3.65	3.42	3.78	3.78	3.55	3.65	3.53	3.57	3.44	3.57	3.71
There is more pressure on the local players, as they know how their supporters feel	3.39	3.51	3.30	3.45	3.17	3.45	3.49	3.30	3.41	3.28	3.48	3.34	3.38	3.38
I care where the players in my club originate	2.81	2.63	2.94	2.81	3.03	2.56	2.67	2.80	2.81	2.73	2.86	2.96	2.78	2.78
I expect more from local players than from overseas	2.77	2.73	2.81	2.79	2.73	2.67	2.90	2.81	2.76	2.72	2.72	2.87	2.65	2.80
I expect more from local players than others from around the UK	2.71	2.71	2.72	2.75	2.61	2.69	2.80	2.71	2.72	2.70	2.68	2.71	2.61	2.75
Local players get criticized first when things go wrong on the pitch	2.56	2.57	2.56	2.62	2.43	2.60	2.56	2.57	2.56	2.59	2.61	2.50	2.59	2.55
I would rather buy a ready-made player than promote a player from the Academy	2.31	2.45	2.20	2.36	2.07	2.40	2.46	2.18	2.34	2.35	2.23	2.26	2.30	2.34
Local players get easier route to the 1st team	2.27	2.36	2.21	2.30	2.27	2.21	2.24	2.34	2.25	2.30	2.28	2.23	2.26	2.28
I want my club to break its transfer record every summer	2.02	2.11	1.95	2.37	1.60	1.72	1.84	1.99	2.02	1.98	2.03	2.05	1.86	2.04

Table 2. Priorities split by sub-groups.

		N	Financial position of your club	Having local Academy graduates in the team	English players in the first team	Club winning a trophy	National team winning a trophy
	OVERALL	661	39.6%	6.5%	2.4%	40.3%	11.2%
What was your decade of birth?	Pre-1950s	36	40.0%	11.4%	2.9%	40.0%	5.7%
	1950s	105	50.0%*	5.8%	3.8%	39.4%	1.0%*
	1960s	135	48.4%	6.3%	3.1%	35.2%	7.0%
	1970s	108	39.0%	6.0%	3.0%	44.0%	8.0%
	1980s	103	32.3%	7.1%	2.0%	41.4%	17.2%
	1990s	140	33.3%	5.9%	0.7%	40.0%	20.0%*
	2000s	34	19.4%*	6.5%	0.0%*	51.6%	22.6%
Club Type (2019/20 season)	Premier League	315	25.8%*	7.7%	3.7%	48.2%*	14.7%
	Championship	162	53.2%*	6.3%	1.3%	30.4%*	8.9%
	League 1	100	51.0%*	4.2%	2.1%	34.4%	8.3%
	League 2	80	51.3%*	3.9%	0.0%*	39.5%	5.3%*
Birthplace?	No	271	30.6%*	7.5%	3.0%	44.9%	14.0%
	Yes	390	46.0%*	5.7%	1.9%	37.1%	9.3%
Geographical link?	No	148	31.3%	7.6%	4.2%	48.6%	8.3%
	Yes	513	42.0%	6.1%	1.8%	37.9%	12.1%
Attendance category	No games	46	27.3%	11.4%	4.5%	45.5%	11.4%
	1–4 games	116	30.6%	7.4%	1.9%	37.0%	23.1%*
	5–9 games	76	41.1%	9.6%	2.7%	34.2%	12.3%
	10–15 games,	66	33.3%	4.8%	1.6%	46.0%	14.3%
	16+ games	357	44.8%	5.2%	2.3%	41.0%	6.7%*

*denotes a significance difference from the sample average at > 0.05.