On the back of the club’s epic achievements from last season and securing Europa League football, we’re entering uncharted territory — not just for the lads on the pitch, but also for the fans.
We’re facing a delicate balancing act in order to adhere to UEFA’s strict rules and guidelines, which I’ll break down for you.
The basics
Each UEFA squad must follow the parameters below (this squad list is also known as the “A List”)
- A maximum of twenty five players
- A maximum of seventeen players with “Non-Homegrown” status
- A minimum of eight players with a “Homegrown” status, four of which must be club-trained
- A minimum of two goalkeepers
There’s also a “B List”, where any player under the age of twenty one and who’s been with
the club for two years can be used without registration. Chris Rigg and Matty Young would be examples here.
Club or association-trained
The UEFA rulings on being “Club Trained” or “Association Trained” are extremely strict and differ from what both the Premier League and EFL allow.
Club-trained
To be club-trained, a player must spend three seasons (or thirty six months) at a single club between the ages of fifteen and twenty one.
The important caveat is that this three-year period need not be consecutive and this is important to note: a player signing after their eighteenth birthday can still achieve club-grown status, as they can be registered across three seasons before turning twenty one.
For example, Jordan Pickford spent more than three years at Sunderland between the ages of fifteen and twenty one, whilst also being loaned to several other clubs.
Association-trained
In simple terms, an association-trained player is a club-trained player of another club, or that’s spent three years at multiple English clubs between the ages of fifteen and twenty one.
A player may also be association-trained if they spent two and a half years at Sunderland and completed a six-month loan at another English club before turning twenty one, thus breaking the full three years (or thirty six months) of registration between eighteen and twenty one.
For example, Timur Tutierov can’t be classified as club-trained due to his loan spell with Exeter. However, he qualifies as “nation-trained” due to the length of time he’s been registered with English clubs.
Filling the quota
If you can’t fill either the club or association-trained quota, you’ll have to declare a squad list shorter than twenty until one of those places is available to fill at the next registration window. For example, if the club registers only three club players, the maximum squad size that can be submitted is twenty four players.
One option the club could have is to include the likes of Rigg and/or Young in the A List. This would still take up a squad slot, as both players still qualify for the B-list based on their age and therefore don’t require registration.
Who’s club-trained?
We’re limited on true, club-trained players following the departure of Dan Neil. Below is the list we have of players that are captured by the specifications and are aged over twenty one.
- Anthony Patterson
- Harrison Jones
- Zak Johnson
Who’s association-trained?
The club has much more flexibility in getting English-trained players into its squad, with the current squad players being available under this quota.
- Dan Ballard
- Luke O’Nien
- Romaine Mundle
- Simon Moore
- Aji Alese
- Alan Browne
- Leo Hjelde
- Timur Tutierov
Who misses out?
Unfortunately, we have some key players who don’t qualify for either homegrown status due to specific details from when they joined Sunderland or during their time as a player.
- Eliezer Mayenda
- Trai Hume
- Jensen Seelt
- Milan Aleksić
- Ahmed Abdullahi
What are Sunderland’s options?
Increasing the club-trained quota would be difficult.
Realistically, that means the Black Cats are largely reliant on current academy graduates and young players already progressing through the system. While former academy products could theoretically return, the pool of eligible players is small and often difficult to recruit from.
- Dan Neil
- Jordan Pickford
- Jordan Henderson
- Josh Maja
- Joel Asoro
- Max Stryjek
However, increasing the association-trained quota is far simpler.
With plenty of options to fill the four required slots, the club can look to add quality over numbers. and below is a mix of rumoured and somewhat sensible options we could consider in order to improve depth here.
- Aaron Wan-Bissaka
- Archie Brown
- John Stones
- Tammy Abraham
- Hayden Hackney
- Joe Gomez
