What was the Bosman Ruling?

Written by: Arthur, Founder of ISFM

Introduction

Have you ever heard of the Bosman Ruling? It was a historic and critical event in the world of football (Soccer) that changed how players transferred in between teams. Before this law took place, clubs would retain their footballers even after their contract at the club ended, demanding high transfer fees that other clubs couldn’t compensate for. Therefore, many pro football players playing in the years before 1995 were not always given the choice to leave their clubs.

The Problem

In 1990, Jean-Marc Bosman, a former Belgian professional footballer, was 25 when his first professional contract ended. He was playing at RFC Liège, back then a top division club in Belgium. 

Since his contract ended, and he wasn’t getting the play time he wanted, he wanted to transfer and move to Dunkerque, a French football club. Dunkerque refused to accept RFC Liege’s transfer fee, so Liège denied a release to Bosman. This event triggered a wage cut, as he was not a first team player anymore. His wages were reduced by 70%, just surpassing the minimum wage mark. Bosman wasn’t the only football player undergoing these circumstances.

The Solution

Bosman was now a helpless, contractless football player in search of some game time and a real wage. He wanted to get out of RFC Liège, and start somewhere new. The Bosman issue was hopeless until it reached the CJEU. 

(Court of Justice of the European Union) After carefully viewing the case, the European Court of Justice made an important decision on the free movement of labour and had a huge effect on the transfers of footballers. (Also including players of other professional sports) This same decision banned quota restrictions* (See bottom of the article for definition) on foreign EU footballers in national competitions, and permitted players in the European Union to change clubs when their contract terminates, without a transfer fee being paid and no need for the consent of the previous club. This process is called free agency.

Players 

Since the Bosman ruling took place, a couple of notable players have benefited from the law. Former Dutch footballer Edgar Davis was one of Europe’s first prominent players to profit from the ruling in 1996. He transferred from Ajax to Milan. 

A few years afterwards, in 1999, English player Steve McManaman moved from Liverpool to Real Madrid which at the time was the most profitable transfer in British football. The deal was completed with McManaman becoming the highest paid British player in history, until 2001. Many other players benefited from the ruling, even today! Every transfer that takes place today is all thanks to Jean-Marc Bosman and his determination to leave RFC Liège. 

Conclusion

If Bosman never had fought for footballers’ rights, imagine what transfers would be like today? What if there wouldn’t be any transfers at all? Would the same team win the same trophies?

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*Quota Restriction:

Quota Players, also known as imports, are athletes in team sports whose numbers in a specific team are limited due to the rules of specific competitions that teams play in. Thanks for the definition, Wiki