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English Premier League sees an American exodus

The English Premier League was beginning to look a little red, white and blue last year. There were so many Americans at Fulham alone that the London squad was dubbed “Fulhamerica.”

But the Yankees have largely gone home. Or elsewhere in Europe.

Less than six months after a dozen Americans were in Premier League squads, that number has dropped. Sharply.

“It was kind of odd,” said US and Everton goalkeeper Tim Howard, one of the five Americans still involved. “I don’t know why it happens, it just kind of ebbs and flows that way.”

This latest shift can be blamed largely on two things — relegation and the pull of home.

Four Americans were on teams that were sent down to the Championship, England’s second tier. Marcus Hahnemann and Bobby Convey are still at Reading this season, while Eddie Lewis and Benny Feilhaber have both left Derby County.

Brian McBride and Kasey Keller were two of the five Americans at Fulham last year, with McBride the Cottagers’ captain. But both are in their mid-30s and have school-age children. When their contracts ran out at the end of the season, McBride and Keller decided it was time to return to the US.

“We had said the two previous years that we were going home. But after signing [before] last year, we pretty much made the decision that that would be it,” said McBride, who now plays for Major League Soccer’s Chicago Fire in the city where he grew up.

There are other factors behind the drop in Americans, as well.

Because there’s so much pressure to stay in the Premier League — not to mention the considerable cash at stake — teams are quick to snap up big-name players when they can, regardless of their depth.

That can lead to bloated squads — which is how Eddie Johnson wound up at Cardiff City in the Championship.

The forward signed with Fulham last January, but he played in only four games and knew he’d be spending most of his time on the bench this year after the Cottagers added Andy Johnson and Bobby Zamora.

US national team captain Carlos Bocanegra, another of the “Fulhamericans” last year, signed with Rennes in France when his contract ran out.

Being wanted by a Premier League team doesn’t always translate into a signing, either.

Americans have to play for the national team a certain percentage of games over the previous two years to qualify for a work permit in England and the requirement is so strict few can meet it. There is an appeal committee, but that’s no guarantee either.

Aston Villa wanted Brad Guzan last winter, but the appeal committee turned him down. It finally said yes this summer and the goalkeeper is now backing up fellow American Brad Friedel.

“Historically, it hasn’t been easy for Americans to get into England because of the work permit restrictions,” said Richard Motzkin, an agent for several top US players.

“Over time, there will be in any league certain peaks and valleys, whether it’s in England or France or the Scandinavian countries,” Motzkin said.

Indeed, there are more than 70 Americans playing in Europe this year. That includes Jozy Altidore, who drew a record transfer fee of a reported US$10 million from Villarreal and is only the second American to play in Spain’s Primera Liga.

Maurice Edu joined DaMarcus Beasley at Rangers in Scotland and Michael Bradley moved to Borussia Munchengladbach in Germany.

Keller, who spent 17 years in England, Spain and Germany, said: “As long as guys are over in Europe ... what league that is, I don’t think it truly matters. There’s such a high profile at the moment in the US of the Premier League, it’s more of a profile issue than [not] having guys playing at the highest level.”

And five Americans in England is still better than it used to be.

There was a time when Americans were lucky to see one or two of their own playing in Europe. With a 40-year drought between World Cup appearances, it was hard to convince anyone in Europe that there were Americans who could compete at the highest level. No player raised in the US cracked England’s top division until 1987, when John Kerr Jr joined Portsmouth.

But the US team’s run to the second round at the 1994 World Cup made Europeans rethink their view of Americans. Soon enough, Americans were even popping up in the Premier League.

By last year, there were a record number of US players. A fifth of the Premier League’s starting goalkeepers — Howard, Keller, Friedel and Hahnemann — were American.

“I tend to be glass half-full,” Motzkin said. “As we have more and more American players playing at that level, it will have a trickle-down effect and it will open more and more opportunities.”
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