Joy ready for policy shift as end to SOS deals looms

EMERGENCY LOAN: Luke Woodland has proved an able stand-in following the injury to captain Liam Kelly and others.

ATHLETIC have welcomed news they will be able to use the short-term loan system again next season - before it possibly shuts down for good.

But chief executive Neil Joy says Athletic and other clubs will need to be “smarter” when emergency loans are ultimately outlawed by FIFA.

The Football Association has informed clubs that emergency loans outside transfer windows will be permitted next season following a plea to extend the arrangement. Many lower-division clubs rely upon emergency loans, and only three sides in Athletic’s division – Colchester (10), Yeovil (10) and Notts County (eight) – have used more than Athletic's seven this season.

“It gives us another year to prepare,” said Joy. “The emergency loans system has been useful for us,

particularly this season. But in the long term, clubs will need to be smarter in the way they build squads.

Currently manager Dean Holden has Mat Sadler, Luke Woodland and Anthony Gerrard on the books.

Worldwide governing body FIFA wants a standard arrangement that will no longer allow transfers between clubs outside the two transfer windows. In Athletic's case, gaps in the side created by injuries and suspensions outside the windows – like that which recently saw nine players ruled out of action at once – would need to be filled either by candidates from the youth team or unattached players on non-contract terms.

The fear is that this could bring a situation in which clubs like Athletic feel they have to bring in players from higher-division academies - pushing out young professionals at Athletic and preventing them getting games.

“It might mean Premier League and also Championship clubs will look to develop relationships with clubs lower down the pyramid,” Joy added. “Clubs will certainly need to look at putting bigger squads together when the rules change.