THE implications of crashing out of Europe have long been a concern for Scottish football clubs involved in continental competition – particularly the one attempting to qualify for the lucrative Champions League group stages.

But with Theresa May, the Prime Minister, this week triggering Article 50 and starting the process which will take the United Kingdom out of the European Union in March 2019 there is now a new fear.

What will the repercussions, if any, of the Britain leaving the EU be for our national game in the future?

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As things stand - it is still, despite fevered speculation, unclear whether it will be a “hard” or “soft” Brexit and uncertain to what extent ties will be severed – nobody is entirely sure how detrimental it will be.

But for Daniel Geey, a partner in the sports group at legal firm Sheridans who advises Barclays Premier League and Sky Bet Championship clubs and players in England, the early signs are not promising.

At the moment, non-EU players coming in to Scotland have to satisfy strict criteria in order to be granted a work permit. Being a full internationalist and having played in a certain percentage of their national team’s games in the previous two years are two of the requirements which must be met.

Moving towards a similar system for EU players in future is a distinct possibility following Brexit – something that could make it more difficult for Scottish clubs to bring in players from elsewhere in Europe.

“There is the potential for the UK authorities to fall back on those regulations for everybody," said Geey. “In my mind, that is the doomsday scenario. From a Home Office resource perspective and a SFA resource perspective it is going to be a total nightmare.

“For a Premier League team or a Scottish Premiership club wanting to purchase, say a French player in three years’ time, post-Brexit, once we have officially left the EU, the query is: ‘What visa or permit restrictions will be in place to allow a European citizen into the UK?’

“I’m not convinced the EU work criteria will be as stringent as the non-EU criteria. I think there will be a sort of halfway house if we want to be on best friend terms with EU member states.”

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“But, as you can imagine, the EU and its member states aren’t going to give the UK a better deal than they currently have as members of the EU."

Professor Raymond Boyle of Glasgow University, a specialist in sports law, also predicted that it could feasibly cause issues for leading Scottish clubs like Celtic and Rangers going forward.

“It could have complicated Celtic bringing in Moussa Dembele because he wasn’t an established internationalist,” he said. “It could well make bringing in managers like Pedro Caixinha to Rangers more complicated.

"But nobody knows anything for certain. Over the next number of months it will begin to become a bit clearer. But the danger is, if you’re not the biggest of businesses, you could end up as collateral damage. Football is certainly a smaller industry than oil, gas or agriculture.

“Broadly speaking, if you are out of the EU you make your own rules about who you want to come in. How important is football going to be for the Home Office given how big their inbox will be? They could use a one-size-fits-all template.

“There is a lot of lobbying going on behind the scenes. Down south, football is very powerful given the amount of money in the game. I am not sure we have the same clout in Scotland. But there could be blanket rules set by the Home Office for all of Britain.”

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However, will making it more difficult for Scottish clubs to sign European players necessarily be a bad thing? After all, that will far create more opportunities for home-grown players to break into the first team. Geey can see both sides of the argument.

He said: “On one side you have pro-British contingent saying: ‘Well, actually, Brexit is going to do great things for the national teams because it will reduce the number of Europeans who can come in who aren’t as good and will encourage clubs to play more local players and drive up talent pools. Surely this is a good thing?’

“Conversely, I have heard plenty of elite players saying that they have reached the level they have only because they have played with or against players with such high skill levels. Steven Gerrard, Rio Ferdinand and Frank Lampard have all said that doing that helped their careers.

“Potentially, the quality of the league goes down. But I don’t think the top, top players won’t be allowed into the UK because of Brexit. They are always going to be available and almost certainly pass the criteria because of their exceptional skill levels.

Boyle stated: “The likes of Henrik Larsson and Brian Laudrup have dragged the standards of Scottish football up. Many people would see European players coming into the country having benefits for the game here.

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"But the problem comes with mediocre European players. Some people feel stopping the flow of mediocre EU players into the country would be good in the long-term.”

The prospect of Scotland becoming independent – First Minister Nicola Sturgeon signed a letter to the UK government yesterday formally asking for another independence referendum – has raised the possibility of even cross-border transfers being made more difficult.

“To complicate matters further, you now have the possibility of an independent Scotland,” said Boyle. “Potentially, at some point in the future, you could have an independent Scotland in the EU and neighbouring England outside the EU. That would make players travelling from Scotland to England more problematic.”