Yeo nonsense rambles on

By Nathan Jackson
December 11 2005

The rumours of Simon Yeo returning to Sincil Bank returned against this week, but there seems to be a lot of confusion. The Echo stated on Wednesday that Yeo was planning sign for a British club in the transfer window, however, there has been a lot of confusion as to whether this would be allowed.

The Wednesday edition of the Lincolnshire Echo reported the following

"Former Lincoln City striker Simon Yeo is set to return to England in the next two weeks - a move which is bound to spark a race for his signature. It is understood the New Zealand Knights forward will leave the Hyundai A League side after failing to settle in the southern hemisphere. The Echo exclusively revealed in October how Yeo (32), who moved to the Knights in the summer, was looking to return. Lincoln have expressed interest in re-signing Yeo, but several other clubs also want to land the striker, with League Two rivals Oxford United believed to be leading the race.

The Us are reported to have offered Yeo a three-year deal, but he is thought to prefer a move closer to his Stockport home. This would present an opportunity for City when the transfer window re-opens in January."

As you've probably guessed, this caused a lot of excitment amoungst Imps fans, however, it has since emerged that FIFA's registration rules could mean that if Yeo did move back to England, he could be unable to play ANY level of football until July 1st. The following is the FA rule regarding registration.

Chapter III.
Player registration
Art.5
1 Every player wishing to play as an amateur or non-amateur in any competition
organised or recognised by a national association shall be registered with that asso-
2 Players may only be registered to play with a national association during one
of two registration periods per year,as laid down by the national association for this
purpose,with a limit of one transfer of registration per player in the same sports
season in a period of 12 months.
One of these periods (“registration periods ”)is
fixed for the middle of the season another period for the end of the season.

This is where the confusion begins, the rules says ONE PER SEASON, however, Yeo's transfer of registration could possible have taken place during the beginning of this season, meaning that he's already used his quota and can only played for a team involved in the Australian FA. The problem being that no-one seems to officially know when a season ends and another one begins, although it could be argued that the new season only begins when the fixtures are announced, it could be argued that the season ends when every game has been completed, something that had happened when Yeo completed his transfer to the NZ Knights.

Yeo hasn't had a particully great season down under. Their last game, on Thursday 1st, saw them claim their first point in a long time, when they drew 1-1 with Queensland Roar, this coming after 11 straight defeats, leaving their record at 1 win, 1 draw and 13 defeats.

We'll bring you more on this story as it unfolds, almost it may prove to be irrelevant if Yeo accepts the offer from Oxford.