Midfielder Arron Davies is not the first case of a player this month to fall foul of FIFA's transfer regulations. Southend United striker Alex Revell was in an identical situation to Arron earlier this month, but has managed to work his way around the problem thanks to the Shrimpers and his new club Wycombe Wanderers.
Alex had agreed a contract severance with Southend earlier this month, and had planned to join fellow League One side Wycombe Wanderers. On January 12th after the player had passed his medical at Adams Park, and signed a contract, Wycombe announced that there had been an unspecified delay and that they were unable to sign Revell.
It has later transpired that Revell's move to Wycombe was blocked due to him having played for Southend as his permanent club, as well as having had a standard half-season loan with Swindon Town. After his loan deal with the Wiltshire side expired, he returned to Roots Hall, but later agreed a severance deal with the Shrimpers.
Thus when Wycombe attempted to sign Revell, they were blocked by the Football League and Football Association in what is an identical case to that affecting Arron Davies.
Revell though has been able to get around the situation by re-establishing his registration with Southend United as a non-contract player. At this point he has been able to agree an 'emergency' 93 day loan from Southend to Wycombe with the blessing of the footballing authorities. He remains by a technicality a Southend player, but is not expected to play for the Shrimpers again.
On January 22nd - 10 days after the initial problem was spotted - Revell signed a deal with Wycombe. The situation is not perfect, as Revell's 'loan' deal will run out after the penultimate game of the League One season, but it has allowed Wycombe to get around the problem. Wanderers club secretary Keith Allen explained the situation, admitting to the Wycombe official site that they were fully aware of the rule, but had misinterpreted the terms of Revell's loan deal with Swindon:
"We were led to believe that Alex had been at Swindon on an emergency loan which would have enabled him to sign for us without any problems. Unfortunately, that information was incorrect because he'd gone to Swindon on what's called a standard loan and that changed the situation significantly. The Football League and Football Association were sympathetic, but they had to abide by FIFA regulations and Alex spent a worrying few days in limbo. We worked hard with the authorities and with Southend to find a solution and I'm delighted to say that the problem has now been resolved."
Revell added that it had been a nightmare fortnight for him, but that he was glad to see the issue sorted:
"It's taken it's time getting done and I thought it was sorted a couple of weeks ago so I've had about three heart attacks since then! My move was held up by FIFA because they have a rule which stops players playing for more than two clubs in the same season but the move has now done as an emergency loan and everything has gone through so I’m delighted."
Clearly Revell's case sets a precedence for Arron Davies. If he can persuade his former club Nottingham Forest to re-register him as a player, then he should be able to negotiate an emergency loan deal with a club of his choosing. That seems to be the most obvious solution to his current problems. It may also be a route for the Glovers to help him achieve, if they are prepared to wait for the complexities of the paperwork to be driven through, and obviously if Forest themselves are willing to play ball.
Link: Arron Davies Move Collapses.
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30 January 2010 : 
