Brexit. What every aspiring young footballer should be praying for.

I have just read one of the most compelling reasons why leaving the EU would be a good thing.

More than 100 Premier League “stars” would lose the right to play here automatically, they would have to apply for a work permit.  Nothing unusual about that .  Many people obtain work permits to work in UK businesses.

In their last fixture, Premier League leaders Leicester fielded seven players from outside the UK, while Scottish counterparts Celtic selected four

But here is the really good thing.  While some like No 10 want to put fear in us by feeding us a constant line of scare stories, this is truly a good news one.  In one stroke it would lead to giving home talent a chance.

"Leaving the EU will have a much bigger effect on football than people think," said football agent Rachel Anderson.

"We're talking about half of the Premier League needing work permits. The short-term impact would be huge but you could argue it will help in the long term as it could force clubs to concentrate on home-grown talent."

So every serious football fan or aspiring player should be reaching for the pencil to mark the LEAVE box.  It could be your chance to shine.

But the scaremongers never give up.  West Ham vice-chairman Baroness Karen Brady, the Conservative life peer appointed by David Cameron and the face of the Britain Stronger in Europe campaign (BSE), has apparently already written to club bosses throughout the UK warning them a vote to leave would have "devastating consequences".  

Devastating?  Devastating is what happens when an earthquake kills thousands.  It’s the feeling that overwhelms you when you child is killed in a road accident.  But Karen, seeing some players who get paid as much in a week as it takes a nurse to earn in 5 years, losing their chance to play for big money in the UK is not devastating.

Not surprisingly, supporters of the various Leave campaigns like VoteLeave, Leave.eu and GrassrootsOut,  have dismissed this as scaremongering, with Brian Monteith of Leave.eu telling the BBC a post-Brexit UK would be able to lower freedom-of-movement restrictions on the rest of the world which would "broaden the talent pool, not reduce it".  

So, Karen, write that in your next letter to club bosses.  

And while we are on it, why did the BBC lead with the headline “EU referendum: Brexit could have 'big effect' on football”, with a clearly negative tone rather than “EU referendum: Brexit will give local talent a chance”?

Odd that.