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BREXIT could “hugely damage” the Premier League and mean British clubs struggle to sign players from Europe, two top football bosses from Leave voting regions have warned.

Mike Garlick, Chairman of Burnley FC, told the Mirror the “destructive” Brexit path being pursued by the government “threatens to make the inequality gap in our top division even worse.”

He added: “The hit to the value of the pound against the euro, largely caused by Brexit uncertainty, is already making it harder for clubs to sign players.

“And ending freedom of movement will make it much more difficult for teams to attract the right talent, if the Government brings in more restrictive conditions for work visas for players from Europe.”

Both Mr Garlick and Stoke City Chairman Peter Coates are calling for a ‘People’s Vote’ on the terms of the Brexit deal.

Burnley voted 66.6% to leave the EU in 2016, while Stoke-on-Trent voted 69.4% to leave.

(Image: Getty Images Europe) (Image: Stoke Sentinel)

Mr Coates said: “The politicians are failing to sort out this mess, and they are not listening to the voices of employers and businesses up and down the country.

“If this goes badly, it will be places like Stoke that suffer the most.“

Currently, European players are allowed to play professional football in England as part of freedom of movement rules - but those from outside the EU need to get work permits.

Miles Jacobson, director of Sports Interactive, the company behind the Football Manager video games, claims if the rules for players from the EU were the same as the current ones for non-EU players, some 152 players - about 25% of the total - would “definitely not get work permits.”

To get a work permit, players have to get a ‘Governing Body Endorsement’ from the Football Association (FA). These are automatically handed out based on the proportion of their national team’s games the player has taken part in over the previous two years.

Those who don’t automatically qualify can apply to an ‘exceptions panel’ who decide whether to grant an endorsement based on a points-based system - taking salary, transfer fee and participation in continental competitions such as the Champions’ League.

The Premier League wants any foreign player given a contract and a place in a first team squad to be automatically eligible for a work permit.

(Image: Getty Images Europe)

Sports minister Tracy Crouch said the government recognises “the need for sports, including football, rugby and cricket, to continue to be able to access talent from the EU and globally.”

In a letter responding to concerns raised by the House of Lords EU Home Affairs Sub-Committee, she said: “In designing our future immigration system, the government will maintain its dialogue with the National Governing Bodies to ensure that any new arrangements for their individual sports balance the need to attract talent with the need to ensure that opportunities for home-grown players are maintained.”

But she added: “Leaving the EU will mean an end to freedom of movement. As I have previously explained, we fully recognise the need for UK sports to access top global talent and conversely for British sportspeople to compete at the highest levels of international sport.

“In the [Brexit] White Paper, we set out our ambition to negotiate a Co-operative Accord on culture and education to support ongoing collaboration between the EU and the UK.”