“The transfer system in football wasn’t always the way it is today – a free market in the true sense of the phrase. In fact, for most of the 20th century, it was quite the opposite. Admittedly, we still retain some core features of the old transfer system. For example, contracts generally lasted anywhere between one and five years back then, and would normally expire on June 30th of any given year, which is more or less how it works today.” backpagefootball – Part 1, Part 2