When it comes to transfers, non-league football and the grassroots women’s game harks back to a time before windows slamming shut, yellow ties and interviews with Harry Redknapp through his car window.
Players can move throughout the season, not just in the summer and in January, but there is still a deadline during the season when all transfers have to be completed to preserve competition in the run-in to titles and relegation deciders.
Where professional/full-time contracts are in play, the modern transfer window applies but lower down, where Ascot United are making a play-off charge and Berks County mounting a robust defence of their Step 5 status, the more traditional window in late March applies.
What’s the purpose of a football transfer window, modern or traditional?
The Premier League website has the answer to this one in the traditional sense around the late March window: “Before that in the Premier League, players could be traded throughout the season up until 31 March. Any later than that, it was felt that allowing transfers could undermine the integrity of competitions.
“For example, if a title-chasing team acquired players from a club with nothing to play for towards the end of the season on short-term contracts, it was not something that would be viewed as being in the spirit of a season-long league competition.”
We actually saw this play out a little in the Covid interrupted 2020/21 season when the FA Vase competition was able to continue despite league seasons being cancelled. Teams were able to sign up players from higher divisions with the incentive of actually playing football. Binfield were able to recall the talents of former players Liam Ferdinand and Kensley Maloney for their run to the Final at Wembley while opponents Warrington Rylands had hat-trick hero Elliott Nevitt who was snapped up by Football League side Tranmere Rovers shortly after.
The modern transfer window setup, well the Premier League website again has the answer, and it goes back to complying with European Union law: “Windows were introduced as part of a compromise agreement with the European Commission about the whole transfer system and how it could best preserve contractual stability for both the player and the club, while allowing movement at prescribed times during the year – the summer and winter.”
7 day approach: How non league football transfers work
So when is the 2025 transfer deadline day
Across the Vanarama National League, Isthmian League and Combined Counties League – we haven’t heard back from the other competitions we asked yet but it seems a blanket time frame this year – the big deadline is 5pm on Thursday 27th March 2025. Given the Football Associations greater involvement in the football pyramid it would seem everything is now lined up, across competitions. But we’ll keep an eye out.
Competitions adhering to the transfer deadline of 5pm, Thursday 27th March 2025
- Vanarama National League
- Isthmian League
- Combined Counties League
This article will be updated when we hear back from other competitions including competitions in the women’s pyramid.
