How the under-utilised loan market is helping England stars thrive
Jess Park, Grace Clinton and Aggie Beever-Jones are three positive case studies of going out on loan. All three offer an insight into how it has helped them progress on and off the pitch...
“I think it’s something which could be utilised more in the league,” said Grace Clinton as she faced the media on Tuesday afternoon ahead of England’s opening Euro 2025 qualifier against Sweden at Wembley at the end of the week.
Clinton has been one of the stars of the current Barclays Women’s Super League season, shining for Tottenham Hotspur, her performances earning the creative midfielder a Lionesses debut in Spain last month and finding the net just 19 minutes into her senior England career.
The ‘something’ the 21-year-old is referring to is the loan system, of which she is currently a beneficiary of with Spurs on a season-long loan from parent club Manchester United.
Clinton has started 16 games for Robert Vilahaman’s side in the league to date this season, scoring four goals and assisting three more, but she’s one of just six players currently on a loan deal between two WSL clubs.
“I’ve had two loan spells now and I think without them I wouldn’t be anywhere near where I am right now football-wise,” said Clinton, who spent the back end of last season in the Championship helping Bristol City earn promotion.
“There’s nothing better than going out and getting those minutes. It’s definitely something which could be utilised more and it’s something that’s helped me so much.”
While Clinton believes more young players could and should head out on loan, there are still others feeling the benefit this season which she will hope to next season when she returns to Manchester United.
“I definitely feel more confident on and off the pitch…”
Another recent senior breakout star has been Jess Park. The Manchester City midfielder, who scored twice in last weekend’s Manchester derby and has come into top form for the blue side of Manchester, has been a key part of their title push this season.
Park is 18 months Clinton’s senior and already wracked up close to 50 league appearances for City, but was struggling to make a permanent breakthrough in a stacked attack before she went on loan last season to Everton, where her skill, close control and intelligence on the ball saw her make an instant impact.
“I think it was really, really important,” said Park. “I’ve said a few times before but when you go on loan it’s such a big decision to make.
“I want to be playing at City, I want to play every minute, but there’s some reasons why sometimes that doesn’t happen and coming back in I’ve felt more confident, more ready. I’ve faced all the same teams playing for Everton so I’ve felt ready to do the same playing for City as well.”
In the 2021/22 campaign pre-loan, Park played 707 minutes of WSL football and this season is already close to that tally with several games remaining.
It’s not a night and day difference, but she’s made more of an impact on the pitch, scoring three goals to the zero she managed two years ago, either side of a loan which saw her play 1,397 minutes with the Toffees, where she scored three times and created four more in a very productive campaign.
One which now she is feeling the benefit of when asked how different she felt coming back into City training last summer after a full season of regular football.
“I definitely feel more confident on and off the pitch. I feel like if I have a point to make I want to make it because everyone’s point is valuable.
“Going away and experiencing being in a team week in, week out, I feel I’ve brought that back and the ability to just be confident.”
There is a distinct Everton feel to many successful loans when looking through the England team right now.
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Esme Morgan and Chloe Kelly have both previously enjoyed loan spells with the Toffees, while goalkeeper Emily Ramsey also had a loan spell before joining the club permanently.
Others have enjoyed similar successes, and it’s easy to forget Manchester City’s now number one goalkeeper was on loan at the bottom end of the Championship last season before she got injured, ironically in a clash with Bristol City’s Clinton.
That link goes further than the first team too, with U23s forward Aggie Beever-Jones joining Park at Everton last season, before returning to Chelsea this in a similar place to Park, helping to make an impact she may not have before, particularly now in the absence of Sam Kerr and Mia Fishel.
Beever-Jones only started seven league games, appearing in 16 overall, scoring three goals across all competitions, but making a big impact as more of a wide forward in the Everton system.
This season, she has six league goals for the WSL champions from just 308 minutes of football and is the next in line on the cusp of a breakthrough, having been called into the senior camp last month when the U23s trained alongside Sarina Wiegman’s team in Spain.
“I think the loan system is such a great thing and I’d encourage it to as many young players as possible,” said Beever-Jones, who is once again on camp with Emma Coates’ U23s for their final European League game against Sweden on Thursday.
“The likes of Jess who I was on loan with last season at Everton, she’s completely hit the ground running at City and I think has something like two goals and two assists just in the last month. It’s so important to get that game time and as a young player you need to make mistakes and you need to be able to express yourself and learn from it, so I think that loan experience is so important.”
There is also a life experience element to it too, as both Beever-Jones and Clinton in particular have learned in having to move away from home.
While the Chelsea forward grew up in London and moved all the way to Merseyside, for Clinton it has been the opposite, swapping home in Liverpool for London, with both also having enjoyed spells in Bristol in between.
“Every person I ever talk to about going on loan, I always talk about how great a step it was,” said Clinton. “Both loans, especially Bristol. As an 18-year-old moving out at a very young age, living away from home and playing games, no one can really prepare you for that except for just doing it.”
Clinton added “Moving away from home makes you grow up. For me, it’s made me mature so much and you mature both on and off the pitch. I loved Bristol, I’ve loved London, going away from home has really helped me.
“I’m an adventurer. I get bored quite easily, I like going out for coffees and I don’t like sitting still, so it’s been really good.”
U23s head coach Coates, who has recently stepped into the role after coaching the U19s, knows many of the players well and is seeing the benefits of those loans through the likes of Beever-Jones.
In her current squad, only defender Hannah Silcock is on a current loan at Blackburn Rovers in the Championship, but the likes of Ebony Salmon, Tara Bourne, Fran Stenson, Freya Gregory, Ruby Mace and Ruby Grant have enjoyed successful loans in the past.
Speaking about how much she would get involved in helping players with those decisions or offering advice, Coates admitted it’s a “really fine balance” between how much to get involved.
“We can help the players identify the areas on the pitch they need to improve on,” said the head coach. “But there’s a line we can’t cross. We can identity that playing minutes is really important, but it’s not the silver bullet.
“Playing minutes isn’t the only thing which is going to accelerate you as a player, it’s all the other things around it. It’s giving them some things to think about and then it’s down to the players and their agents to make decisions on what they think basically.”
The positive for England, the leagues and the FA is though the evidence of progress is being seen right in front of their very eyes.
“I'm still learning every day no matter where I am…”
It’s also allowing players to go and be around top professionals in a senior environment, as well as returning to their permanent home around arguably even bigger and better players in a better position themselves to compete, whether that be at Chelsea, Manchester City or when stepping into the senior England squad.
"I've been around ultimate professionals and learning from them on the pitch, soaking up all the information and taking everything you can in training and games,” said Beever-Jones. “You're never not learning, you always want to learn to be better and develop yourself.”
Beever-Jones added "For me, I don't even know where my best position is, I play everywhere. I look at it as I'm constantly learning every day regardless of where I'm playing and I just want to be a sponge for whatever situation I'm in, whether it's being involved in the senior camp last time or being back here now.
“I'm still learning every day no matter where I am. Having the likes of Sam [Kerr] and Mayra [Ramirez] at Chelsea, there’s always something new to learn and I hope I can keep doing that.”
Just one thing....."while goalkeeper Emily Ramsey is currently there on loan from Manchester United."
I think she is now a permanent Everton player, it is why we signed Phallon to be her replacement.