Current Schedules and Exceptions
FIFA regulates in general that there shall be two windows, a longer one (max. twelve weeks) in the break between two seasons and shorter one (max. one month) in the middle of a season. The specific periods depend on the league's season cycle and are determined by the national football authorities.
Most major European leagues commence in the second half of the year (e.g. August or September) and stretch over two calendar years to the first half of the next year (e.g. May), resulting in a close season window in the Summer ending in August, and a mid-season window in January.
The periods are different when a league runs throughout a single calendar year, as in most Nordic countries due to weather constraints, or as the traditional season in the Southern Hemisphere. The first window generally opens from 1 March until midnight of 30 April, followed by the in-season window from 1 to 31 August.
| Pre-season window | Mid-season window | Associations |
|---|---|---|
| 1 January – 31 March | 1 – 31 August | Sweden, Norway |
| 8 January – 2 April | 16 July – 13 August | Japan |
| 12 February – 6 May | 9 July – 8 August | USA/Canada |
| 1 March – 30 April | 1 – 31 August | Finland |
| 1 July – 31 August | 1 January – 2 February | France, Germany, Italy, Spain, Scotland |
| 11 June – 1 September | 5 – 31 January | Turkey, Denmark |
| 1 July – 31 August | 1 – 31 January | England |
| 1 June – 31 July | 14 January - 14 February | Australia |
| 1 December – 31 January | 1 – 30 June | Kenya |
| 9 June – 31 August | 3 – 31 January | Netherlands |
Although, in England, the transfer window formally opens on 1 July, transfers between clubs in the same association can take place as soon as the last competitive fixtures for the season have been played. However, many transfers will not be completed until 1 July because many players' contracts expire on 30 June. Outside of the transfer window, a club may still sign players on an emergency basis, usually if they have no goalkeeper available. Special dispensation from their competition's governing body, for example the Premier League, is required. The transfer window restriction does not apply to clubs below Football Conference National level.
If the last day of a transfer window is on a weekend, the deadline can be extended to the following Monday at the request of those involved for business reasons. The first shift of the deadline since its inception took place in summer 2008, when the deadline was extended by 24 hours to fall on Monday 1 September at midnight. The transfer deadline in England was similarly extended to 5pm 1 September 2009, due to the August Bank Holiday. The German football league has announced to extend the January 2009 deadline to 2 February.
Free agents can be signed by a club at any time in the season, if they had been released by their previous club before the end of the transfer window. A club can request to sign a player on emergency basis, e.g. if several goalkeepers are injured at the same time. In England, clubs from the Football League Championship to the Football Conference can loan in players from 8 September to 25 November and also from 8 February until 24 March. An existing loan deal can be made permanent at any time outside the transfer window.
The day upon which a window closes is known as transfer deadline day, and is usually one of the busiest days of the window, generating a flurry of transfers, often because a number of interdependent transfers are completed resembling a housing chain, generating much media interest.
Read more about this topic: Transfer Window
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