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The decision by the European Court of Justice in Luxembourg in the case involving the Belgian footballer Jean‐Marc Bosnian presents the most serious challenge yet to the influence football clubs hold over their players. The court decided that it is a breach of European law for clubs to demand a transfer fee in respect of a player at the end of his contract, as this is a restriction of the free movement of labour as set out in Article 48 of the Treaty of Rome. This paper considers the implications of this decision for professional football clubs in the UK, several of whom record the services provided by their players as assets on their balance sheet. The paper considers various possible accounting treatments and concludes that in the short term at least, given the uncertainties surrounding the industry post Bosman, recording the cost of players' registrations at their historical cost is the most appropriate policy for clubs to adopt …