Er Wav; you refer to an era when our football was not deregulated. As far as I know, prior to a brief period in the eighties when EUFA attempted to impose quotas on foreign players playing for clubs (in European competitions only) there have never been regulations about the number of foreign players in English teams. The EUFA rule was sailing very close to the wind in terms of EU legislation on restraint of trade, and was quietly dropped. Which era are you referring to as 'before deregulation'?
Tim