Football League To Implement Home-Grown Rule

Last updated : 27 November 2008 By Rob Miles (barnsley Boy)

New proposals by the Football League could be detrimental to Barnsley F.C and other Championship clubs if they come for the 2009-2010 season/

The Football League are proposing to bring in a "home grown players" rule in which every 16 man match day squad from the 92 Football League clubs must include four players that have been registered domestically for at least three years before their 21st birthday.

With The Reds multi-cultural squad it could cause problems for boss Simon Davey, but he does have players who could fit that criteria such as Michael Coulson, Jamil Adam, Rueben Noble-Lazarus and Jacob Butterfield.

Football League chairman Lord Mawhinney said:

"It is time we made a clear and unequivocal statement of intent."

"The aim is to establish this principle by setting a threshold that our clubs can accommodate and then to consider raising that level over time.

"It is important we demonstrate that, as a body of clubs, our commitment to youth development is total.

"Not only are we pulling out all the stops to develop these young players in the first place, we are also ensuring that they have the opportunity to show their talent in the first team.

"Fourteen of the 23-man England squad that beat Germany in Berlin, last week, were developed by youth development programmes at Football League clubs. Looking ahead, we want to increase that proportion even further."