Football League clubs to vote on home-grown quota
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Your support makes all the difference.Football League clubs will vote on the introduction of a 'home-grown players' quota at an extraordinary general meeting next month.
The proposal will be considered in a meeting at Derby's Pride Park ground on 18 December with the rule, if approved, set to take effect from the start of next season.
The quota would require clubs to include at least four players "registered domestically for a minimum of three seasons prior to their 21st birthday" in their 16-man match-day squads.
Football League chairman Lord Mawhinney said: "We believe it is time for the Football League to make a clear and unequivocal statement of intent about the importance of developing young players in the domestic game."
He added: "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.
"Therefore, 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."
The proposal has been put forward by the League's board of directors and mirrors that of Uefa, rather than the more controversial 'six-plus-five' policy championed by world governing body Fifa.
A statement released by the Football League announcing the news today said: "The board has concerns over the legality of the latter (Fifa's six-plus-five proposal) in European law.
"This means that players will be considered as 'home grown' regardless of their nationality."
Mawhinney hopes the introduction of the rule, if passed next month, would be welcomed by supporters.
"Local fans watching locally developed players at their local club is at the very heart of what the Football League is all about," he added. "I believe that by introducing this rule League clubs, once again, will be taking a lead that others will want to follow."
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