Former Everton and Manchester United hero backs FA quota plans
Published:
The Football Association’s plans to increase the minimum required number of home-grown players from eight to 12 would benefit both the Premier League and English national team, according to Phil Neville.
Speaking in an exclusive interview with Ladbrokes News, the former Manchester United and Everton favourite urged the FA to move forward with the plans, due to be phased in over the next few years, as part of an effort to “readdress the balance.”
“If you look at the statistics of the amount of English players playing in the Premier League compared to Spanish players in La Liga and the number of Italian players and German players in their top-flight divisions it’s alarming that we have allowed this to happen,” he said.
The 38-year-old Match of the Day pundit also called on club owners and managers alike to develop “a pathway” that allows more youth stars to forge a way into their respective first teams.
“We’ve got so many good academies, so many good training grounds and facilities we need to make sure that when these younger players are coming through the academies now, when they get to 19, that they are not just falling off the end of a cliff,” he explained.
“There are a lot of good young players who are not getting opportunities because managers come in, under a lot of pressure, and don’t seem to want to give the English players a chance.”
Under the new plans, which were unveiled by the FA earlier this week, players will also have to have been registered with a club from the age of 15 to qualify as home-grown.
At least two of these home-grown players will also have to have been “club-trained” which is defined as any player, irrespective of nationality, who has been registered for three years at their club from the age of 15.
The proposals will also only grant the best non-EU foreign players permission to play in England.
Officials are hopeful of having the plans completely in place by 2016.
Phil Neville was speaking at the re-launch of football prediction platform Predikta, a football prediction game that connects you with your mates, colleagues and even ex-players.
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