Dyke’s new bid to rescue lost English talent
FA CHAIRMAN Greg Dyke has challenged clubs to grow their own Harry Kanes as he unveiled quota proposals designed to boost the number of elite English footballers.
Dyke wants to change the rules until nearly half of each 25-man squad in the Barclays Premier League is ‘homegrown’ under his stricter definition of what makes a homegrown player.
Together with new Home Office rules on work permits for non-EU footballers, agreed with the FA and set to be introduced in May, he believes this can increase the ratio of English players in the Premier League from 35 to over 40 per cent and produce an England team capable of winning the 2022 World Cup in Qatar.
Dyke set this target 18 months ago when he established a commission to investigate the diminishing number of English players at the top level and a clock on the wall of the coaches’ room at St George’s Park is counting down to the World Cup final in 2022, albeit the wrong date since FIFA confirmed the tournament will be moved to winter.
Dyke said he is prepared to force his rule changes through the courts if agreements cannot be reached with the Premier League and Football League.
His proposal is to make three changes, to be phased in over four years from the start of 2016-17:
A homegrown player is a player irrespective of nationality who is registered to play in England or Wales for three years before his 18th birthday (rather than his 21st birthday as currently stated). This takes players like Cesc Fabregas out of the equation, and others signed at 16.
Reduce the number of nonhomegrown players in a 25-man first-team squad from 17 to 13. And so increase the number of homegrown players from eight to 12.
Introduce requirement that at least two homegrown players are club trained — have been registered with their current club for three years prior to their 18th birthday.
Dyke’s vision is to open pathways for those like Kane to make the final step from talented development player to the first team without unexceptional foreign players blocking the route.
‘How many more Harry Kanes are out there who just can’t get a game?’ said Dyke, giving the example of the 21-year-old Tottenham striker who has broken into the first team this season, scored 29 in all competitions, and has been rewarded with his first senior England call-up.
‘Suddenly an English kid who was out on loan and touch-and-go to get in the first team is the top scorer in English football. It’s great news.
‘ Some clubs will buy in, some won’t,’ he said. ‘We will go round and try to convince them. We will ask, “Are you sure you haven’t got a Kane in your youth side?”
‘A lot of very talented kids are going into professional football clubs at a very young age and an awful lot are getting lost. We have to do more to help them and give England a greater chance of success.
‘It is not aimed at disadvantaging our clubs in UEFA competitions. Apart from Porto, who have an association with Brazilian talent, every other Champions League quarter-finalist would satisfy these criteria. If they can all do it, why can’t our clubs?’
Only 23 English players appeared in the Champions League group stage this season, compared with 51 Brazilians, 55 Germans and 78 Spanish players. Three of those — John Terry, Frank Lampard and Steven Gerrard — have retired from international duty. Five English players started in the second leg of the last-16 ties: Terry, Gary Cahill, Joe Hart, James Milner and Danny Welbeck.
‘ That’s the grim picture at the top, but it’s hard to argue we don’ t have the talent,’ said Dyke, who applauded the work of academies and the Premier League’s elite player performance plan.
Dyke reaffirmed his commitment to improving coach education and grassroots facilities but abandoned the idea of B-teams competing in the Football League framework.
‘There’s no point flogging a dead horse,’ he said, but plans remain to include Under 21 teams from Premier League clubs in the Johnstone’s Paint Trophy.
The Home Office work permit changes are expected to help boost the number of elite English players. From May, prospective non-EU players will be judged on criteria including transfer fee and wages, international caps, and the level of league and club they are joining from.
The player must be an international from a top-50 ranked nation, rather than top 70, and the number of caps required will be staggered depending on the country’s status.
Players from countries ranked in the top 10 will have to have played in 30 per cent of international matches over the past two years, while that rises to 75 per cent for countries ranked between 31 and 50.
There will be leeway given to players under 21, who need only fulfil the caps criteria for the last 12 months.
The FA estimate 42 players who acquired work permits since 2010, including Bryan Oviedo, Mame Biram Diouf and Geoff Cameron, would not under the new rules.
There will be an appeals process but it will be less lenient than before, when 79 per cent of appeals were successful.