Premier League sees sense on ‘home grown’ players system

A majority of the 20 clubs have agreed to introduce a rule modelled on UEFA’s system for European competitions which requires all clubs to have at least eight ‘homegrown’ players out of a squad of 25. It looks as though they may adopt the scheme used by the rest of the Football League, which requires clubs to include at least four ‘homegrown’ players in their matchday squad of 16.

This is a welcome change of heart by the Premier League. They are also right to follow the UEFA model and not the ‘6 + 5’ rule proposed by FIFA President Sepp Blatter.

Unlike the ‘6 + 5’ rule which would be illegal under European law and is, anyway, a rather extreme response to a small problem, a ‘homegrown’ scheme along the UEFA or Football League model is proportionate and legal. It will encourage clubs to put more emphasis on developing their youth academies, while some feel that encouraging young talent will help improve the performances of the England team. While ‘homegrown’ players do not have to be English (Fabregas being an obvious example), the majority of academy players are English.

The Premier League clubs will decide what system to adopt at their annual summer meeting. To my mind the most obvious and practical solution would be to follow the lead of the Football League.