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YORK CITY SOUTH |
New Frontiers
B Teams
A few thoughts on the current / recent outcry / bleating from the Premier clubs over the lack of English qualified players and reserve team football.
Number One: Going Round In Circles
I don’t understand the reasons for Premiership clubs wanting to put their reserve sides into The Championship. They say its to allow their younger players more competitive action. We used to have The Central League and Football Combination which served exactly that purpose. It was scrapped when the big teams withdrew claiming it was not proving a stepping stone. Now they want to go back to something that did not work, albeit under a different name!
Crazy.
For many years in the north, The Central League and in the south, The Football Combination, allowed reserve teams to compete against each other, veterans, up and coming youngsters, those in between and triallists playing together. City functioned in the lower reaches of The Central League and before that The North Midlands League. Tony Canham had a season of reserve football before we offered him his first pro contract. Andy Leaning and others were plucked out of local amateur football. Most never to be heard of again, but some made it all the way.
It was organised and provided regular games against similar standard opposition for the teams.
From youth to reserve to first team, a well trodden path with a start, a middle and an end, unlike today when youngsters often reach a dead end. Too old for the junior side, too young for the first team.
The big clubs had regular games for their non first team players. Manchester United Reserves against Liverpool Reserves was always a top game. One season, our reserve team welcomed Manchester United Reserve team to Bootham Crescent.
Even when the young payers didn’t make the grade clubs like City had a regular stream of players in their early twenties, think Paul Aimson, Phil Burrows, Graeme Crawford, Ian Holmes, Dale Banton, Dean Kiely and Paul Barnes.
Once the top flight clubs withdrew, the leagues withered and died.
Now we have The Premier Clubs suggesting they adopt lower league clubs. Not sure how Arsenal adopting Barnet will equip Arsenal’s younger players with the skills and experience required for the Premier League.
Number 2: Mini Teams
I can see how it could work within confines. Any club, premier (or lower) could loan 4 players to any club in a lower league for a whole season... They’d pay their wages and, crucially, provide the lower league club with one of their existing young (English qualified) coaches for the season. The foursome would play together; their own coach would oversee their development as well as contributing to the whole of the loaning club. In theory, a premiership club could loan 4 players to any one club in each division, so in theory all the way down to The Conference, they could loan 16 players (and 4 coaches). So they could loan players at difference stages of their development. The key being loans for the whole season which would provide some stability to the loaning club who would also have an additional coach and wouldn’t need to fund as many of their own players.
At the same time, young coaches would get the chance to broaden their experience.
As now, the clubs could also loan individual players on an ad hoc basis
Number 3: Cash For Country
In his recent pre Conference utterings, Ed Milliband suggested a scheme he hoped a future Labour government would implement whereby any non EU worker recruited would mean the recruiting company funding one additional apprentice space. Apply similar to football and any such player arriving (subject to existing international appearance rules (which could be to being applied more stringently, but that is another article) would mean the club funding an apprenticeship (or similar). Let us say, it costs £100k and that is given to The FA to fund apprenticeships.
Did you notice the recent hike in Premiership prize money? £100m to the champs and £60m to the chumps. Too much I hear you cry. Yes, so half it and re-distribute the other half among the premiership clubs according to how much time English qualified players spend on the pitch. Overall, no loss of prize money, just a different distribution to help English football.
Hopefully, nothing above contravenes any EU employment rules, certainly there is nothing to exempt foreigners, only incentives to promote the use of English players in the English football.
Disclaimer: The opinions and views stated in New Frontiers are solely those of New Frontiers and do not necessarily represent those of York City Football Club or York City South (a branch of The York City Football Club Supporters Club).
Email Chris, New Frontiers editor & YCS site webmaster