As the FA chairman, Greg Dyke sat down in front of the media this week he made a set of prosposals the likes of which are set to shake up English football. Dyke had previously spoke of England winning the World Cup by 2022, to do this he believes that the youth system needs a shakeup.
The key changes that Dyke spoke about were: A new league to be introduced in 2016-17, which would be made up of the top half of teams in the conference and ten premier league B sides. Unfortunately, however great this idea would seem, it would push back teams below the conference meaning that it could take another season for them to gain promotion. Furthermore, teams in the new league three team could face sides that are too insurmountable for them hindering their progress. However any fears of liquidation would be eased as Dyke plans for a £30 million pound pot to be made available for the football league.
A new home-grown players’ rule which would require 13 members of the 25 man squad to have been trained in England as youngsters by 2020-21. This is a less controversial idea and would be more than welcomed by most England supporters, however they would have to face a battle with the Premier League to be able to put this idea in place.
A new more strict work permit system that would mean Premier League sides would only be allowed a maximum of two non-EU players. Even though this will mean potentially more home-grown players will be able to have a chance, it will mean the likes of Oscar’s, David Luiz’s and Sergio Aguero’s of the future will be unlikely to play, something that could damage the Premier League and unlikely to be accepted.
A new rule that could be controversial is a new loan system being introduced in which eight players from a Premier League side can be loaned to a partner in the Championship, although this would seemingly eradicate players such as Lukaku going to Everton which has been a controversial issue, it would mean a team could be promoted to the Premier League through having a team the majority of which doesn’t belong to them.
Of the issues, you can see what Greg Dyke is trying to achieve however, the first proposal mentioned disregards the smaller teams in lower divisions. Greg Dyke and his commission would argue if the proposals are not met in full then the England team would wither and that the same has been done in Spain and has been successful. However, as much as the system “needs” to be implemented they will struggle as the Football League has confirmed that they cannot back the current proposals. Why should they?
The English populace all want the England side to do well, even so that cannot be at the expense of smaller teams who in their own right have as a passionate support if not even more so. Dyke cannot be certain crowds will grow to see a Man Utd reserve team, it could also prove his proposals don’t work and it’s all for nothing.
When stating that the FA are out of touch, it is apt to look at a comment from Danny Mills, who claimed Hartlepool would rather play a Man Utd B than Torquay, either showing his incompetence or that he should have never been on the commission in the first place. However, it is likely that many supporters would agree with the statement “Back to the drawing board Greg."
