How does this new EPP system affect things then for the likes of Crewe? Presumably their youngsters will now be able to be poached for peanuts like everyone else. My guess is a lot of youth systems will be disbanded soon after it comes into force.....
It's a joke, the FA only care about the Premier League and sod everyone else. :angry:
Clubs in higher categories can approach players at younger ages, and the fees are based upon the category of the club, the age of the player and how long the player has been at the club. A sell-on fee is also worked into the deal, so there still is profit to be made from doing it well. It's vastly disproportionate though and favours clubs with access to lucrative income streams. Unfortunately, Football League clubs were pretty much held to ransome. The Premier League threatened to withhold solidarity payments related to youth development if EPPP wasn't passed, which would've sent several clubs into financial trouble. More than the turkeys voting for Christmas, the Premier League effectively got away with blackmail.
You're absolutely right. Most FL clubs will, at the least, be scaling down their youth operations to the bare minimum needed to qualify for a set category. For example, if we're still spending circa £250k per year on the Centre of Excellence, then we can spend an extra £65k per year to qualify for Category 3, or cut £150k from the youth budget safe in the assurance that we're in Category 4 anyway.
How does an academy cost half a million a year (£20,000 a week) to run?
Quite easily. Without the obvious wages associated with the players and coaching staff, costs will also be accrued by travel, maintenance of facilities, insurance, lodging, player registration etc etc. I know some clubs hire "specialists" to help players settle in to new countries, whereas others will pay someone to ensure that those in digs are fed properly/kept out of trouble. The fact that we maintain a relatively no-frills Centre of Excellence, yet still manage to spend £250kp/a on it should tell you all you need to know.
It'll certainly be an interesting summer in terms of the country's youth development programmes. Crewe find themselves in an interesting predicament as they undoubtedly have the facilities to qualify for even Category 2 perhaps, but they certainly won't be able to afford the required investment to qualify for Category 2 on an investment/permanent staff basis. It'll require a great deal of examination in terms of potential return on investment and clubs like Crewe will face difficult decisions.
It's like what's been said in another thread today about Crewe's policy being good for the club's progression. Any resources ploughed into their youth policy are being diverted away from the club's senior side, which ultimately is the club's main source of income. To what extent is that acceptable, and to what extent is that level of investment maintained if the club continues to operate in the fourth tier?
The FA should only be caring about what is going to best achieve better quality coaching and ultimately better quality players being produced. Whilst on the face of it it's 'bad' for lower league clubs, I'm cautiously optimistic about the new rules. I know that's not a particularly fashionable thing to say.
I'm inclined to agree to a certain extent. The FA's interests lie in ensuring that the cream of England's talent have access to the best coaches and facilities England has to offer, and EPPP certainly does that. The Football League should have shown a far stronger backbone however in ensuring that FL clubs weren't shafted to the extent they have been.
