AFCCOVENTRY
Well-Known Member
Finally the Football League has voted to accept the new Elite Player Performance Plan (EPPP), with the full backing of the Premier League and Football Association.
All 72 clubs voted in favour of the new rules which will completely change the structure of the current football academy system in the UK.
The new scheme will see the current Academy system scrapped in favour of each club’s youth set-up being categorised on four different levels. The scheme was voted in under duress by a margin of 46 to 22!
At its root, the EPPP will replace the current tribunal system that determines a players worth. In essence, a cap will be put on the amount a club can receive for one of their start players. Unlike the old system where a player could be sold for an unlimited amount,
West Ham's academy could be affected by the new Elite Player Performance Plan
clubs will now only be able to charge £3,000 for each year of a child’s development between nine and 11, rising to between £12,500 and £40,000 per year when the player is in the 12-16 age range. These changes alone could potentially devastate the finances of lower league clubs.
Top clubs will also be exempted from the current rules preventing them from signing under-16s who live more than 90 minutes’ travelling distance away (or an hour for under-12s), allowing them to scout and sign players from anywhere in the country.
Premier league clubs look set to benefit from the new rules making it even harder for lower division clubs to grow home-grown talent.
Money talks!
Only the richest clubs will prosper from the new rules. And here’s why. Seemingly arbitrarily, a ‘category one’ academy must ensure an annual budget of £2.3m is put in place, as well as employing 18 full-time coaches in a state of the art environment. And it will be the clubs boasting category one facilities that will have the pick of the crop from the talent at all the other academies or centre of excellence. Free from the old 1 hour travelling rule of the old system, Category one academies will not be able to poach the stars of the future in order to bolster their home-grown quota at a fraction of the cost.
Exactly what changes will the new Elite Player Performance Plan bring?
The current academies and centres of excellence will be divided into four categories, as follows:
Category 1
The top level category will require clubs to have an approximate budget of £2.325m.
Have a full time staff of at least 18.
Provide at least 5 hours contact time with players each week.
The current 90 minute travel rule will not apply.
Category 2
Clubs that cannot meet the required budget requirements and staff levels demanded by Category 1, but still have an indoor training facility will most likely fall into this category.
They will spend less time coaching players each week.
Will be allowed to take players from age 4 and sign players from the age of 9.
Will require an estimated budget of £969k
The current 90 minute travel rule will not apply.
Category 3
Clubs in this category will not be permitted to coach youngsters until they are 11
Will require an estimated budget of £315k
Category 4
Clubs in this category will be used to pick up youngsters that are late developers or have been released from other Academies or Centres of Excellence. Players will be 16 years of age or above.
Will require an estimated budget of £100k
Compensation Fees for each year of development
Age 9 to 11 – £3000 for players registered at any club
Age 12 to 16 – £12,500 for players registered at a Category 3 club
Age 12 to 16 – £25,000 for players registered at a Category 2 club
Age 12 to 16 – £40,000 for players registered at a Category 1 club
Player Age Groups
Foundation – Age 9 to 11
Youth – Age 12 to 16
Pro – Age 17 to 21
So how has this rule been passed?
Many people believe that the Premier League have held clubs to ransom and bullied them into voting yes by threatening to withhold the youth development funding it provides the Football League: £5.4m of it, to be precise. A small amount of money by Premier League standards perhaps, but potentially a lifeline for smaller clubs. Premier League chairmen will now be rubbing their hands together; the Football League’s own chairman Greg Clarke hazards that: “There is always the danger under the new scheme that larger clubs will become more predatory but we hope we don’t see that.”
Reduced compensation means less financial risk for the top clubs, who have been given carte blanche to cast their nets ever wider. More significant is the fact that many young players could now end of rotting in the reserves at the top clubs instead of playing in the Football League every Saturday. The end result of the new changes will be that more players will be starting their football development at far fewer clubs in the future, which may not be a good thing for youth football in the long-term!
All 72 clubs voted in favour of the new rules which will completely change the structure of the current football academy system in the UK.
The new scheme will see the current Academy system scrapped in favour of each club’s youth set-up being categorised on four different levels. The scheme was voted in under duress by a margin of 46 to 22!
At its root, the EPPP will replace the current tribunal system that determines a players worth. In essence, a cap will be put on the amount a club can receive for one of their start players. Unlike the old system where a player could be sold for an unlimited amount,
West Ham's academy could be affected by the new Elite Player Performance Plan
clubs will now only be able to charge £3,000 for each year of a child’s development between nine and 11, rising to between £12,500 and £40,000 per year when the player is in the 12-16 age range. These changes alone could potentially devastate the finances of lower league clubs.
Top clubs will also be exempted from the current rules preventing them from signing under-16s who live more than 90 minutes’ travelling distance away (or an hour for under-12s), allowing them to scout and sign players from anywhere in the country.
Premier league clubs look set to benefit from the new rules making it even harder for lower division clubs to grow home-grown talent.
Money talks!
Only the richest clubs will prosper from the new rules. And here’s why. Seemingly arbitrarily, a ‘category one’ academy must ensure an annual budget of £2.3m is put in place, as well as employing 18 full-time coaches in a state of the art environment. And it will be the clubs boasting category one facilities that will have the pick of the crop from the talent at all the other academies or centre of excellence. Free from the old 1 hour travelling rule of the old system, Category one academies will not be able to poach the stars of the future in order to bolster their home-grown quota at a fraction of the cost.
Exactly what changes will the new Elite Player Performance Plan bring?
The current academies and centres of excellence will be divided into four categories, as follows:
Category 1
The top level category will require clubs to have an approximate budget of £2.325m.
Have a full time staff of at least 18.
Provide at least 5 hours contact time with players each week.
The current 90 minute travel rule will not apply.
Category 2
Clubs that cannot meet the required budget requirements and staff levels demanded by Category 1, but still have an indoor training facility will most likely fall into this category.
They will spend less time coaching players each week.
Will be allowed to take players from age 4 and sign players from the age of 9.
Will require an estimated budget of £969k
The current 90 minute travel rule will not apply.
Category 3
Clubs in this category will not be permitted to coach youngsters until they are 11
Will require an estimated budget of £315k
Category 4
Clubs in this category will be used to pick up youngsters that are late developers or have been released from other Academies or Centres of Excellence. Players will be 16 years of age or above.
Will require an estimated budget of £100k
Compensation Fees for each year of development
Age 9 to 11 – £3000 for players registered at any club
Age 12 to 16 – £12,500 for players registered at a Category 3 club
Age 12 to 16 – £25,000 for players registered at a Category 2 club
Age 12 to 16 – £40,000 for players registered at a Category 1 club
Player Age Groups
Foundation – Age 9 to 11
Youth – Age 12 to 16
Pro – Age 17 to 21
So how has this rule been passed?
Many people believe that the Premier League have held clubs to ransom and bullied them into voting yes by threatening to withhold the youth development funding it provides the Football League: £5.4m of it, to be precise. A small amount of money by Premier League standards perhaps, but potentially a lifeline for smaller clubs. Premier League chairmen will now be rubbing their hands together; the Football League’s own chairman Greg Clarke hazards that: “There is always the danger under the new scheme that larger clubs will become more predatory but we hope we don’t see that.”
Reduced compensation means less financial risk for the top clubs, who have been given carte blanche to cast their nets ever wider. More significant is the fact that many young players could now end of rotting in the reserves at the top clubs instead of playing in the Football League every Saturday. The end result of the new changes will be that more players will be starting their football development at far fewer clubs in the future, which may not be a good thing for youth football in the long-term!
imp: