Just noticed this: Sky Sports News ‏@SkySportsNews 25s 'Bâ teams to compete in newly-created League 3, can not progress to the championship or compete in FA or League cups It's from a report that the FA released today.
Sky Sports News ‏@SkySportsNews 47s 'B' team squads of 25 must include at least 20 home-grown players, only three can be over 21-years-old - tune into SSN for further details I don't like the sound of this.
Well, that's just awful. And who's entitled to one of these 'B teams'? If this is true, English football has just died, and I think I've just lost a lot of interest, if not all.
I haven't had a chance to look at it in any detail Macca, but on R4's Today programme they were saying, or at least I understood, that it was just one a number of ideas they were discussing? Is that how the report reads to you?
GD: 'How can we get more English players playing at the highest level of the game?' GD: 'Our intention is not in any way to devalue the quality/attraction of football played in England.' GD: 'Nor is it in anyway to undermine the traditions and integrity of our football pyramid.. The recommendations will enhance English football.' GD: 'If we cannot offer the opportunity for young English footballers to reach their maximum potential, we're failing.' GD: 'In short, we have a duty of care to English football and not just to football played in England.' GD: Commission identified four key themes... GD: 'There are inadequate competitive playing opportunities for 18-21 elite players at top clubs.' GD: 'The regulation of the player market in preserving the desired balance between English, EU and non-EU players is ineffective.' GD: 'There is uncertainty as to the quality and impact of coaching and coach education, especially in grassroots.' GD: 'There is a shortage of quality grassroots facilities for young players to learn on, especially all-weather pitches.' GD: 'The 18-21 stage of an academy player is now described by many clubs as the 'Bermuda triangle' or 'black hole' of English football. GD: 'One Premier League academy manager told the Commission, gap between academy and 1st team has widened significantly in last 20 years.'
So some of the most renowned academies in the country, Leeds being one off the top of my head, don't even get to utilise the little advantages of the system. Where as piss poor teams such as ourselves do. What a sorry state of affairs.
GD: 'One, the introduction of Premier League B teams into English football.' GD: 'Two, the development of strategic loan partnerships between clubs...' GD: 'Three, amendments to the 'Home Grpwn Player' requirements...' GD: 'And four, changes to the non-EU work VISA process.'
GD: 'Today's recommendations are seeking to address the lack of playing opportunities for 18-21 year olds...' GD: 'One, the introduction of Premier League B teams into English football.' GD: 'Two, the development of strategic loan partnerships between clubs...' GD: 'Three, amendments to the 'Home Grown Player' requirements...' GD: 'And four, changes to the non-EU work VISA process.' EDIT: Snap.
What's even worse is, that as at as I'm aware, most of the success stories from B teams abroad come from development in the 2nd tier of their league pyramid. Which just makes this all the more ridiculous as our players won't be getting that opportunity. At least the top clus can justify hoarding even more of the countries brightest talents eh...
GD: What is our target? By 2022, we want 90 English players playing regularly in the top 5 Euro leagues,compared with 66 today #FACommission GD: 'This report has, I hope, started a very serious and important debate within English football.' #FACommission
Here is what the report says on B Teams: A ‘B team’ would be the youth development squad of a Premier League football club. This is distinct from a ‘feeder club’ in that a B team will be fully integrated with the parent club and shares its name (and would not be a pre-existing club taken over by a senior club). Across most of Europe, B teams provide the crucial first stage of an effective bridge between the academy and first team. Details of the impact of the Spanish and German models are found within the report, however, it should be noted that as a result of having B teams, 18-21 year old Spanish players play 2.6 times more competitive football than their English counterparts. Dispersed within the footballing pyramid, these B teams are essential to a young player’s footballing development, providing competitive football from a younger age. Players with talent find themselves, for the first time, playing in front of real crowds, against older players whose livelihood is dependent on winning and experiencing the pressures of a game where the outcome has real consequences. Unlike a loan system, players are learning and developing their experience while still part of their club. B teams are intimately linked to the first team; training on the same facilities, sharing the same coaches and embracing playing styles governed by the same footballing philosophy. Using B teams, clubs can therefore carefully shape the development of their more talented youngsters. Many of the top clubs have told us that the current playing opportunities for young players aged 18-21 are inadequate and that they would welcome clubs playing in the lower divisions of the Football League but under their direct control and supervision. B teams would allow for this. The Commission believes this could be achieved by the creation of a new League Three in the Football League and that all Premier League clubs would have the choice of having a B team starting either in that division or the Conference. There would be promotion and relegation across the four divisions but B teams would not be able to rise above League One or play in The FA Cup. A concern that this would result in a cluster of B teams at the top of League One and thereby destroying competition in that division is not borne out by experience of the European countries that have B teams. We estimate that each B team squad would contain an average of 15 English players. Assuming, say, that there were ten B teams, this translates into 150 playing opportunities for English players. If we assume that the percentage of these that make it into their first team is around 6% (a marginal improvement on the percentage of players with loan experiences that reach the first team) this would translate into nine new English players making it into the first team squad of a Premier League side each season, augmenting the current input of new players into Premier League first teams.
This happened 10 years ago today: [video=youtube;lcTA7dPRlX0]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lcTA7dPRlX0[/video] Big things can still happen in the lower leagues, as well we know. The teams down there are important and valuable in themselves. It is not a training ground for the big teams to have a little play in.
Oliver Kay ‏@OliverKayTimes 1m @pkelso asks Greg Dyke "As chairman of Brentford, what would you have thought of being denied promotion to League One by eg. Chelsea B?" That's a very good question, I wonder what he thinks of that
The FA ‏@FA 7s Danny Mills: 'If you look at the top clubs around the world a lot of the top players came through the B team system. The model is there' Come on then Dan, give us a list of all these 'top players'. How the hell is Danny Mills on the FA Commission in the first place?
So a "B" team could progress from League 3, into League 2 then League 1, but can't get to the Championship? So you end up with the top 2 in League both B teams, who can't go up to the Championship, so what then? Next highest 2? Would the same transfer restrictions apply to these B teams? Would they just end up a "shop front" for younguns to play in? What would the name of the team be? Hull City B Team? What happens if the parent club gets relegated from the Premier League? is the B team disbanded? Seems a bit daft to me but I guess they need to try to do something to stimulate better home grown talent, just not convinced this is the best idea.
Well that's football well an truly f**ked. Be interesting to see what happens if someone's B Side does get to the top of League 1. Telling them they can't progress or achieve anything is not what football is about. Its very similar to the old system in Rugby League where the top team in NL1 couldn't go up to Super League until relegation and promotion was allowed.
Anyone who has any experience of clubs in lower leagues and Conference will know they are often a massive part of the local community. But let's stifle their ambitions and dilute their importance in order to accommodate Stoke City B eh? Utter and total nonsense.
