FA chief executive Martin Glenn urges English youngsters to consider playing abroad

Martin Glenn became the CEO of the FA on May 18

ENGLISH youngsters have been urged to avoid falling in the Premier League’s “black hole” and to consider gaining experience abroad in order to maintain their development.

 

The view was aired by the Football Association's new chief executive Martin Glenn, who suggested expanding horizons would be one possible solution to unblocking the "logjam" at the summit of the game.

Glenn spoke as the FA announced record investment of £260million into grassroots between now and 2019, which is an increase on the £200m pumped into the game over the previous four years.

The extra investment, which equates to an additional £16m a year, will be raised through job cuts at the FA and also a proposed refinancing package for Wembley Stadium, which will take an advantage of lower interest rates.

 

Dominic Solanke is currently playing for Vitesse Arnhem in Holland

While the National Game Strategy for Participation and Development focused on grassroots, the long-term benefits, which could be felt at the top of the game, were also on the agenda.

Only a third of those players who started matches on the opening weekend of the new top-flight campaign were eligible to play for England, but Glenn admitted the introduction of a quota, as proposed by Greg Dyke's chairman's commission, was only one way of tackling the issue.

 

"We have to do two things," said Glenn, who was speaking at a launch held at Lancashire FA.

"We have to continue to develop young talent and, by the way, the clubs are equally incentivised to do that. The problem we have in the game is how we reconcile a healthy league system with a healthy national team.

"The issue is that, really, there is a black hole when players get through the academy system. They go through something called the EPPP [Elite Player Performance Plan] and the issue there is post about 18.

"It is not so much about a percentage of starts. It is the playing time, the competitive playing time they get. That is a problem for the FA and also a problem for the clubs because they don't want to keep developing these talented players and not get them playing time.

"There is the quota system and that is something we will keep looking at. But think about it slightly differently. 

 

"There is a logjam, but there are other ways of unblocking it. If you take Holland, then Holland produces lots of talented kids who go across the world to play football.

"It is a fantastic export for Holland. The same is true for other countries in continental Europe. We could do more of that for example.

"The playing hours don't just have to be in the English game. If we are creative about it, there are solutions we can get there before anything dramatic like a blanket quota.

"It is an open question and one we are discussing with the leagues. Why is there not more of it?

"What's inhibiting...there are about three, I think, English players in the European leagues - it could be more. What are the barriers to it? It is just an observation.

 

"It's all about playing hours and the playing hours don't have to be in the English Premier League."

Chelsea youngsters Lewis Baker and Dominic Solanke are two English youngsters who hope to benefit from the link-up with Vitesse Arnhem after moving on loan to Holland.

Yet they are in the minority and Glenn accepts that, while the pressure on managers to produce results is so acute, they are less likely to turn to potential talent.

"They are in a very competitive league and I think the issue is a manager is not incentivised to take a risk," said Glenn.

"So if you are in trouble and you want to get a few points and you have a seven out of 10 player - but there might be a kid who is six out of 10 but would be eight out of 10 if he was being played - you are going to use the seven out of 10 player because you have the fear of relegation. That's the reality."