Representatives of the 72 Football League clubs have voted in favour of an overhaul of the academy system that will make it easier and cheaper for Premier League clubs to recruit young talent.
Thursday's vote was passed by 46 to 22, with three no-shows and one abstention. The outcome was no surprise because the Premier League had withheld part of its annual solidarity payment to the Football League – £5.4m is set aside for youth development – pending the vote, meaning that many of the 72 clubs will have felt that they were backed into a corner.
The elite player performance plan (EPPP) will replace the tribunal system, which asks each club to justify its valuation of the player involved before it decides on a fee considered fair. This process was often problematic because of the contrast between what the selling club was demanding and how much the buying club was willing to pay, prompting some to believe that the new system, which will use a set formula to establish compensation fees, is a step in the right direction. Whether the smaller clubs will feel like that remains to be seen.
The new rules mean a selling club is paid £3,000 per year for every year of a player's development between the ages of nine and 11. The fee per year from 12 to 16 will range between £12,500 and £40,000. The top clubs will also be exempt from the 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 procure players from anywhere in the country.
Barry Fry, Peterborough's director of football, fears the changes will prompt some lower league clubs to "pull out of having a youth system altogether", although Greg Clarke, the Football League chairman, says that will not be the case. "We hope Football League clubs continue to retain and fill their first teams with top local talent," he said. "There's always a danger under the new scheme that larger clubs will be a bit more predatory. We hope we don't see that but I don't think we should lose sight of the fact that this is a major step forward for English football."
