Plummeting percentage of English players causing Dyke most concern

THE figures regarding Premier League trading in a record-breaking summer transfer window have made headlines this week, but they are by no means the most pertinent.
FA Chairman Greg Dyke addresses the mediaFA Chairman Greg Dyke addresses the media
FA Chairman Greg Dyke addresses the media

Numbers were quickly flying about after everyone drew breath following the closure of a madcap transfer window at 11pm on Monday. A record £630m spent by Premier League clubs on players in one window, a world-record fee of £85m received for one player in Gareth Bale, and the largest amount spent by English top-flight clubs on a deadline day – £140m.

There was the sight of one club, Arsenal, almost trebling their club record to bring in German international Mesut Ozil for £42.4m. No doubt there were other figures for the number crunchers to get excited about as well and they would not have had to delve deep to find them.

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But it was the numbers mentioned by FA chairman Greg Dyke in his keynote address yesterday which will have struck a chord with every England football supporter and those with the good of the national game in their hearts.

It centred on the percentage of English players currently plying their trade in the top flight, which perhaps revealed the hidden truth behind the all-singing, all-dancing cabaret of deadline day and the transfer window.

Dyke made play of the fact that in the Premier League’s first season in 1992-93, 69 per cent of the players were qualified to play for England. Now, there are 32 per cent. Basically, a third.

Revealingly, and somewhat worryingly, out of 137 top-flight signings in the last window, only 25 were English.

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Perhaps the most disquieting statistic among many to emerge from the frenetic spending of the summer of 2013 was that one club, Sunderland, signed 14 players and only one is English.

It is against the backdrop of these figures that Dyke has set up an FA Commission on which he will work with chairmen of the Professional Footballers’ Association, the League Managers’ Association and the Premier League – and many other ‘football people’ – to discuss what needs to be done to ensure more England players of sufficient quality come through the ranks and into the national side.

Speaking of the target of winning the World Cup, as he did yesterday, might make a good ‘line’ for journalists, but in truth all it really did was create a headline, albeit one that catches the eye.

Steps forward have involved the opening of a national football centre at St George’s Park, the implementation of the Elite Player Performance Plan, and an overhaul of the academy system so that bigger clubs can provide the best English lads with the best technical education to aid their footballing development.

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This is the theory at any rate, but the pressure that comes with managing a Premier League club, where results are the be-all and end-all, has invariably meant that youth has not been given its head by stressed bosses.

Two respected footballing figures, Leeds United first-team coach and development squad manager Neil Redfearn and Charlton Athletic academy boss Paul Hart, influential in his time at Leeds in the development of the likes of Jonathan Woodgate, spoke yesterday about Premier League managers needing to be bold and have enough faith to blood youth – it is a view echoed by many in the game.

But how can they be convinced to do this?

Dyke, who has stated he is not interested in a blame game or pointing fingers at the Premier League, has to find a way of bridging the gulf between club and national interests.

He must establish some common ground that enables club and national teams to mutually co-exist. In the past, tensions between them have been all too obvious.

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The thorny issue of club-versus-country needs resolving, with Arsene Wenger and Sir Alex Ferguson having been at the forefront of those managers who put their club’s interests first when it comes to releasing – or not –their players to England squads at all levels.

Several other areas, including quotas – of huge relevance given the foreign player ‘invasion’ – will also be looked at by the commission, whose findings will be eagerly awaited in the new year.

Dyke has articulated the problems facing the national game clearly; now comes the hard part. Finding answers.