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Wanderers could miss out on payments from the EFL after falling foul of a bizarre new rule on homegrown players.
Financial rewards are being offered to clubs who offer home-grown talent who were aged under 21 on June 30 this year first team opportunities.
A pot of £2.25million has been set aside over three years as part of the EFL’s Futures Initiative, to be paid out proportionally according to how many players are made by players who fit the criteria.
Despite having English-born academy graduates Zach Clough, 21, and Josh Vela, 22, at the heart of their success this season – Phil Parkinson’s side were picked out in a national newspaper as one of eight who have failed to name a single player who fits the bill.
Wanderers have given game time to youngsters such as Alex Finney – now at QPR – Alex Perry, Jack Earing and Tom Walker – now at Bury – in EFL competitions this season, all of whom fit into the criteria. They have also had England youth international Jake Turner on the bench in the last few weeks.
On several occasions this season Parkinson has named an entirely English-born XI, with Spaniard Derik Osede the only foreign player to have represented the club in League One this season.
Clough missed the cut by just three months and Wanderers will also point to the fact another homegrown ace, Rob Holding, is now playing Premier League football with Arsenal.
Last season the likes of Niall Maher, Tyler Garrett, George Newell, Oscar Threlkeld, Kaiyne Woolery and Conor Wilkinson all played in the Championship.
Few academies have been quite so prolific in recent seasons but under the current guidelines, the Whites will miss out on payments unless the younger players feature more frequently in League One.
It has also been suggested that a league table of opportunities will be posted at the end of the season to act as a guide to parents who may want to know which clubs will offer more opportunities.
League chief executive Shaun Harvey believes the Futures Initiative will encourage clubs to give more opportunities to young English players, which will then have a positive effect on the national team in the future.
“Clubs will finally have an incentive to give young players an opportunity,” Harvey said in the Daily Mail. “There’s a real need and desire to create that pathway.
“Mandatory quotas don’t always work in my book. What we’re doing is trying to create opportunities. This is about bringing players through a development scheme and into first-team football. We want to be part-building an England team for the future based around our clubs and the benefit our clubs will get from it.”
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Financial rewards are being offered to clubs who offer home-grown talent who were aged under 21 on June 30 this year first team opportunities.
A pot of £2.25million has been set aside over three years as part of the EFL’s Futures Initiative, to be paid out proportionally according to how many players are made by players who fit the criteria.
Despite having English-born academy graduates Zach Clough, 21, and Josh Vela, 22, at the heart of their success this season – Phil Parkinson’s side were picked out in a national newspaper as one of eight who have failed to name a single player who fits the bill.
Wanderers have given game time to youngsters such as Alex Finney – now at QPR – Alex Perry, Jack Earing and Tom Walker – now at Bury – in EFL competitions this season, all of whom fit into the criteria. They have also had England youth international Jake Turner on the bench in the last few weeks.
On several occasions this season Parkinson has named an entirely English-born XI, with Spaniard Derik Osede the only foreign player to have represented the club in League One this season.
Clough missed the cut by just three months and Wanderers will also point to the fact another homegrown ace, Rob Holding, is now playing Premier League football with Arsenal.
Last season the likes of Niall Maher, Tyler Garrett, George Newell, Oscar Threlkeld, Kaiyne Woolery and Conor Wilkinson all played in the Championship.
Few academies have been quite so prolific in recent seasons but under the current guidelines, the Whites will miss out on payments unless the younger players feature more frequently in League One.
It has also been suggested that a league table of opportunities will be posted at the end of the season to act as a guide to parents who may want to know which clubs will offer more opportunities.
League chief executive Shaun Harvey believes the Futures Initiative will encourage clubs to give more opportunities to young English players, which will then have a positive effect on the national team in the future.
“Clubs will finally have an incentive to give young players an opportunity,” Harvey said in the Daily Mail. “There’s a real need and desire to create that pathway.
“Mandatory quotas don’t always work in my book. What we’re doing is trying to create opportunities. This is about bringing players through a development scheme and into first-team football. We want to be part-building an England team for the future based around our clubs and the benefit our clubs will get from it.”
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