Home Grown Players Vote Next Week

A special EGM of the Football League is due to take place next week at which clubs will have the chance to vote on a 'Home Grown Players' rule.

League chairman Lord Mawhinney wants the rule passed which will make clubs to focus more on locally-based players.

The meeting takes place at Pride Park, Derby, on Thursday week. If enough clubs vote in favour it will mean that from the start of next season every matchday 16 must include at least four players who are ‘home-grown’ (ie. registered with the club for three seasons, or 36 months, prior to their 21st birthday).

The legislation might hinder the Bulls as there is no centre of excellence currently set up. Whilst players have moved up from the youth team they are few and far between with just Sam Gwynne and Craig Jones at present. Should Andy Williams rejoin the Bulls he would be eligible.

In any case the costs associated with running a centre of excellence at Hereford are probably way down on chairman Graham Turner's list of priorities.

However another League One chairman Jeff Bonser, of Walsall, is thought likely to vote for the change.

"It would be a good move but we will have to see if it goes through," Bonser said. "It is far from a fait accompli.

"Some Championship clubs can afford to buy players so are less dependent on home-grown talent. Will they vote for it?

"Some clubs at our level perceive that they can succeed by buying most of their players. Will they?

"Then, lower down the league, not every club has a youth team or a centre of excellence because they are expensive to run.

"We spend £250,000 a year on our centre of excellence and that is quite an investment.

"But some clubs look at that level of investment and shy away. They realise that the youth system has to generate players to pay for itself so it has to be done properly. And that means investment.

"We will voting for the new rule but, if it did come in, things would not change at this club one iota.

"It is the way we have run things here for years because we have to do it that way to make up for the money we don’t make through big crowds."

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