FA to look at B team plan

A new competition for B teams for the leading Premier League and Championship clubs is to be considered by the Football Association board today, but there is already considerable opposition from the clubs.

The plan, part of FA chairman Greg Dyke’s commission aimed at boosting the number of young English players at the top of club football, would see the new division placed between League Two and the Conference.

Other proposals would see the number of homegrown players required in league clubs’ 25-man squads increased from the current minimum of eight, and a shake-up of the loan system.

The B team plan would involve the 24 clubs with a top-rated academy, but there are concerns in the professional game that it would disrupt the traditional pyramid which allows clubs to be promoted and relegated through the divisions.

Conference and League Two clubs, for example, would strongly oppose well-resourced U21 sides from wealthy Premier League clubs competing with them for league places.

Clubs in countries such as Spain and Germany do have B sides playing in lower divisions — Real Madrid and Barcelona both do, for example, but they do not have the same historic and structured pyramid as English football.