In September 2013, The FA Chairman, Greg Dyke, set out what he described as the biggest single challenge facing the English game: the need to increase the number of English players playing at the highest level of club football.
Since the 1992/3 season to this year the percentage of English players making the starting line-ups of Premier League clubs has fallen from 69 per cent to 32 per cent.
Dyke said: “The issue, quite simply, is this: In the future it’s quite possible we won’t have enough players qualified to play for England who are playing regularly at the highest level in this country or elsewhere in the world. As a result, it could well mean England’s teams are unable to compete seriously on the world stage.”
To address this issue an FA Chairman’s England Commission has been established to bring together experience and knowledge from across the game.
The Commission members will work with the FA Chairman to assess a wide range of evidence that is already being gathered by experts working within English football, at every age, every level and in every community. They will report their findings and recommendations in 2014.
To contact the Commission, please e-mail: info@TheFA.com with the subject title: England Commission
