Southgate laments ‘incredible’ lack of homegrown Premier League players

The shortage of homegrown players in the Premier League, which hit record lows this past weekend, is “incredible” and “a conundrum we have to solve” according to the England manager, Gareth Southgate.

In the 14th round of fixtures which took place this weekend only 54 players eligible to play for England started in the top flight. This was down from the previous week, which itself had been a record low.

Four members of the England team which beat Croatia to qualify for the Uefa Nations League finals last month did not start for their club sides this weekend and Southgate has called for action to stop the trend.

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“It is incredible,” Southgate said. “It was a 33% average last season, then it went below 29% and this weekend it was below 25% for all of the teams. Nobody can tell me that, if players are good enough, they will come through. That is not true. There are plenty of players who are good enough.

“For parents and boys entering academies, the very nature of it is that you expect there to be opportunity at the end. I go back to previous tournaments when we have reviewed everything that has gone on in English football. So many of those things are in the right place now, so this is just the missing piece. But that is a conundrum we have to solve.”

The FA recently drew up proposals to reduce the maximum number of non-homegrown players in any 25-man squad from 17 to 13, a proposal it suggested could be implemented when the UK left the European Union. This suggestion was given short shrift by the Premier League, however, who said that there was “no evidence” that quotas would have a positive impact on national teams.

Southgate said discussions were ongoing regarding quotas but that change was imperative for the continuing development of English football. “What’s clear is that we can’t allow the trend to continue as it is because at what point do we stop?” he said. “Everybody saw the impact and the success of the national team in the summer and I think it is now prerogative that, while we still want a competitive Premier League that brings a lot of focus into our country as well, it’s just trying to find this missing piece of development for English football.”

Southgate believes the FA and Premier League clubs are in fact in agreement on the importance of progressing young homegrown talent from academy sides to the first team, but that the pressure placed on managers and coaches means they are unwilling to take a risk on inexperienced players.