EFL CEO Shaun Harvey joined senior leaders from across football today to discuss some of the major issues affecting the game throughout Europe.
The discussion, which was entitled ‘The League View’ and compered by the BBC’s Mark Clemmit, addressed topics such as youth development, fixture congestion, VAR and transfers in front of an audience of Soccerex delegates.
Shaun was joined on stage by counterparts from across European leagues, including Jacco Swart from the Eredivisie, Pedro Correia from Liga Portugal and Claus Thomsen from both the EPFL and the Danish League.
As conversations developed, key discussion topics looked at the challenges and opportunities being faced, particularly in reference to the challenge of supporting the development of young homegrown players, the increased use of video technology in the game and the changing financial landscape highlighted by the recent transfer window.
“How do you measure the success of youth development?”@EFL’s Shaun Harvey sets out a wish for helping young players become “better people” pic.twitter.com/kbbTeE9Aj0
— Soccerex (@Soccerex) September 5, 2017
Speaking on stage, Shaun reiterated the EFL’s determination to help support the recent trend of attendance growth across the EFL.
He said: “Our main priority is to work with our clubs to ensure attendances on a Saturday continue to increase and that more and more people continue to make their way through the turnstiles. Clearly, attendances are ultimately a responsibility of the clubs, but as a competition organiser we also see the benefits and therefore are keen to play whatever role we can in their growth.
“To this end, we are working to build the profile of clubs through developments such as the international broadcast deals and iFollow, but also at a domestic level through improved opportunities for young player development.
“From 2018/19, clubs will have a requirement to field Club Developed Players on their team sheets, and we believe amendments to regulations in this way can be a game changer and have a major impact in an increasingly important area.”
A Club Developed Player is defined as a player who has been registered with the relevant club for a minimum of 12 months prior to the end of his U19 season.