Quote jehull="jehull" Bring back the A team.'"
There's a bit about the option of an under-23s/A-team set up in the policy document. I don't think the clubs will be keen, simply due to the costs. You're looking at £200k or more to run a team at that level, based on pretty meagre pay that'd make those players effectively part-time anyway - so maybe they're better off playing in the Championship.
And I don't think the costs would be greatly mitigated by gate receipts - certainly it wouldn't be cost-effective or maybe even practical to open up the KC.
All that said, the leap from 19s to SL is big - some make it, but the proportion that make it to the fringes of SL squads and no further does seem high.
I'd have liked to have seen fewer academies, allowing each to running one extra, older team. With central funding planned of just £168k, and not every club having a stake in the proposed system, that seems unlikely.
And tbh, it's a fair bit of money to maybe only retain the odd player, now and again.
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