Latest Figures Show Worrying Lack Of Newcastle Talent
There is a big debate going on about the move to having more players from abroad playing in England and of course that meaning a reduction in homegrown players.
Newcastle United have been thrust into the spotlight with their recruitment policy, another six players arriving from the continent in January.
However, maybe as Newcastle fans we should be worrying about a more localised problem following the release of a list by the Football League showing the 25 most common birth places of registered players currently on the books of Football League clubs.
278 London
76 Liverpool
38 Birmingham
34 Manchester
33 Sheffield
31 Glasgow
26 Nottingham
23 Bristol
23 Leeds
21 Derby
20 Preston
19 Middlesbrough
17 Wolverhampton
17 Leicester
15 Reading
15 Doncaster
14 Blackburn
13 Bolton
12 Salford
12 Stoke On Trent
12 Chester
12 Coventry
11 Plymouth
11 Edinburgh
10 Barnsley
10 Newcastle
10 Cardiff
10 Huddersfield
Now I know we might wonder about exactly where the boundaries of Newcastle begin and end but that still doesn’t explain the massive disparity between Liverpool’s 76 and Newcastle’s 10, or why even places such as Blackburn, Bolton, Doncaster, Reading…Middlesbrough etc. are producing more professional players.
It suggests that we could have a problem on Tyneside and that Newcastle United must be a key element in that relative failure to produce players, hopefully we will see more local players making it but I think we need United to take a strong lead in making that happen.
The other part of the equation is that while both Middlesbrough and Sunderland attained top status for their Academy, Newcastle United didn’t. What that means is that Newcastle are far more restricted with regard to how far they can spread their net for players and so if a big part of the problem is that maybe there isn’t a lot of local talent out there, then it will be a major handicap to youth development at St.James’ Park.
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