ENGLISH CLUBS playing in the three levels below the Premier League voted yesterday to create a rule forcing the inclusion of at least four so-called "homegrown" players in their match squads from next season.

The Football League, which governs England's three professional divisions below the Premier League, said that a team's 16-man squad will have to include at least four players, who have been registered in the country for a minimum of three seasons before their 21st birthday.

That should all but guarantee four English players in each squad, which could eventually boost attempts to develop better players for the national team.

Developing local talent

"I would like to compliment Football League clubs for having the foresight to make changes that will benefit the wider game," Football League chairman Brian Mawhinney said. "As a result of today's vote, those players being developed will have a greater chance to demonstrate their talent at first-team level."

Clubs have been criticised regularly for favouring often cheaper foreign players at the expense of deve-loping local talent. The policy can bring instant success but with the long-term effect that there is a smaller pool of eligible players for the national team.

Premier League clubs have borne the brunt of the criticism - choosing to hire from overseas instead of the lower leagues - but the second-tier League Championship is also full of overseas players. Birmingham, for instance, is second in the standings with a 28-man squad containing only 12 Englishmen.

Mawhinney said that the 72 league clubs were spending more than 40 million pounds (US$61.5 million) per season to develop English players.

Successful youth programme

The Football League rule for the 2009-10 season onward is in line with the approach favoured by UEFA, rather than the so-called "6+5" proposed by FIFA.

While the Football League decision sidesteps concerns that FIFA's plan could contravene European labour law, it does mean that it won't exclusively favour English pla-yers. Clubs could still sign players who are 18 or younger from overseas, emulating Arsenal's hugely successful youth programme, and they would count as homegrown by the time they reach 21.

Arsenal captain Cesc Fabregas joined the Gunners from Barcelona at 16 but would have counted as a homegrown player for the past two years despite now being an established Spain international.