Great Crystal Palace Initiative

[daib0]

‍Crystal Palace have become the first Premier League club to offer loan players to lower league clubs for free - but only if they play.

Mark Bright, the club’s director of U23 development has written to all clubs in Sky Bet League One, League Two and the National League, amid growing concerns over the fees that the country’s top clubs are demanding for loan players, according to The Times.

A club source has told Sky Sports News that the policy was the best way to guarantee as many of their young talents as possible bridged that gap between U23s and senior football - by enjoying first team football at another club.

Bright’s letter explains how Palace are not looking for lower league clubs to pay a proportion of a player’s wages - but if he does not start a match for whatever reason, barring injury, then Palace will expect the loanee club to pay 50 per cent of his wages each week.



Will other clubs follow?

[bodacious benny]

Sounds like a reasonably good move, but there is a risk that loan players could be picked purely for financial reasons rather than them deserving to be in the team. Players, including loan players should always have to earn their place in whichever team they're at.

[Colly]

Yeah I don't see this as a particularly good thing, just big clubs imposing their financial dominance on the lower leagues to do their bidding. If anything it might mean a League one or two player losing a payday because suddenly their club doesn't need such a big salaried squad.

[PTAO?]

I refuse to believe they are the first when this has been in football manager for a while.

[Don Sholeone]

This is such a short sighted move, no doubt they will be praised for this but this is a dangerous thing imo, with the limited resources of lower League clubs they may opt for more PL loanees and put lower league players out for the sake of finances and developing top level talent.

[TJR]

This is a dangerous move. One of the great things about the English game is the support and passion for football all the way down the pyramid which allows for competitive leagues throughout.

This sounds like one step away from moving towards the farce of leagues such as Spain, where you have reserve sides of La Liga clubs playing in the equivalent of the Championship.

I'm all for parent clubs paying the wages of young players when they are on loan but this shouldn't guarantee players game time. They should have to work hard in training and earn their spot like anyone else.

Also at National League level, there is nowhere near as much money in the game as the top level. Players may depend on their match fee for paying bills (/saving for after their career etc). They aren't earning hundreds of thousands / millions a season like the top players.

It feels wrong that a lower league player, who works hard to earn his place in the team and his match fee is very important to him losing out to an inferior player because the club have been pressured into it financially.