Bradford City director David Bosomworth hopes a review of youth development in professional football will lead to better chances for local youngsters to make the grade.

And he said there is a lot of local young talent - but that the system must allow it to flow through to the professional clubs.

"We receive an annual sum a year as a club for youth development, and that figure hasn't altered for a considerable amount of time," he said.

"You must bear in mind that we have to pay for the hire of facilities and training kit, and staffing is a significant cost, so all the time the figure stays the same while the cost of everything else is going up.

"If the review says that figure will go down we wouldn't be very happy but if it went up we would be delighted.

"What the review would need to look at is the financial aspect and the education of apprentices while they are with clubs.

"Contracts have been cut from three years to two, which is disappointing because it requires a club to make a difficult decision as to whether a player aged 18 is going to make it as a professional footballer in what is a man's world.

"It might mean that clubs try and hurry them through, and a lot can happen in a year. They may not be as physically or mentally developed at 18, and there are always some surprises as to who develops later as it is not an exact science.

"Look at Stuart McCall as a prime local example.

"He was released but went on to play with distinction for Bradford City, Everton, Rangers, Sheffield United and Scotland.

"There is a lot of talent swilling about down the leagues, and hopefully things like this will all be topics for discussion when the review comes out.

"As far as City are concerned, we are delighted with the quality of coaches within our system.

"But there is a lot of competition within the West Riding, and all the Northern-based Premier League clubs, such as Liverpool, Blackburn and Newcastle, have scouts in our area. "The resources of the Premier League clubs mean that they have scouts throughout the country, and Bradford City have to compete against that.

"But we have a good reputation and are quite successful."

The leading light in British rugby league has been appointed to head the youth review.

The rest of the group will consist of the FA's coach John Peacock, the Premier League's youth development manager Huw Jennings and Football League deputy operations director Michael Tattersall.

FA chief executive Brian Barwick said: "We all recognise that the future development of our young players is fundamental to the welfare of our game."

Meanwhile, another City branch involving youngsters - the Football in the Community Scheme - held successful coaching courses during the half-term holiday. Organiser Ian Ormondroyd said: "We had about 170 children attending throughout the week, which was slightly down on last year but the weather wasn't the best."

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