Villas-Boas feeder plan 'offensive'

20 January 2012 19:16

Chelsea boss Andre Villas-Boas came under fire Friday for suggesting Premier League sides be allowed to field reserve teams in the second-tier Championship.

The Portuguese's belief that English football would flourish under such a plan was even condemned as "offensive".

"The suggestion that Football League clubs should become feeder clubs to a select handful of elite clubs is frankly offensive to the hundreds of thousands of people that watch competitive professional football in our competition every weekend," said Football League chief operating officer Andy Williamson.

"These are senior professional football matches that matter - they are not just platforms for developing other clubs' players.

"The Championship is the fourth most watched league in European football and crowds in our three divisions comfortably outstrip equivalent competitions in all of the other major footballing nations."

Villas-Boas said Thursday 'B' teams should play in the lower leagues.

The Chelsea manager said: "There is more of a cultural identity if it's called a 'B team'. What happens in Barcelona is a good model in terms of competitions. They promote talent."

Source: AFP