Taylor fears for football's future

Former Wolves and Villa boss Graham Taylor is helping to shape football's future but he believes the game has lost touch with reality, writes Nick Mashiter.

As prices rocket and wages soar, Graham Taylor has painted the bleak picture that football has long since become divorced from supporters.

Fans and the beautiful game have always enjoyed a loving relationship but former Wolves and Villa boss Taylor believes the marriage is definitely on the rocks.

Cristiano Ronaldo's impending £80m move to Real Madrid, hot on the heels of Kaka's £57m switch from AC Milan to the Bernabeu, has distanced the professional game from the real fan and typical grass roots football.

Taylor is coaching and offering tips at the Grass Roots Football Live event in Birmingham this weekend and he says money is baffling the true fan.

He said: "The problem we have more than anything else is, as much as this game has been a great commercial success and you can see the quality of the football, it has lost touch with the very people that made it what it is today.

"I go around, having been out of the game for five or six years, and it's amazing how many people I meet who are falling out of love with it.

"They cannot understand where all the money is from. When they go for that amount of money it's so sky high it's almost impossible to reach.

"It seems to be out of our reach and we have a feeling the game has gone beyond us."

But the ex-England boss isn't too despondent as he believes grass roots football will always have a place to develop players.

He said: "The problem we have at the highest level is that we see a £57m Kaka and an £80m Ronaldo and I would say, in all countries, where do players come from?

"Even in Portugal, even in Brazil they come from grass roots.

"It doesn't matter what level some of us reach, some come out of grass roots and play professionally and a lot of people don't but without this sort of beginning and without the support of parents there wouldn't be a Ronaldo, a Kaka or a David Beckham.

"It's an event like Grass Roots which really starts the whole thing off."

The Football Association's director of football development, Sir Trevor Brooking, is also concerned with how players develop in their late teens.

He believes life at top clubs is becoming tougher for English youngsters which could have a knock on effect on the national team.

Brooking said: "Where are the top English youngsters going to play between 17 and 21? A lot of them, if they are at a Premier League team, will not be the first team in their club and they would go out on loan. There are a lot of challenges for the English youngster because, if you are at one of the big four or five, unless you are exceptional, you're not going to break into the first team.

Ê"Scholarships end at 18 so, if you are a Football League club, you have to make a decision. A lot of coaches think that is far too early and want to keep them between the ages of 19-21 but that costs money so we end up with a big fall out and it's only the exceptional ones who survive.

"We could get some youngsters who play in an under-17 team and are out of the game by 21."

But to capitalise on the talent, and perhaps even offer a way out of the English system, Italian giants AC Milan have set up their own football camps in the country.

Former Rossenari defender Franco Baresi is spearheading the project and he says it would be a bonus if the club can coax top English talent to Italy.

He said: "The project is to develop the Milan way around the world but if there are some talented players we always keep our eyes open, although it's not the main goal."

"England is an important country for our development and England is the country of football.

"Today there are many challenges between English and Italian clubs and we would like to participate in the development of football here."