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MICHAEL OWEN SAYS STRUCTURE OF YOUTH ACADEMIES IS FAILING ENGLAND’S FUTURE AT SPORTLOBSTER APP LAUNCH

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Michael Owen today urged football authorities to adopt an American style draft system for young English players and allow Premiership teams to field B teams in the Football League for the future success of English football. 

Owen posted his blog on Sportlobster - the dedicated sports social network, which today launches its iPhone app.

As one of the most famous products of the English youth setup, Owen explores the idea of developing a B team format for top teams and brings to the table the potential solution of a system similar to the NFL draft.

Owen said on Sportlobster:

“I feel what would be hugely beneficial to the state of our national game is the creation of a loan system whereby every team in the Premier League provides a set number of English players to be distributed fairly among The Championship, League One and Two clubs. This is similar to the draft system they use in American Football.

“Each league club would receive two or three players per season in two waves (start of the season until Christmas then Christmas until the end of the season) from random Premier League clubs which would not only help our lower league teams but more importantly help the development of our future talent. Fairly distributing these young English players across all teams in every league as this would be much fairer than the current system.

“Imagine 150 or so young English players learning their trade in the lower leagues. It would do absolute wonders for their development. The experience gained and the ability to perform under pressure would be priceless. These are the challenges our youngsters need to be exposed to early on if we are to expect them to rise to the challenge later in their careers.”

Sportlobster co-founder and CEO Andy Meikle said:

“It’s important to have sporting heroes like Michael Owen using Sportlobster to talk about issues in sport and voice their honest opinions. It is also important for everyone else to get involved in such debates and be heard. This is exactly why we created Sportlobster, it gives fans a way to interact in an environment completely dedicated to sport.”

Read Michael’s full article and join the debate: https://sportlobster.com/themichaelowen

Link to the app: https://itunes.apple.com/gb/app/sportlobster/id726335461?ls=1&mt=8

-ENDS-

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NOTES TO EDITORS

About Sportlobster

  • Designed, operated and populated by sports fans, this one-stop-shop delivers the entire sporting world in one location, tailored to each fan’s passions
  • The power of social networks together with the dominance of smartphones ensures Sportlobster’s simple, colourful and functional app will revolutionise how sports fans source and share content while on the move
  • Fans will never again be forced to visit several sites or download multiple apps to stay connected to their sporting world
  • Staying connected on news, rumours, predictions and events with other fans on specific topics across multiple sports no longer needs to be difficult
  • Sports fans are the most loyal consumers and deserve a dedicated environment to share their experiences with like-minded fans apps to stay connected with their sporting world
  • Sporting stars and celebrities are using and endorsing the site thanks to unique features, such as the predictions and sports calendar, plus the ability to write longer articles and engage in more extensive debate than other, more limited, general networks

Profiles

Michael Owen

After an illustrious career playing for Liverpool, Real Madrid, Newcastle, Manchester United and Stoke City, Michael retired as a professional footballer in June 2013.

Michael made a total of 297 appearances for Liverpool, scoring 158 goals, winning one FA Cup, two League Cups and one UEFA and Super Cup. After spells at Real Madrid and Newcastle Untied, Michael signed for Manchester United in 2009 and went on to win the league title in 2010-11 season. He signed for Stoke City on a 12 month deal at the beginning of last season where he scored his 150th Premier league goal, becoming only the 7th player to do so. A legend for England he scored 40 goals in 89 appearances including that iconic goal against Argentina in the 1998 FIFA World Cup and a hat trick in the 5-1 defeat of Germany in 2001.

Since retiring as a footballer, Michael has moved seamlessly into the world of media and as part of his growing portfolio of business interests has become an investor in Sportlobster, the sports social network.


Andy Meikle

Andy graduated with a degree in Business Management after spending four years in the US on a soccer scholarship. Injury ended prospect of a professional career while playing in London. Returning to his childhood home, Dubai, he launched the first text-based Q&A service in the Middle East.

His every lasting love of sport, coupled with years of experience in building a successful tech company resulted in a new project, Sportlobster.

Andy loves all sports, in particular football, rugby and F1. The Scot/Chilean enjoys playing golf and pays an occasional visit to the gym.