Shrewsbury Town boss Paul Simpson has had his say on the tapping-up scandal rocking British football – insisting the minnows are powerless when the big clubs come knocking.

A string of Premier League giants have made negative headlines over the last week amid allegations that they have acted unfairly in poaching young talent.

League Two has been drawn into the debate, with Crewe Alexandra’s director of football Dario Gradi accusing an un-named club of tapping up a 15-year-old at Gresty Road.

Now Simpson has admitted Shrewsbury have suffered too – though he stopped short of accusing anyone of illegal activity.

“We did have a situation last season where one of our kids went to Aston Villa from one of our younger age groups,” he revealed.

“You find that you lose them all the time when a bigger club shows an interest, but that’s the nature of the game and there’s not a lot you can do.”

Simpson admits it is frustrating losing young players and getting little reward for the work done in developing them.

But he is more angry at the situation with former winger Chris Humphrey, 21, who moved to Motherwell just days before the start of the season.

“In many ways, his going to a Scottish Premier League club was a similar situation,” added Simpson.

“Because of a loophole in the FIFA laws he’s allowed to leave and we might not get any compensation for the work we did with him.

“It’s frustrating but the Chris Humphrey situation is still on-going as far as we are concerned.

“We still feel we are entitled to some compensation, but whether we get anything remains to be seen.”