Shrewsbury Town said no to EFL changes
Shrewsbury Town voted against proposals to introduce Premier League clubs' Under-21 teams into the Football League Trophy.
It's a balanced response to the idea, which will see 16 top-flight sides' youngsters in the competition next season on a trial basis.
Town chief executive Brian Caldwell believes the move is not a step towards getting Premier League club's under-21 teams into the Football League on a full-time basis.
Changes next season see emergency loans scrapped, with players only able to move clubs on a window-to-window basis with no recall.
Caldwell believes the closure of that loophole is why top-flight clubs want to see their younger players involved in the Football League Trophy, to give them more experience of competitive football.
He said: "It will restrict the amount of players the Premier League clubs will want to send out.
"I can see both sides but can understand the concerns about under-21 teams from the Premier League getting involved in the EFL competition.
"It's only for one season and that gives me faith that the decision is not set in stone because the last thing we want is have Premier League under-21 teams in our league.
"It's not something I feel would work and I don't think we'll ever get to that stage."
Meanwhile, Callum Grogan, Town's latest academy graduate to sign professional terms, has been backed to continue his progress.
The 19-year-old centre-back has signed a one-year deal to follow fellow former scholars Callum Burton, Dom Smith and Ethan Jones into the senior ranks.
And boss Micky Mellon believes the one-time Bolton youth-teamer and ex-Liverpool Colleges student could follow them into the side.
Mellon told the club's website: "I'm pleased we've got another young talented boy into the group now.
"We believe he's got a real chance and, with a lot of hard work from him and us, hopefully we can have another player coming through to the first team in the coming months or years.
"Hopefully, with the development we believe Cal's got in front of him, he can get closer to coming into the first-team group.
"He's got himself to the next level now and he's got to keep doing that. Certainly Cal's done the first part."
