Football League clubs could be poised to adopt a controversial proposal, similar to one shunned by the Premier League, to groom more England players. Chairmen 

have been called to an extraordinary meeting next month to discuss a plan that would demand that clubs have at least four members of their match-day squads who qualify as domestic players.

That could be just the start, with Lord Mawhinney, the Football League chairman, aiming to increase the quota of English talent as clubs adapt their squads. Unlike the “six plus five” rule touted by Fifa, world football's governing body, which would force clubs to limit the number of foreign players in a team to a maximum of five, the Football League will be asked to adopt something called the “Home Grown Players” rule, which stipulates that four players would have to be registered in England for a minimum of three seasons before their 21st birthday. That means that some foreign players, particularly those groomed in academies, would be considered a domestic product and allowed to join the match-day squads of 16 as part of the English quota.

Although not as far-reaching as the “six plus five” rule, the Football League's objective of finding more English talent is clear. The clubs in the country's three lower leagues - the Championship, League One and League Two - spend £30million a year on grooming young players, with outstanding results.

Mawhinney said: “Fourteen of the 23-man England squad that beat Germany in Berlin last week were developed by youth development programmes at Football League clubs. Looking ahead, we want to increase that proportion even further. We believe it is time for the Football League to make a clear and unequivocal statement of intent about the importance of developing young players in the domestic game.

“The aim is to establish this principle by setting a threshold that our clubs can accommodate and then to consider raising that level over time. It is important we demonstrate that, as a body of clubs, our commitment to youth development is total. Therefore, not only are we pulling out all the stops to develop these young players in the first place, we are also ensuring that they have the opportunity to show their talent in the first team.”

The issue of quotas on foreign players in English leagues has been one of the most hotly debated of recent times, with the Premier League staunchly against any attempts to curb the freedom of clubs to pick and choose who they play, whatever their nationality.

But Mawhinney and the Football League's board of directors have found an elegant and workable solution that could provide a substantial platform from which young English players can flourish. The approach is “softly, softly”, which could mean that the proposal gets a warm welcome at the clubs' meeting at Pride Park, Derby, on December 18. The plan is also likely to find widespread support among fans who want to see more local players in their teams.

“Local fans watching locally developed players at their local club is at the very heart of what the Football League is all about,” Mawhinney said. “I believe that, by introducing this rule, League clubs once again will be taking a lead that others will want to follow.”

The Football League is already a repository of English talent, with 8,500 footballers aged between 8 and 18 on the books of its 72 clubs in 22 academies and 46 centres of excellence. About half of the players chosen to represent England - across all age groups - in the most recent round of international fixtures were developed at League clubs.

David James, the England goalkeeper, was developed at Watford and many others in the present England squad - including Scott Carson (Leeds United), Micah Richards (Oldham Athletic), Wayne Bridge (Southampton), Matthew Upson (Luton Town) and Theo Walcott (Swindon Town and Southampton) - are products of the Football League.