PFA chief Gordon Taylor is backing calls for an U21 league.

Replacing the current reserve league was one of the recommendations in Richard Lewis' report into youth football which is currently being assessed in detail by the Football Association and the Premier League.

"There has been a demise in reserve-team football, which was always a breeding ground for young talent to mix with the older players out of the team," said Taylor, PFA chief executive.

"There was a good blend of players for the learning process but it is no longer doing that and there is a vacuum where a player would be lost to the game if they don't make it by 18 or 19.

"We'd want to support any new initiative that would help our development programme because if we don't we're going to be the richest football country with the highest crowds but an international record down in the doldrums.

"We are now becoming a finishing school for the rest of the world."