By John Sinnott

When he revolutionised football by making it easier for players to move clubs, Jean-Marc Bosman's name became part of football's language.

But the Belgian midfielder's inadvertent role in France's international success over the last 12 years is less heralded.

Few French players moved abroad before the landmark ruling in 1995. Post-Bosman, there was a mass exodus of their top stars and within three years France had won their first World Cup.

Two years later, Les Bleus won the European Championship and it is arguable that Zinedine Zidane's sending off in the 2006 final against Italy cost France a second World Cup.

England, who face France in a friendly at the Stade de France on Wednesday, have a less distinguished recent record. Their appearance in the 1996 European Championship semi-final is the furthest they have gone in a major tournament in the last 12 years.

Culturally we've always suffered in that English players and coaches have not had any experience playing abroad Former FA technical director Howard Wilkinson

"The Bosman ruling changed French football," Frenchman Gilles Grimandi, who works for Arsenal as a scout, told BBC Sport.

"It opened up borders for our players and enabled them to play abroad. More importantly it opened players' minds and gave them greater experience.

"When you go abroad it can be very challenging and that makes you stronger as a player and a person."

Or, as former Football Association technical director Howard Wilkinson puts it: "France was the prep school. The rest of Europe became a finishing school for their top players."

When France reached the Euro 96 semi-finals, only four players in their squad - Marcel Desailly, Jocelyn Angloma, Christian Karembeu and Didier Deschamps - were playing abroad.

Two years later when France hosted the World Cup, 13 players in their squad were playing in either England, Spain, Italy or Germany.

606: DEBATE There is a sense that England are continuing to play catch-up to France BBC Sport's John Sinnott

And of the team likely to start on Wednesday, only three players - Gregory Coupet, Francois Clerc and Jeremy Toulalan - are with Ligue 1 clubs.

While the majority of top French players have explored pastures new, England's stars have preferred to stay at home, with the enormous wages on offer in the Premier League part of the attraction.

In the last decade, only Steve McManaman, David Beckham and Owen Hargreaves could claim to have enjoyed much in the way of success with top European clubs.

"Culturally we've always suffered in that English players and coaches have not had any experience playing abroad that some of our competitors have had during their careers," added Wilkinson.

"You can see that with English clubs' success in the Champions League. The best players are here and they're not going to go abroad for less money for the sake of getting educated. It's not going to happen."

Clairefontaine has been a key part of France's success

Grimandi is convinced that the experience that French players gained in the German, Spanish, Italian and English leagues benefited the national team.

"The fact that players went to England, Italy, Spain and Germany provided an interesting mix for the national team," said Grimandi, who played for Arsenal between 1997 and 2002 after arriving from Monaco.

"I remember talking to Lilian Thuram, who I played with at Monaco, telling me about his time at Parma and the amount of time in Italy that was spent on tactical work.

"In France the emphasis was on technique and physical development. So when Lilian came to the national team he brought that experience back with him."

But Grimandi says there are several other factors behind France's success at international level.

The former Arsenal defender says France's colonial past, notably its links with Africa and the Caribbean, gives it a huge pool of potential players, while the youth development work being done by the French Football Federation (FFF) maximises that potential.

The FFF's national football centre at Clairefontaine is often mentioned as a key factor, but Grimandi believes 10 other "mini-Clairefontaines" - les Poles Espoirs.

Corsica has one of these academies and the FFF recently opened one in Reunion Island, a French department in the Indian Ocean with a population of less than a million people.

The FFF have set up an academy in the Indian Ocean island of Reunion

These academies work with players in the Under-13 and Under-15 age group, taking in 15-20 players every year.

When a player who has been to a regional academy signs for a professional club, that team pays compensation to the FFF for the two years spent at the academy.

"The emphasis is on technique, technique and technique," said Grimandi.

"It's a fantastic school for a young player and is an environment that prepares them for a life as a professional footballer - 75%-80% of players who attend these academies would join a professional club."

Last week the Football Assocation, which is still finalising plans for its own National Football Centre, announced plans to plough �200m into grassroots football in England under its new five-year National Game Strategy.

The FA's director of development Sir Trevor Brooking wants young players in the 5-11 age group to be more comfortable on the ball and "have fun".

Laudable aims but the FFF, which has always advocated technical development, is now focusing on biomechanical training as a way of developing flexibility, balance and movement in the same age group.

"If you want to be a top player this is very important. If you haven't worked on it before the age of 11 it can be too late," said Grimandi.

He has one interesting final thought on why France won the World Cup in 1998.

"There was a fantastic atmosphere in that group," he said.

"They loved each other and they spent a lot of time together. That group was exceptional. I don't know if the England team has that type of atmosphere."