Mawhinney was appointed chairman of the Football League in 2003

Football League chairman Brian Mawhinney has praised Crewe Alexandra for developing young talent.

Mawhinney told BBC Radio Stoke: "It's a reflection of the wisdom of people like [Crewe chairman] John Bowler.

"They understand how important next year's team is. You can buy, but you can only buy to a certain extent.

"It's better to develop, to take young potential, to shape it and to develop it into good footballers. Crewe Alexandra has got a very good record."

Manager Dario Gradi has overseen the academy at Crewe produce a number of international players and several million pounds worth of talent, including Danny Murphy, Seth Johnson, Dean Ashton and Nicky Maynard.

"Clubs like Crewe are the backbone of professional football," added Mawhinney. "Each season, they provide good and exciting football."

Bowler continued: "The academy is becoming more important to us because unless the transfer market holds up and unless we can get rightful compensation for players that leave us and go to other clubs, it could have a major impact on our future strategy.

"We're committed to that strategy, we have been for a long time, and it's helped us achieve what we have achieved."

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