The Football League has today voted to back the Premier League's 'elite player performance plan' (EPPP) which has been labelled by the Guardian as a "controversial overhaul of the academy system that will make it easier for Premier League clubs to recruit young talent from smaller teams".

Had the Football League rejected the Premiership's proposal the country's top division would have withdrawn the current funding they give to the lower leagues (just over £5m a year) that goes towards youth development.

The vote was passed with a majority of 46 to 22, with three absent and one abstaining. BBC Journalist, Matt Slater, confirmed on twitter earlier today that Palace voted against the proposal.

The club issued this statement on the www.cpfc.org: "We are taking this very seriously and I know that Steve Parish has been on the case with Phil Alexander, Dougie and Lennie. Perhaps [Steve Parish] will comment on it soon."

The passing of this plan signals a move away from the old 'Tribunal system' that most Palace fans will be familiar with re: John Bostock, who left in 2008 for just £750,000 - at the same time clubs like Cardiff were selling Aaron Ramsey for ten times that.

Now Premier League clubs will be allowed to purchase youth players for a flat-rate, which is calculated depending on the number of years a player has spent being nurtured at his parent club. This new system will see the parent club paid £3,000 a year for each year of a player's development between the ages of nine and 11 and £12,500 to £40,000 per year between 12 and 16. Though some compensation will be provided to the parent club throughout the purchased player's career.

Another controversial element to this new ruling has been the de facto removal of the youth player catchment areas for the 'bigger' Premiership clubs. In effect the likes of Manchester United, Chelsea, Liverpool and even Stoke will be allowed to scout and sign players from all over the country and not within '90 minutes travelling distance', which was the norm before the EPPP.

Of course the concern now is the ruling will effect clubs like Palace - essentially on the lower end of the 'middle-income' clubs, as are the majority of Championship sides - the most. We have the ability to attract players to our academy on its merit and the merit of the club's history. Now that Premiership clubs can come and pluck youngsters from our locality, those who would've become members of the Palace academy, our youth system suddenly becomes less appealing to the would-be next generation of Zahas and Joniestas.

One benefit the EPPP will bring to the set-up for us lowly Championship sides is the ability to now have more contact time with our academy stars. Currently British clubs can spend a maximum of one and a half hours per day training their young talent, which has now been extended to allow for up to three times the amount of contact time currently spent with young players. This is all meant to be a move towards securing talent for the benefit of the future England side, but when looking at the majority of comments from across the spectrum of Championship fans it feels a little more like the Premiership trying to hog all of the emerging talent for themselves.

Ex-Palace player Gareth Southgate, who has been involved in the development of young players in this country, tweeted: "Two points on EPPP vote - compensation ongoing throughout players career, not just initial amount. Increased funding for majority of clubs."

The news comes on the same day as Palace announced a new partnership with the Oasis: Shirley Park school to allow all under-14 and under-15 academy players to be schooled together.

Watch out for FYP opinion and reaction on the site tomorrow. Get involved in the debate! Comment below and let us know what YOU think...