Last updated on .From the section Tranmere

Tranmere chairman Mark Palios presents Warwick Rimmer, who founded the club's youth section, with a plaque before a game at the club's Prenton Park ground in 2016. The young players Rimmer nurtured earned the club an estimated £14m over the years.

Tranmere Rovers chairman Mark Palios has taken the "difficult decision" to close the club's academy and has criticised funding for youth schemes.

The National League side will no longer run teams for those under 16-years-old.

Ex-Football Association chief executive Palios said the move was a consequence of the Premier League's elite player performance plan (EPPP).

"The system is well intentioned but it favours the larger clubs ... it needs to be re-looked at," Palios said.

Tranmere have produced players such as England and West Ham defender Aaron Cresswell, former Wales and West Brom midfielder Jason Koumas, former Newcastle defender Ryan Taylor and Republic of Ireland international Alan Mahon.

Palios said he thinks the restructured youth system - for players aged over 16 - will give youngsters a better chance of playing for Tranmere's first-team.

Championship club Brentford and Premier League outfit Huddersfield Town have also revamped their academies because of frustrations with the EPPP.

What is EPPP?

Tranmere's Prenton Park ground

The youth football development system in England was changed in in 2012 with the introduction of the EPPP and subsequent ranking of clubs into football academy categories.

A Premier League-led strategy designed to improve the quality and quantity of home grown players, it sees clubs assessed and given a status of one to four with funding spread between them.

Category one academies, such as Arsenal, Everton, Manchester United and Chelsea, receive more funding than clubs in lower categories.

'The system has to be reviewed'

Last summer, despite being one of the best performing category three Academies in the country, Tranmere lost their EPPP category three status due to their first team being outside the English Football League.

It meant they lost registration rights for players aged 16 and under, and young players who have been coached at their academy for many years could leave without notice and without the club receiving any compensation.

Despite a failed promotion push last season - Rovers lost to Forest Green in the play-off final - Tranmere had kept their academy running.

Tranmere reached the 2000 Worthington Cup final but lost 2-1 to Leicester City. They have reached the FA Cup quarter finals three times

"Regrettably, while some parents were very supportive and tried to help, including by fundraising, six of our academy's best kids have left during the last 12 months and signed for other clubs in the North West," said Palios.

"Had we still been within the EPPP system, despite the reduced compensation it brings with it, we would still have received more than £200,000 in compensation for them. Because we're outside of the EPPP system, we received nothing.

"The academy costs us £300,000 to run. Economically it just wasn't viable to continue.

"Certainly some of the parents are disappointed. I can understand that.

"We will focus on kids who have been trained in the best academies in the world and thrown out, then pick them up and develop them."

Former Tranmere defender Aaron Cresswell made his England debut in November 2016 in a friendly against Spain at Wembley

England and West Ham defender Aaron Cresswell was picked up by Tranmere after being released by Liverpool as a 12-year-old.

He made his Rovers debut in 2008 and made 70 appearances for the club before joining Championship side Ipswich Town in 2011.

A tribunal decided Ipswich had to pay Tranmere an initial £240,000, rising up to £520,000, for the left-back. He won the club's supporters' player of the year in 2012 and signed for Premier League West Ham in 2014.

"The sheer size of the Premier League clubs and the cash they have allows them to hoover up all the young players and reduces our sources," said Palios.

"Years ago we would get our players from Premier League academies who were thrown out at the age of 12, like Cresswell and we'd pick them up and develop them.

"So the reality now is that what we can do is provide from 16 onwards closer proximity and access to the first team. We currently have five players around our first team squad who are products of our academy.

"In future we'll only have players in our development squads who can be in the first team within two years."

"Clubs like Brentford and Huddersfield have gone down the same route and I suspect that's for the same reasons."

The move could involve three coaches being made redundant.

The Premier League have been approached for comment.