FA have let down our kids, says Brooking

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Brooking has been the FA's director of football since 2003 but admits his organisation's lack of success in youth development means England are falling behind the rest of the world.

"We should have better depth of young English players," said the former West Ham and England midfielder. "We are not maximising our opportunities.

"I want to have an effect with the 5-11 and 11-16 age groups. That's where the gulf is with the rest of the world."

Brooking (right) is frustrated that the FA have not provided the proper coaching infrastructure or resources for clubs to use, despite the massive influx of money into the game in recent seasons.

"We've been treading water for two-and-a-half years," he said. "There is more money in the game than ever but I don't see us, in ten years' time, having capitalised on it."

Sixty per cent of Premier League players are from overseas and Brooking believes the way to address this is to raise standards of coaching and facilities at all levels of the game.

"We've got some fantastic examples of good work going on," he told Football's Fame Academy programme, which is being broadcast on BBC Radio 5Live tonight. "Having said that, there are some clubs that are not so good.

"What we would want to try to do, as the governing body, is to support them much better, to go out and do in-service stuff and let them know what's happening in the bigger clubs.

"That is the sort of service the governing body must do but for the last twoand-a-half years there has been a vacuum.

"We would like to give much better support than we are giving. I think as a governing body at the moment, we are not giving enough."