Only two competitive matches were lost in the entire season as the Under-19s and Under-17s both qualified for their respective European Championship whilst the Under-21s look well placed to do the same.

The FA's Director of Football Development Sir Trevor Brooking spoke about the success that England have had and believes it is a strong justification of the structure The FA has in place for the development of young talent.

"It's been a good year for our youth teams and all of our six men's youth sides have shown how well our youth development policy works," Sir Trevor told TheFA.com.

"The Under-16s are the starting point, where we move players up from schools football to a more serious level of play while at the same time we prepare them for the Under-17s and European tournament play.

"The Under-17s and the Under-19s are obviously the important ages in that they have the UEFA competition but then the Under-18 and Under-20s are also important.

"They are really a bridge between the Under-17, Under-19 and Under-21 age groups and in those two years we tend to look at players who might have missed out in the championship years so that we strike a balance and everyone gets a chance throughout the system."

For Sir Trevor, an indication the youth development system is working is the recent success of managing to bring players up through the system to play for Sven-Goran Eriksson's Senior team.

"Results are important but the key for us is whether sufficient numbers are coming through the system to play for the Senior team," Sir Trevor added.

"Then it is up to us to spot them early enough so they get the chance to move up the system, play above their age group if required and, hopefully, play for the Seniors.

"Although there are players who do very well with England at youth level but then don't even manage to make a living from the game, there are plenty of instances where players come right up through the system and play for the Seniors.

"Wayne Rooney, for example, played for [the old] Under-15 team and then the Under-17s and Under-19s before making his [Senior] debut at a very young age.

"This season just past, Stewart Downing and Shaun Wright-Phillips are players who came through to the Seniors from youth level and that augurs well for the future."

And Sir Trevor was keen to stress that the England youth sides give a young player an all-round education which is very important both for their professional and personal development.

"Playing for England at youth level gives the players a completely different set of skills to Academy football, especially the opportunity to experience playing tournament football," Sir Trevor continued.

"Not only do they come up against different styles of play - in Toulon, for example, England played against European, Asian and central American opponents - but also the all-round experience.

"Travelling away is not easy and we look to see whether players can learn to adapt to the situation and can be part of a squad. They need to be able to interact as a group and stick together.

"What we are trying to achieve is to give the players that experience and chance to develop."

Nine defeats from 50 matches is clearly an indication that things are going well and Sir Trevor is in optimistic mood for the future of English football.

"We are in a very healthy situation," he said. "Our Under-17s and Under-19s are very highly ranked and both of those sides reached their respective European Championship finals this year.

"It has been a good year, not only for the results but also for the identification of new players and through the system we can now see quite a few players who are going to come through in the next few years."

England Youth Sides 2004/2005

England U21s: 2004/05 Results (P9, W5, D2, L2)
England U20s: 2004/05 Results (P7, W4, D2, L1)
England U19s: 2004/05 Results (P12, W7, D4, L1)
England U18s: 2004/05 Results (P2, W1, D1, L0)
England U17s: 2004/05 Results (P18, W12, D1, L5)
England U16s: 2004/05 Results (P7, W4, D2, L1)

Overall: Played 55, Won 33, Drawn 12, Lost 10
Competitive: Played 20, Won 13, Drawn 4, Lost 3