When a club is as terminally short of money as Leeds United were for several years, which areas of their business become the most expendable?

Senior players with saleability become immediate sources of income, and scouting networks often slowly disintegrate.

Meanwhile, the profile of youth development programmes sometimes lessen to the point where their continuation is questionable. Planning for the future is complicated when a club's future is so unclear.

To their credit, United's board never publicly suggested that dissolving their Academy might be a necessary evil, but I don't doubt that when their financial crisis was at its most severe the cost of their various youth teams was dissected and reviewed as thoroughly as every other.

One of Ken Bates' first decisions after his appointment as chairman of Leeds was to replace paper towels with hand-dryers in the toilets of Elland Road, cutting expenditure by £17,000 a year. In every corner there was money to be saved, but choosing continued support of their Academy over reluctant abandonment was one of the club's most important and creditable decisions.

It is often said that England does not possess the degree of young talent which exists in other major footballing nations, but the issue is not simply about numbers.

The tally of English players who build high-profile careers in their own country is entirely dependent on the money, time and effort given to their development at a young age and beyond. Say what you will about the country's top division, but it is a responsibility that Football League clubs take seriously and a job which most do extremely well.

Last month, Leeds fielded a full-back by the name of Aidan White in their Carling Cup tie against Crystal Palace. White is the fifth 16-year-old to play at a senior level for Leeds in the past six years, and the most impressive fact about him was that he had been a scholar at Elland Road for fewer than six months before his debut.

Old enough is good enough, managers often reflect, though not all are brave enough to trust that saying in an industry which is high on pressure and short on patience. But White is not an isolated example - United's first-team squad contains seven players who were recently academy members and who are more than token, homegrown inclusions. Youth development is no cliché in Leeds; it is a policy. And among The Football League's members, they are not alone.

The most interesting transfer of the summer was not that involving Robinho or Dimitar Berbatov. It was Crewe Alexandra raising £2.25million from the sale of Nicky Maynard to Bristol City, two years after his debut as a 19-year-old. It is not ideal to lose exceptional players but it is satisfying for a club to know that they are capable of producing such sought-after talent. Leeds and Crewe have long been masters of that.

In total, Premier League clubs spent £500million during the summer transfer window, a mind-boggling sum which is beyond the comprehension of The Football League's 72 members.

Yet clubs who cannot afford such expensive talent are not prevented from creating their own, and that time-honoured tradition is one which The Football League as a whole is upholding admirably. Only by allowing inexperienced players to evolve can the English youth of today become the stars of tomorrow.