For all the flack Garry Monk has been getting from Sheffield Wednesday fans over the past few months, one thing that he can’t be criticised for is handing out chances to his youth players.

Indeed, the Owls haven’t hesitated to look towards the youngsters this season with the likes of Osaze Urhoghide and Alex Hunt getting first-team chances.

Usually, it takes years for that sort of faith to be repaid, but in Monk’s case, it may be about to literally be repaid.

Indeed, amid the ongoing crisis, the EFL have announced their futures fund will have an additional £1m added to it.

The futures fund is an initiative that rewards clubs for handing young homegrown players a chance, and the Sheffield Star are reporting that Wednesday stand to benefit from that due to their usage of Hunt and Urhoghide.

Watch Sheffield Wednesday Videos With StreamFootball.tv Below

An extra £1m to be split amongst a load of clubs doesn’t sound like all that much in football, but with matchday revenues halted this could be vital in going towards keeping behind-the-scenes staff in employment, and there will be many grateful for the fact that Monk has chosen to hand chances to the young players this term.

The Sheffield Star state that these funds will be made immediately available to any club’s eligible, and that should be a massive boost considering there aren’t too many ways for these teams to raise funds at the moment.

Of course, manager’s aren’t making team selection decisions based on the EFL futures fund, and this is just a coincidental bi-product of Monk’s faith in the Owls’ young players, but it’s certainly going to be a welcome cash injection. In the end, it shows that Wednesday are lucky to have a manager who is willing to hand out these chances.

In other news, Sheffield Wednesday should start their summer rebuild with this move.