Tribunal delay over Key 'a disgrace' - Caldwell

Josh Key scored twice in 31 appearances for Swansea City last season

Exeter City manager Gary Caldwell says the length of time a tribunal has taken to fix a fee for Josh Key is "a disgrace".

Key left the Grecians last summer to join Championship side Swansea City having come up through Exeter's highly-rated academy.

Although he was out of contract as Key was under 24, Exeter were entitled to compensation for his development.

Whilst the tribunal has taken place Caldwell says Exeter have yet to find out the verdict.

"I have to say it's a disgrace the way we've been treated in this situation, and any other club that faces a tribunal in this situation," he said.

"The fact that we sold a player over a year ago now and still haven't had money for that I think is a disgrace, and I think something needs to done about that in the future - not just for ourselves but other clubs that develop their own players and sell them on."

Exeter have a long history of selling players for fees and sell-on clauses that have helped fund the club.

England striker Ollie Watkins moved to Brentford and then to Aston Villa in deals that have netted the club in excess of £6m, while Wales' Ethan Ampadu moved to Chelsea via a tribunal and then Leeds United in moves that have earned City around £2.5m.

While Exeter have the finances to deal with a delay in the fee for Key, Caldwell fears that not all clubs would be in the same position.

"They need to find a solution to this much, much quicker," he said.

"If we were in a situation where we badly needed this money this could have affected our recruitment last year, it could have affected our performance last year.

"But because we're a well-run football club we can get away with it, but other clubs might not be able to and I think the EFL need to have a look at that."