National Teams

National Teams (110)

Tuesday, 10 April 2018 10:58

Irish Colleges and Universities edge past Scotland in international friendly

Written by John Hudson

An early goal from Daire O’Connor proved enough to see the Irish Colleges and Universities maintain a three year unbeaten record against the Scottish Universities in their latest meeting at Oriel Park.

O’Connor had the home side in front after ten minutes with a clinical finish from close range.

The UCD man started the move himself when he linked up with Shane Day-Butz, who went on to find Darragh Noone and he played the ball into O’Connor’s path for the midfielder to fire past Callum Davidson for the only goal of a closely fought game.

The Irish were the dominant side throughout and they created a couple of other chances to add to their total efforts. But Alan O’Sullivan, Shane Day-Butz and O’Connor all failed to find the target, while Adrian Delap hit the base of the upright with another great chance.

The Scots always posed a treat in counter attacks and Robbie McGlade and Anton Dowds tested Matt Connor in the home goal but they failed to make the breakthrough and grab an equaliser.

IRISH COLLEGES AND UNIVERSITIES: M Connor (L Steacy 79); S Elworthy (M Nugent 55), S O’Mahony, R Taheny (L Scales h-t), C Kane (T Noack-Hoffman 61); J Bonner, D Noone (J Hollywood 55); S Daly-Butz (A Delap h-t), D O’Connor (D O’Connell 70), J McClelland (C Barry 61); A O’Sullivan (S Barnes 70).

SCOTTISH UNIVERSITIES: C Davidson (A Cadzow 85); C Windram (A Webb 83), M Verkaik, C Morgan, M Condie; R McGlade, F Daniels-Yeoman, R Kellock (R Calbacho 60); K Hall (M Bolotov 72), A Dowds, L Hunter (E Skjaeveland 66).

Referee: J Dyas (Dundalk)

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Friday, 09 February 2018 17:00

Scotland U19s Squad for Denmark and Austria friendles announced

Written by Andrew Creegan

Donald Park named his Scotland U19 squad that will travel to Spain to face Denmark and Austria at the end of February.

Rangers’ Matthew Shield, Wolves’ Elliot Watt, Kerr McInroy and Jack Aitchison of Celtic and Reading’s Ben House are all brought into the squad.

The two International Challenge Matches are part of the squad’s preparations for the Euros Elite Round qualifying stage where they will face Germany, the Netherlands and Norway for a place at the European Championships in Finland this summer.

The squad in full is:

Aidan McAdams (Rangers)
Kieran Wright (Rangers)
Aidan Wilson (Rangers)
Daniel Baur (Heart of Midlothian)
Matthew Shiels (Rangers)
Robbie Deas (Celtic)
Ryan Porteous (Hibernian)
Stephen Welsh (Celtic)
Wallace Duffy (Celtic)
Charlie Gilmour (Arsenal)
Elliot Watt (Wolverhampton Wanderers)
Jamie Barjonas (Rangers)
Jordan Holsgrove (Reading)
Kerr McInroy (Celtic)
Ben House (Reading)
Fraser Hornby (Everton)
Fraser Murray (Hibernian)
Glenn Middleton (Rangers)
Jack Aitchison (Celtic)
Zak Rudden (Rangers)

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Thursday, 25 January 2018 15:06

Scotland Women's Under 16 squad announced for development tournament

Written by Calum McCaffery

Scotland Women Under 16's coach Paul Brownlie has named his squad for the upcoming UEFA Women's Under 16 Development Tournament in York in February.

The young Scots will begin their tournament on the 14th February against Spain, before moving on to play Denmark on the 16th. Brownlie's side will end the tournament on the 18th against England.

The full squad is as follows

Goalkeepers

Alicia Yates (Hearts)

Aaliyah-Jay Meach (Dundee United)

Defenders

Hannah Cunningham (Rangers)

Carly Girasoli (Glasgow City)

Paige McAllister (Celtic)

Robyn McCafferty (Hibernian)

Phillipa McCallum (Dundee United)

Niamh Murphy (Manchester United)

Chloe Warrington (Celtic)

Midfielders

Holly Aitchison (Hibernian Development)

Rebecca McAllister (Celtic)

Karsey McGlinchey (Glasgow City)

Aisha Maughan (Celtic)

Cara Milne Redhead (Manchester United)

Jennifer Smith (Hearts)

Forwards

Bayley Hutchison (Aberdeen)

Kathlenn McGovern (Celtic)

Millie Senior (Manchester United)

Rosie McQuillan (Rangers)

Hannah Scott (Glasgow City)

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Thursday, 18 January 2018 09:40

Scottish schoolgirl squad selected for Bob Docherty Cup campaign

Written by YFS Editor 1

The Scottish Schools FA has announced their Under 15 girls international squad for the 2018 campaign. Players from the six Scottish footballing regions came together for the recent Inter-Regional Cup, followed by a final trial to select the squad. Those selected to represent Scotland are as follows:

Eildh Adams (George Heriots School)

Lynsey Baillie (Bo’ness Academy)

Jessica Broadrick (Portlethen Academy)

Mirren Easdon (Gleniffer HS)

Monica Forsyth (St Ninians HS Giffnock)

Gail Gilmour (Turriff Academy)

Bayley Hutchison (Kemnay Academy)

Kirsty MacLean (Barrhead HS)

Paige McAllister (Bathgate Academy)

Rebecca McAllister (Our Lady’s & St. Pats HS)

Maria McAnemy (St. Andrews & St. Brides HS)

Robyn McCafferty (Woodmill HS)

Rosie McQuillan St Peter The Apostle)

Kate Nicolson (Balfron HS)

Jenna Penman (Aberdeen Grammar)

Olivia Potter (St Columba’s HS, Dunfermline)

Ellie Jai Reid (St Andrew's HS, Kirkcaldy)

Alicia Yates (Dunfermline HS)

The squad have a double header against Wales to look forward to, with away fixtures on February 10th & 12th. This is part of the build up to the Bob Docherty Cup, which takes place in Northern Ireland between 23rd - 26th March.

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Wednesday, 10 January 2018 13:37

Joga Futsal make Scotland proud at Squadra Cup

Written by Calum McCaffery

Towards the end of last year we published an article about Joga Futsal Academy who were set to represent Scotland at the Squadra Cup, a competition set up by famous futsal club Squadra Mouscron featuring some of the most prestigious futsal clubs in Europe.

The main goal for the academy based in Glasgow was to gain valuable experience by playing against some of the toughest teams on the continent.

Now the competition is over and not only have Joga Futsal gained that experience, they have shown that they have the potential to compete with some of the best futsal academies in Europe.

In the group stage of the competition, the Joga Futsal boys were drawn into a group with Sporting Paris of France, Old Fox Fribourg of Switzerland and the hosts themselves Squadra Mouscron.

First up for the boys was Squadra Mouscron and in their first ever international game, they were unfortunately defeated 1-0. A disappointing result but an encouraging one considering the calibre of their opponents.

Next up was Old Fox Fribourg. The Swiss side are celebrating their 10-year anniversery during this 2017-18 and Joga Futsal somewhat spoiled the party with an incredible 6-2 victory to give themselves a real chance of qualifying for the quarter-finals.

The boys knew that a win in their final group game against Sporting Paris would guarentee them top spot in the group and a place in the final eight of the tournament.

Nerves got the better of the team in the opening stages of the match but they battled back to secure a 1-1 draw and while that did not give them first place, it did ensure them a place in the quarter-finals where they were set to take on Spanish side F6 Barcelona.

It was here that Joga Futsal put in arguably the best performance of their tournament when they took on the Barcelona side and managed to beat them 4-1 and secure a place in the semi-finals.

A place in the final was now a realistic possibility and all that was standing in their way was Belgian side Antwerp. It would prove to be a step too far for the youngsters as they were beaten 4-0. That meant they had to settle for a place in the third place play-off against Old Fox Fribourg.

There was to be no repeat of the 6-2 result earlier in the competition unfortunately as they were narrowly beaten 2-1 by the Swiss side.

It was a disappointing end for Joga Futsal but no one can take away the fantastic achievement of the players in what was their first ever international tournament and that sentiment was shared by those at Joga Futsal on their Facebook page.

"From a futsal aspect, we have competed with teams from all over Europe and managed wins against Swiss and Spanish sides whilst competing with top French and Belgian sides. We have managed to watch some of the highest quality futsal matches the boys will have ever seen, in particular the older age groups. Can be really proud of their efforts on the court in representing Joga and Youth Futsal in Scotland.

"More importantly for me is skills away from the court in which they will have developed and meeting kids from other counties, building friendships, learning new cultures and even creating a great bond between themselves as team mates (some had barely met before we travelled), memories they will never forget and I am sure I will never forget. Also to the parents who had been absolutely first class, couldn’t thank you enough for your time and support (Dads are signed up for next year already again).

"We as a futsal academy have now put ourselves on the map and built some great relationships with teams across Europe which will only enhance our profile. A number of high profile futsal academies have already invited us over and we will be announcing plans soon. . ."

Congratulations to Shaemus Brannigan, Aodan Brannigan, Arran Hughes, Cooper Knox, Lewis Mackle, Joseph Smith and Marc Wilkie on a wonderful tournament and we look forward to seeing what you can achieve in the future.

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Wednesday, 10 January 2018 11:14

Scottish FA JD Performance Schools accepting new applications

Written by Calum McCaffery

The Scottish FA JD Performance Schools are now accepting applications for primary seven students entering S1 in August 2018.

The performance schools, which have been running since 2012, are accepting two seperate applications for young players looking for a spot.

The first of these is called a 'Pro Application' and is for players that are playing football as part of an SPFL club youth system. The other is known as a 'Recreational Application' and is aimed at those playing for a team outside of the SPFL structure.

The application forms can be found here:

Pro Application: Click here

Recreational Application: Click here

The aim of the performance schools is to give talented young boys and girls the opportunity to develop their skills within an educational environment. This is with the hope of developing players that can perform at the highest level in Scotland.

There are seven performance schools in total. These are:

Hazelhead Academy, Aberdeen

St. John's RC High School, Dundee

Broughton High School, Edinburgh

Graeme High School, Falkirk

Holyrood Secondary School, Glasgow

Grange Academy, Kilmarnock

Braidhurst High School, Motherwell

So far six graduates of the performance school have made their debuts at first-team level for their clubs. These players are Scott Reekie, Logan Chalmers (both Dundee United), Ethan Erahon (St. Mirren), Dean Campbell (Aberdeen), Harry Cochrane and Anthony McDonald (both Hearts).

If you think you have what it takes to make it in the SFA JD Performance Schools the apply now using the links above.

The closing date for the 'Pro Applications' is 15th February and it is 1st February for the 'Recreational Applications.'

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Thursday, 21 December 2017 10:18

Scottish Students Women's squad for 2017-18 season announced

Written by Calum McCaffery

The squad for the Scottish Students Women's squad for the 2017-18 season has been announced.

The announcement comes after a successful trial session at Oriam, Heriot-Watt University earlier this month. The women's side will be looking to build on a successful 2016-17 campaign, during which they secured a Home Nations tournament victory, with wins against Wales and England (pictured above, the squad with the competition trophy).

The squad is as follows:

Ciara Bonner - University of Stirling

Nicole Cairney - University of Edinburgh

Chloe Docherty - University of the West of Scotland

Rachel Donaldson - University of Stirling

Margaux Durand-Watson - University of Edinburgh

Demi Falconer - University of Stirling

Rebecca Foote - University of Stirling

Alison Lightfoot - University of St. Andrews

Chloe Logan - University of Stirling

Beth Macleod - University of Edinburgh

Beth McKay - University of Stirling

Darcy Molley - University of Strathclyde

Katy Morris - University of Stirling

Carly Noble - Edinburgh Napier University

Sorenza Orezzoli - City of Glasgow College

Charlotte Parker-Smith - University of Edinburgh

Kirsten Reilly - University of Stirling

Tegan Reynolds - University of Edinburgh

Ellie Simpson - University of Stirling

Eleanor Smith - University of Glasgow

Lucy Stanton - University of Edinburgh

On the announcement Coach Grant Scott said, "There was a really good standard at the trials and it’s great to have a number of returning players from the successful Home Nations team earlier in the year. I am further delighted to include players from a number of academic institutions as well. The staff team are looking forward to building a strong team mentality with the new group of players."

Team manager Florence Haines said, "This squad brings together a mixture of coaches and players with different football backgrounds and it is a brilliant dynamic I’m proud to be involved in. The International Challenge Matches should provide a real test to the squad as we build into next year’s Home Nations."

"We aim to provide the opportunity to students at both Colleges and Universities across the country a chance to represent Scotland. It gives the chance to further develop those who may have played age group international level or to offer players their first international representation."

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Wednesday, 13 December 2017 10:12

SSFA announce senior international squad for 2017/18

Written by YFS Editor 1

The Scottish Schools FA Under 18 squad has been selected for this season (pictured above, last season's squad). The Centenary Shield campaign kicks off with a home tie against Northern Ireland at Greenock Morton's Cappielow in March, before a trip to face the 'Auld Enemy' England at York City FC. It then comes to an exciting finalé with two matches in the space of a week - away to Republic of Ireland and finally at home to Northern Ireland, at the home of Queen of the South.

ELLIOT ANDERSON Douglas Academy

NATHAN BROWN Stewarts Melville College

KIERAN CHALMERS Dingwall Academy

CAMERON CLARK Springburn Academy

RYAN CONNELLY Beath High School

FRASER CURRID Wallace High School

SEAN FAGAN St Mungo’s High School

NATHAN FELL All Saints Secondary School

JACK HODGE Graeme High

AIDAN KEMP Wallace High

DANIEL MACKAY Milburn Academy

JACK McDOWALL St Ninian’s High Kirkintilloch

REECE RINTOUL Edinburgh College

GAVIN SCOTT Grange Academy

GEORGE STANGER Dunblane High School

DECLAN WALSH St Ninians High School Giffnock

SAMUEL WALKER Stewarts Melville College

WATT Inverclyde Academy

The full set of fixtures is as follows:

Scotland v Northern Ireland

Greenock Morton FC, Cappielow Park Greenock

9th March 2018, 7:00pm

England v Scotland

York City FC, Bootham Crescent, York

23rd March 2018, 7:00pm

Republic of Ireland v Scotland

Home Farm FC, Dublin

12th April 2018, 2:00pm

Scotland v Wales

Queen of the South FC, Palmerston Park, Dumfries

19th April 2018, 7:00pm

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Tuesday, 12 December 2017 10:48

Men's national student squad named for 2017/18 season

Written by Calum McCaffery

(above picture - 2016/17 University Men's Team)

The Scottish Student Men's Football squad for the 2017-18 season has been announced.

Over 50 attendants from 14 different institutions took part in trials at Dundee University in October for a chance to play for the squad and now the lucky participants have been announced.

The squad is as follows:

Alec Cadzow (University of St. Andrews)

Callum Davison (University of Edinburgh)

Callum Reid (Heriot-Watt University)

Alex Webb (University of Stirling)

Calum Windram (University of Glasgow)

Conor Morgan (University of Glasgow)

Lewis Grant (Edinburgh Napier University)

Liam Allison (University of Stirling)

Max Condie (University of Edinburgh)

Max Verkaik (University of Edinburgh)

Alex Dodgshon (University of St. Andrews)

Diogenis Serigides (University of Glasgow)

Embrik Skjaeveland (University of Edinburgh)

Finn Daniels-Yeomans (University of Glasgow)

Lewis Hunter (University of Stirling)

Rafa Calbacho (University of Edinburgh)

Robbie McGale (Glasgow Caledonian University)

Ross Kellock (University of Stirling)

Anton Dowds (Heriot-Watt University)

Jack Guthrie (University of Edinburgh)

Kieran Hall (University of Stirling)

Max Bolotov (University of St. Andrews)

Rory MacEwan (University of Stirling)

The team will begin their season against Montrose from the Scottish League Two in early February, before taking a trip to Ireland to face the Republic of Ireland's student team in mid-April. The programme is looking to add another two matches to the season in the near future.

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Wednesday, 06 December 2017 12:18

Young Scots learn European qualifying groups

Written by Andrew Creegan

The Scotland U17s and U19s learned their Elite Qualifying groups for this summer’s European Championships, and their qualifying groups for the 2018-19 campaign.

After finishing runners up to the Czech Republic in their qualification group, the U19s have been drawn into Group One in the Elite Round, alongside Germany, The Netherlands and Norway. The top two in the group will advance to the European Championships in Finland in July.

As for the 2018/19 campaign, they are in Qualification Group Four, with home nation rivals Wales, Sweden and San Marino.

The U17s topped their group on goal difference, and have been drawn into qualification Group Eight, with Germany, Greece and Norway. A first or second place finish will be enough for them to earn a spot in the finals, which take place in England this May.

For the 2018/19 campaign, the U17s are in Group Five, alongside Switzerland, Cyprus and Kosovo.

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Friday, 28 July 2017 09:56

From watching at home to scoring against England, the story of Scotland's unlikely hero

Written by Jamie Braidwood

The ball seemed to hang in the air for an eternity. As it started to drop towards the crossbar Connor Barron, Scotland’s smallest player, a substitute who had only come on six minutes earlier, started to wheel away. By the time the ball had crashed off the underside of the bar, rebounded down into the legs of the of the England goalkeeper, and had bobbled over the line, Barron was already sprinting towards the corner flag. His jubilant teammates were already chasing after him, arms flapping wildly in celebration.

By the time they had caught up with him, Barron had already crashed face first into the ground. As he lay underneath his teammates in a mountainous celebratory pile on, a million thoughts must have been running through his head. None more prominent, probably, than ‘just how did I get here?’.

This is because Connor Barron wasn’t supposed to be there. He wasn’t supposed to be scoring the opening goal of Scotland’s 2-0 win over England at Forthbank Stadium. He was supposed to be watching at home, like he did two days before on Tuesday when Scotland beat Qatar 7-0.

“I was having my tea when the phone rang”, grinned Barron as he described the moment he received his late call up to the Scotland squad. “I didn’t even know I was on a standby list. When I got the call I was absolutely buzzing.”

A space in the squad had become available due to an injury to Celtic winger Scott Cusick. At around 7 o’clock on Wednesday evening, manager Brian McLaughlin gave the call and just four hours later Barron had arrived at the Scotland camp. With the England game taking place the next afternoon, there wasn’t even time for a training session with his new teammates.

It wasn’t even as if Barron was going to have an easy start to his international career. His side were playing England, a significant step up in opposition from Qatar, who were brushed aside two days earlier. It was clear, even 10 minutes into the game, that England would be a much sterner test. England’s team, the back four especially, looked physically imposing and their midfield were classy on the ball. Claudio Osorio, in particular, ghosted around the pitch, finding pockets of space and moving away from defenders with a lovely touch.

Scotland found it difficult to get out. To their credit they stuck to their gameplan of playing the ball out from the back, but due to a combination of slack passing and a lack of options further up the field, Scotland found that the England attacks just kept on coming.

“Unfortunately in the first half we were just too off them”, McLaughlin said afterwards. “Disappointing thing for me in that half was that we didn’t trust our ability on the ball. We preach to our boys to trust your ability, trust your teammates, to take the ball. We just didn’t do that.”

Scotland almost went behind just two minutes before the end of the half. England striker Rafael Garcia did well to turn Scotland skipper Ben Cameron inside the box, only to trip over the defender’s outstretched leg. The referee pointed to the spot. There was nothing wrong with Nonso Madeuke’s effort. It was low, to the right and on target but Scotland goalkeeper Jack Newman did so well to dive to his left to make the save, before doing even better to block the rebound from the angle out for a corner.

“Jack saved us”, said McLaughlin. “It changed the game. It was an outstanding save and an unbelievable moment. From there we started trusting each and from then we finally saw all these young boys taking the ball and trying to make a difference.”

Scotland had a golden opportunity of their own after half time. This time it was Scotland skipper Ben Cameron who had the chance to open the scoring from the spot. This time his penalty was high but again it was saved by the goalkeeper. “Another outstanding save”, added McLaughlin.

At this point it was a miracle that the game remained scoreless. England were piling on the pressure, and Scotland were giving it a good go as well. Tackles and blocks were having to be made by both sides to keep the game goalless. “The boys did not want to let their teammates down”, said McLaughlin. “If they needed to run an extra ten yards they’d run eleven. They’d do that knowing that the boy beside them would do the same.”

Scotland winger Karamoko Dembele was withdrawn with less than 15 minutes left to go. He had looked bright in patches, but hadn’t had enough of the ball in dangerous areas to do any damage. However his replacement, and the only other player on either squad smaller than him, was about to make the real difference.

“I knew I had to make an impact”, said Barron. “Obviously I wanted to get on the pitch and get a game because I want to stay in the squad.”

It all came from another Scotland high press. Connor Smith, so busy all day alongside Dylan Forrest in midfield, won the ball back by intercepting a pass from the England goalkeeper Harvey Collins. He got a toe to the ball and suddenly it broke to Barron, 30 yards from goal and with the keeper off his line.

“The ball just fell to me” he said. “I saw the keeper off his line so I thought I’d just have a pop.”

10 seconds later and Barron was on the floor. He was Scotland’s hero. Five minutes from time Scotland’s Finn Ecrepont popped up at the back post to score Scotland’s second. The whole team, even the goalkeeper, celebrated in the far corner. Indeed, this was a fine team effort and a hugely impressive victory. But if this afternoon belonged to anyone, it belonged to Connor Barron. The man whose name wasn’t even in the squad at the start of the week, but is certainly now written in history.

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Thursday, 27 July 2017 10:12

Scotland look ahead to England showdown after Qatar triumph

Written by Jamie Braidwood

Scotland Under 16’s manager Brian McLaughlin has urged his side to ‘dominate the ball’ ahead of Thursday’s international friendly against England.

Speaking after Scotland’s 7-0 victory over Qatar at the Oriam Performance Centre on Tuesday, McLaughlin said his side will not sit back, but will look to keep the ball.

“We will have the ball”, he said. “Everything we will work on in training on Wednesday is going to be about how we dominate the ball and how we play in England’s half. That’s what we are here to do and that’s what everything in training will go towards. The boys have got the ability so it's important that keeping the ball is the target.”

England will offer a much sterner test than the one Scotland faced against Qatar. Goals from Andrew Winter, Cole Starrs, Michael Sparkes, Karamoko Dembele and Jamie Hamilton gave Scotland a deserved and comfortable victory.

“It’s going to be tough”, said McLaughlin. “But we take these games to try and give the boys the biggest challenge we can give them.. England are very good, we’ve seen footage of them. So for us we’ll go out on Thursday and we’re going to again try and do what we want to do. Whatever happens in the game happens. The main thing is that we are better after the game, and we will be.”

McLaughlin also indicated that there would be changes to Scotland’s starting 11 on Thursday.

“We've always had it in our head that this week was about getting as much minutes for the entire squad as possible”, he said. “That's not going to change, that's never going to change. So there will be changes, without a doubt. There may be players playing in different positions so we can see them. We're just using this as a training camp.

“This is the first time they've ever been together as a group. They played a couple of training matches amongst each other about a month ago. So really going into today we weren't quite sure what we were going to get. All we're hoping for for this week is by Saturday we're a better group, better team, and for us we need to have better individual players by next week.”

Celtic winger Karamoko Dembele impressed against Qatar on Tuesday, coming off the bench in the second half to score a goal and set up three more in a 30 minute cameo. McLaughlin said that he has seen an improvement in Dembele over the past few months.

“Karamoko is an interesting one”, he said. “On the ball he is magnificent. There's no doubt about it, he's exciting, he's magnificent. But without the ball now he's becoming really aggressive at how he closes it down. He wants to do this for the team now and credit to Celtic and credit to the Scotland squad he was a part of last year as well. He's looked at those players and thought 'you know what, this is what I need to do’. He's a special talent.

“I've absolutely seen an improvement in him over the past few months. You see him on the training pitch when we're doing defending or working on how we're going to press, because we need to get the ball back before we can play. He understands that now. He wants to be a part of this. He's a great lad, he wants to be a part of the group and the group want him to be a part of them.”

Scotland will face England at Forthbank Stadium in Stirling at 5:30pm on Thursday, before completing their week of international friendlies with a meeting against Uruguay, back in Edinburgh, on Saturday.

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Thursday, 25 May 2017 09:05

Why does the Scottish youth academy structure require changes?

Written by YFS Editor 1

The Scottish football team aren’t exactly one of the top guns in European football but they could be if the youth academy structure was changed. Currently, top clubs are struggling to find quality in their youth setups because there isn’t enough competitive football in the lower levels to help better players. If multiple changes were made in the academy youth structures there’s no reason why Scottish teams wouldn’t be able to thrive on a European scale, and that also means the international teams could get better too. The youth setup needs an overhaul in Scotland for multiple reasons, and if it doesn’t get the changes it needs then Scottish football is only going to carry on ticking over rather than grow with other top European sides.

The Youth Development Needs Change to Help Scotland Become Competitive

Scotland have had their moments on a global scale when it comes to battling for minor honours but they don’t have the firepower to keep them competitive against the likes of France and Germany. The youth academy structure can be changed dramatically to help this and even though it will take years of effort to perfect – it could be well worth doing if it means Scotland reach the quarter, or even semi,-finals of the top competitions.

Lower-Tier Clubs Will Have a Better Chance of Improving

With better youth academies in place, it could make for a strong Scottish Premier League altogether. Currently, Celtic are the major players in the league and are winning it every year – this is great for Celtic, but it’s not so good for the lower teams wanting to get competitive. You only need to look at the English Premier League to see how competitive it is and why it’s one of the biggest leagues in the world – and that’s simply because there are plenty of quality academies in England. Every year the Premier League offers up something different and it’s proved by the fact Leicester won the league last year at odds of 5000/1.

Will something like that ever happen in Scotland? Probably not. If you have a look at the Sporting Index betting offers you might be able to take advantage of a decent free bet offer that could give you the luck you need to capitalise on some big odds.

Even Top Teams Will Benefit from a Better Youth Academy Structure

Celtic, Rangers, Aberdeen and the other top teams in Scotland are all going to benefit from a better youth setup just as much as the lower-tier clubs. Access to better youth prospects is only going to make them better on a European level when it comes to the Europa and Champions League. It also means that clubs in the league have more chance of making money in the transfer market because they will be able to sell their youth prospects to the likes of Manchester United and Arsenal - the benefits of a better youth setup are endless.

While implementing a new youth academy setup now will take years to achieve it’s something that needs to be done right now to save Scottish football. If clubs want to better their futures they all need to get behind the Scottish FA to ensure something happens quick. Footballing members such as Malky Mackay are all behind a project called “Brave” – and it’s a project that’s trying to promote Scottish football and to get more of the footballing community involved in making sure it’s a long-term success. It’s not a matter of if Scotland will get competitive in the future thanks to a better youth setup, it’s a matter of when – and it also means neutral Scottish football fans will have better entertainment when all clubs can compete at a higher level.

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