Grassroots football will be able to return on July 13th after Nicola Sturgeon announced an advancement of easing lockdown measures.

The first batch of new guidelines for Phase Three were confirmed by the First Minister on June 24 as she addressed the Scottish Parliament. 

Sturgeon stated that she hopes to implement “some changes that will give young people the opportunity to mix with their friends.

“I can confirm now that organised outdoor sports for children and young people can, subject to guidance, resume from the July 13th.”

The First Minister went on to reiterate that such changes will only take place if we are successful in continuing to suppress the virus.

This is the first formal mention of organised outdoor contact sports at any point in the Scottish Government’s route map as teams now have time to prepare for a return to the field, subject to government guidance.

All football in Scotland was suspended with immediate effect on March 13th and only professional clubs have been able to return to training thus far.

The exact guidance for a safe return to football is yet to be sanctioned, however, it is unlikely that teams will be able to engage in full contact matches immediately.

The First Minister’s announcement reinforces comments made by the SFA’s Head of Football Development, Andy Gould, to Sky Sports Scotland yesterday that Phase Three “offers hope for grassroots football”.

Additionally, from June 29th, outdoor sports courts can re-open and from July 3rd the distance of travel for leisure and exercise will be relaxed.

The news was followed by the announcement of the reopening of restaurants, beer gardens and hairdressers among others that promise to return Scotland to an adapted normality.

Scotland’s future move to Phase Three of lockdown presents “hope” for grassroots football, according to the Scottish FA’s Head of Football Development, Andy Gould.

Gould told Sky Sports Scotland that: “When we look at the phases, Phase Three does present an opportunity for us. We have had dialogue in the previous week, with Professor Jason Leitch, which was really good as it gave us an insight into where we are in following the Governments’ route-map out of lockdown.”

Professor Leitch CBE is the Clinical Director of the Scottish Government and a highly-respected Professor at the University of Dundee. 

Leitch said in an interview for the SFA ,on Thursday 23rd June, that: “The next three-week review will be very important…then we will be hopeful that we can progress”.

Gould added to that, saying: “There is the opportunity for us to get back to some sort of formal activity, in small numbers with young people back on the pitch and all the guidelines around that in a physically distanced environment.”

“We have seen that in other countries, although we are a few weeks behind, but now we can begin to plan and prepare for that and that environment starting to unlock leading into August and the schools coming back”. 

Many people had expected this to be announced, but the SFA haven’t spoken on the topic since they released their Phase 2 plan until now. 

This is a big step for the return, however, some players and fans are beginning to become more impatient due to the return of top leagues such as the Bundesliga and the English Premier League. 

Although the hope is there, Gould highlighted the realism around the situation and how they are challenges that we will have to work around. 

“There are challenges there in terms of facilities, for example schools and whether or not they will be accessible. The same in regard to the local authority’s leisure clubs and whether they will open at the same time.”

“We are going to have to work very closely and have patience as we work through that process. We will have to have really good communication and dialogue between clubs and local authorities so they are able to understand what they can and cannot do.” 

The SFA have now released a ‘Return to Football Hub’ which can be found at https://www.scottishfa.co.uk/football-development/return-to-football-hub/ .

This is a useful section of their website that provides clarity, resources and information for football players, parents, coaches, fans and clubs about what football-related activities you are able to do now and in the near future.

Kevin Thomson admitted he “nearly lost his love for football” at the very start of his career, in an exclusive interview with YFS’ Adam Binnie.

Speaking on his time at Coventry as a youth player, Thomson was able to impart vital advice to youngsters who are forging their path in football.

“Coventry tested my resolve” said Thomson, as he opened up about the bullying he was subjected to by his teammates in England, saying he didn’t feel as “streetwise” as necessary due to his upbringing in Peebles.

Starting as a youngster at Peebles Rovers, Thomson quickly progressed to Hutchison Vale, a team also known for producing Allan McGregor and Leigh Griffiths. 

From Hutchison Vale, Thomson found himself on trial with Coventry City  however, not everything went to plan in his time down south, as he found multiple problems occurring in his time there.

Despite this, he signed his first professional contract in the West Midlands due to his outstanding ability but again, Thomson he felt himself “gravitating towards becoming a cheeky teenager.”

The 35-year-old admitted had a cocky confidence having signed a professional contract and he found himself beginning to “test the boundaries” in a negative way in multiple aspects of his life, such as staying out past his curfew.

After a few months at Coventry, he left the club and moved back to Scotland, feeling his time there had a negative impact on him. Being back home and able to have a chilled kick about with his friends really brought this love for the game and soon after, he was on trial with Hibernian. 

Just fifteen minutes into his trial at Hibs, he was offered a contract and joined a team regarded as specialists in bringing through youth players at the time.

Thomson was in a team alongside Scott Brown, Steven Whittaker and other players that would go on to be full internationals, much like Kevin himself. 

Tom Miller, of Rangers TV, accompanied the chat and chipped in with interesting insight, opinions and questions throughout and called Thomson’s era at Hibs a “golden generation”.

Throughout the interview, Thomson pointed out that hard work is the most important thing in football, adding: “The player that moans about hard work is the player who never succeeds, the player who embraces hard work is the player who gets to the top”. 

He makes it clear that he always embraced hard work and that got him to the highest level in football. This is a mindset he transfers to his under-18 Rangers side that he currently coaches.

Going back to his own playing career, Thomson talked through the £2million move to Rangers. His time at Ibrox included an Old Firm winning goal and a UEFA Cup run that saw him reach the final of the competition against all odds.

After Rangers Thomson found himself having spells at Middleborough, Hibs and Dundee before retiring in 2016. Since the end of his football career, Kevin has enjoyed a media career with both Rangers TV and BT Sport. Alongside his coaching role in the Rangers Academy and the launch of his own private coaching academy, The Kevin Thomson academy.

Be sure to watch Adam Binnie’s interview on the YFSTV YouTube channel for a more interesting and in-depth look at Kevin’s career as a whole. You can subscribe here.

In a special treat for prize winners in the Keep Scotland Active campaign run by Youth Football Scotland, Owen Coyle sat down with Dr David Duke MBE, founder and CEO of Street Soccer Scotland, for a live Q&A over Zoom.

The chat was also open to those who have benefitted from Duke's philanthropic social enterprise; that uses football to create positive change in the lives of socially disadvantaged adults and young people across the country.

Owen Coyle scored 297 career goals for 12 different clubs in his time as a professional footballer and has taken charge of 468 games as a manager across 3 continents. Yet, 35 years on from his professional debut, where he replaced his older brother as a substitute to dispatch a winning penalty for Dumbarton, Coyle has not forgotten where it all began. 

The ex-Premier League manager attributes most of his success to his upbringing in the Gorbals, where he was one of nine children in a working-class Irish immigrant family. Dominating the dusty ash pitches of St Francis Primary School seems an impossible stretch away from netting a goal in a play-off final in front of 64,000 at Wembley to promote Bolton Wanderers to the Premier League. But nothing was impossible for the young striker.

The story of his rise to football prominence provided inspiration and entertainment for the audience as Coyle and host Duke discussed the intricacies of how he made it as both a player and manager.

At 16, he turned down the opportunity to play for Jim McLean’s Scottish champions Dundee United to follow in his two older brothers’ footsteps and pull on the yellow and black of Dumbarton. Coyle would go on to command £1,000,000 in transfer fees in the 90s with moves to Clydebank, Airdrieonians, Bolton Wanderers, Dundee United and Dunfermline Athletic.

The forward’s £175,000 transfer to Airdrieonians in 1990 was a Scottish First Division record at the time, but the now fans’ favourite tells of how he was not always so popular around Airdrie:

“Two weeks before I signed for Airdrie, I played there for Clydebank and I scored twice, and we beat them! On my way in (to the changing rooms), this Airdrie fan was giving me dog's abuse, calling me everything under the sun. So, the police officer had to say to the guy ‘Listen, settle yourself down, that’s enough of that’.

"Anyway, two weeks later, I made my debut against Ayr United and I scored a hat-trick. I was coming into the pavilion and this guy shouted ‘Hey Coyle’ and I thought to myself ‘Oh no, not again’ so I turned round and looked at the guy and he said “By the way son, I’m sorry - you’re the best thing since sliced bread!”

In his first season at Airdrie, Coyle then won the top goal scorer award on his side’s journey to promotion to the SPL as well as reaching the Scottish Cup Final. As a result, Airdrie gained automatic qualification to the UEFA Cup Winners’ Cup where they would narrowly lose out to Sparta Prague the following season.

The audience were also greeted with a bonus special guest as former Rangers full back, Ally Dawson, joined the call, after a series of technical difficulties, to chat with Owen about their time together at Airdrie.

Coyle spoke fondly of his playing career which included winning promotion to the English Premier League and a run to the Coca-Cola Cup Final (currently known as the Carabao Cup) with Bolton to face Liverpool.

He first entered the field of management with Falkirk as he and John Hughes led the side to promotion to the SPL as co-player/managers in the club’s farewell season at Brockville Park, where Coyle would also finish as top goal scorer and player of the season.

However, his transition to full time management did not follow the same theme as his fairy-tale ending as a player. When approached about the St Johnstone managerial position, Coyle told the audience of how his career could have wen very differently after inviting the Club Chairman, Geoff Brown, to his holiday lodge in Dunkeld:

“I wanted to make a good impression so I asked if he’d like a tea or coffee… and he said ‘yeah, I’d love a coffee’ and that threw me because I don’t drink coffee. Anyways, I found the coffee, added milk and sugar, and brought it through to him. We spoke for an hour and the conversation couldn’t have went any better and he said I’ll be in touch sooner rather than later. So, my wife comes back in and she says ‘I hope that was worth it’- and I said ‘It couldn’t have went any better, but, the only thing was he threw me at the beginning as he asked for a coffee. Anyways, I eventually found it,’ and she says ‘Owen, we don’t have coffee’ and I said, ‘yeah we do’ and she said ‘That’s bisto gravy you clown!’ So I picked the phone up and phoned Geoff to tell him and apologise and he said ‘Oh yeah, I thought there was a funny tang to it, anyway, while I have you, I’d like to offer you the job’ and that’s how it came about”

Coyle preceded to promote St Johnstone and Burnley to the top flights of their respective nations before managing Bolton Wanderers, Wigan Athletic, Houston Dynamo, Blackburn Rovers, Ross County and now Chennaiyin in the Indian Super League. Along the way he has played a role in the development of players such as Jack Wilshere, Daniel Sturridge and Gary Cahill to name a few.

He finished by chatting to another special guest, Andy Hook, Director of Football Development at Slum Soccer, about both of their experiences of working in Football in India. Coyle said he is excited about the future of Indian football and believes with the right infrastructure there is no reason as to why the nation cannot go on to produce world-class players for clubs in Europe.

Coyle’s fascinating career, as told by the man himself, helped to provide inspiration and entertainment in these tough times for Street Soccer Scotland’s members and for Youth Football Scotland’s ‘Keep Scotland Active’ campaign prize winners.