Scotland's pro youth set-up can't just be about cashing in on kids

The National

11 hours ago

The organisation's members, one of whom took to X (formerly Twitter) on Wednesday after Miller had completed his record £4.7m transfer to Serie A side Udinese in Italy, are right to be proud of how well their youth set-up functions despite the myriad challenges they face in the modern game.
'Lee Erwin, David Turnbull, Allan Campbell, James Scott, Jake Hastie, Reece McAlear, Dean Cornelius, Chris Cadden, Bailey Rice and Max Johnston,' their social media manager posted. 'A conveyor belt of talent.'
Clubs in Scotland have found it increasingly difficult to bring through young footballers who are capable of featuring in their first team in recent years due to the far-reaching implications of Brexit.
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Their English counterparts are no longer able to bring in the best prospects from mainland Europe so they turn to up-and-coming starlets from these shores instead to fill their age-group squads and snap them up, due to a shamefully outdated FIFA compensation system, for nominal fees.
The chances of Aberdeen, Celtic, Dundee, Dundee United, Hibernian, Hearts, Kilmarnock, Livingston, Rangers and St Mirren making a tidy amount on a kid they have scouted, nurtured, supported and given extensive competitive game time to are diminishing with every passing season due, through no fault of theirs, to the reduced quality which their managers have at their disposal.
The worrying trend has put the future of many academies at threat of closure. Why would a club continue to pump millions of pounds into youth development every year if they are not producing any goalkeepers, left-backs, midfielders, wingers or strikers who are capable of making the difficult step up to senior level and are operating at a considerable loss as a result?
Motherwell, though, seem to have somehow bucked a trend. How much money have they banked from the hard graft and expertise of those who are charged with working with their aspiring professionals? It is a substantial eight figure sum. How important has that cash been to Motherwell? It has been absolutely invaluable.
It has probably enabled them to continue to operate without, like so many of their top flight rivals, needing the benevolence of a wealthy sugar daddy. There is, incredibly given how many major clubs are fan owned these days, still an unease about punters holding any sort of power in certain quarters of our national game. The Miller cash, however, will enable them to thrive not just survive for some time going forward.
One study that was published this week showed that Motherwell had pocketed a cool €11.68m and spent just €593,000 in the transfer market in the last five years. Only Aberdeen and Celtic had fared better than them. They are, then, an example to all.
(Image: Craig Foy - SNS Group) The rise of the Scotland internationalist, who has delighted Steelmen with his skill, vision and maturity, has underlined that our leading clubs can still, despite larger and richer English clubs plundering their top talent the minute they turn 16, benefit from investing in the grassroots game.
It is to be hoped the new cooperation system – an innovative scheme that has been, after extensive consultation with clubs and coaches, devised by SFA chief football officer Andy Gould and SFA head of elite men's strategy Chris Docherty – which is currently being rolled out will increase the number of hopefuls who make it in the paid ranks here in the seasons to come.
Miller is, as well as being an exceptional footballer, a pleasant, articulate, grounded and confident lad. He is a credit to both his parents and Motherwell. Being a part of the Club Academy Scotland system has clearly been an overwhelmingly positive experience for him. That has been the case with the majority of his contemporaries.
Am I alone, though, in being slightly uncomfortable about this increasing commodification of children? Is the pro youth set-up simply about cashing in on kids? Is there something slightly sinister about teenagers being treated purely as economic assets?
It is not at all difficult to understand why directors see pound signs flashing when a special player emerges. It can be the difference between their club breaking even and plunging into the black and can save jobs. Still, the cold-bloodedness of that business model does leave many concerned individuals a little uneasy.
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Scottish football doesn't exactly have a great track record when it comes to the wellbeing of youngsters. An independent review into allegations of child sex abuse in the game here found that protection procedures were 'not fit for purpose' and recommended extensive changes as recently as 2018. There can be no complacency on that front.
What, too, happens to the boys who are not quite good enough to be offloaded in a megabucks deal? Are they deemed surplus to requirements? Could more of an emphasis not be placed on developing defenders, midfielders and attackers who can just represent their clubs? Does absolutely everything have to be about filthy lucre?
Motherwell have started the season encouragingly under their new manager Jens Berthel Askou and drawn with Rangers at home and St Mirren away. But their starting line-up in Paisley last weekend didn't feature a single player who had been reared at their academy. Luca Ross came on for the last four minutes but that was it.
Maybe more of an emphasis could, by them and others, be placed on bringing through players who can spend years, not just a season or so, turning out for their local team. Maybe there would be fewer sides without a single Scot taking to the pitch if there was a change of strategy.