19 hours ago
'Key step forward' as St Mirren confirm player development partnerships
St Mirren have announced strategic partnerships with League Two side Dumbarton and Lowland League club Clydebank as part of the Scottish FA's new cooperation initiative was passed earlier this year to help improve player development in Scotland by providing more opportunities for young Mirren say the system allows them to "place a maximum of three players, who are eligible to play for Scotland and are under the age of 21, on a cooperation list". These players are then able to move freely between St Mirren, Dumbarton and part of the agreement, Buddies youngsters Carrick McEvoy, Thomas Falconer and Theo McCormick have all joined Dumbarton, while Billy Hutchison will link up with Mirren manager Stephen Robinson said: "I firmly believe in the loan system to develop our young players and something that hindered that previously was not being able to bring them back at certain stages or leaving yourself short in numbers."With the cooperation agreement, we are able to get them into men's football to develop under other coaches. Hopefully, we can also help the coaches and the clubs they are going to. It will be a great benefit for both parties."St Mirren chief operating officer Keith Lasley added: "As per the Scottish FA's transition report, it has been shown, as a country, that we need to try and produce more young footballers for the national team."From a club point of view, it's something we want to do as well. We see these cooperation agreements as a key step forward in allowing us to be more strategic in our planning and think long-term rather than what has been traditionally a short-term, reactive process."
