Jags at a financial crossroads over SFA’s youth project

PARTICKThistlemanager Alan Archibald admits that the introduction of the SFA’s flagship Project Brave initiative has given the club a major dilemma over their youth development. nt.

Funding supplied to the club by lottery winners Colin and Christine Weir allowedlowed the Jags to start the Thistle histle Weir Academy four years rs ago and sustain it to this day. y.

Archibald knows s that their source of funding will not be a bottomless pit, and so the club are working at making aking their youth set-up self-sufficient. fficient.

However, that wouldould prove even more problematic atic should they feel they have to o push to achieve ‘elite’ academy demy status for fear of missing sing out on the best young ng talent.

“We’re at something of a crossroads,” Archibald said. “We have to o decide whether we are going to go for elite status or not or whether we can even do it financially, because it’s even more money than we’re spending just now.

“I was there at the start of the academy when financially you could only do so much, and boys wouldn’t even have the right tracksuits or facilities.

“Now we’re so much more professional, and while we could still move on to another level, the Weir money has allowed us to do that.

“But we have to make it self-sufficient, the Weir money won’t be there forever. That’s something we’ll have to work out because everything comes out of the one big budget. “The youth academy money will have to come from that, and with Project Brave coming in that will make it even more difficult still. “I see the academy as part of the club, a big part of it, and the last thing I want to have to do is bin the academy unless we really have to. “It’s a huge part of the club having its own identity. “The fans always give their homegrown talent a bit more leeway, and it’s always good to see their own talent coming through, and I’d love to see more of it.

“The major problem with Project Brave is going to be the dilemma of going for elite status and the costs involved with that, or not doing it and maybe missing out on some of the best young players.

“I had a meeting with Gerry Brit Britton last week about it to see w where it leaves us and he’s goin going to put a proposal forward ward, because it is a massive amo amount of money.”

WHILE fully understanding the financial constraints the club are working under, Archib chibald believes that if at all poss possible, having their own ded dedicated training base wou would benefit the club huge hugely.

If that even means dispensing w with the grass surface of Firh Firhill to lay astroturf, then relu reluctantly, it is a sacrifice he wou would be willing to make.

“One of the bigger frust trations of the job is that w we don’t have our own facility at the moment,” h he said.