MISSING THE

Former Rangers defender Smith:

THE shockwaves that have hit the top of Scottish football have been felt all the way down through the levels. As we are often told, we are all in this together.

As the Scottish FA and SPFL deliberate over the next course of action for the top-tier clubs during the coronavirus crisis, those at the opposite end of the spectrum are even more helpless. The love of the game, the need to play it, is just as strong, though.

Clubs across the country are counting the cost of the shutdown that Covid-19 has enforced and it is not just professional operations that are feeling the brunt. Academy systems have been closed, boys club sessions have been postponed and school teams disbanded for the year.

Steven Smith has seen his own courses and coaching ambitions take a hit, too. The former Rangers defender had steadily grown his academy over the last year and the impact of this crisis is being felt close to home.

“When the SFA put out their guidelines, I did one more class after that because I didn’t fall under their rules,” Smith said. “I was waiting for the schools. At that time, as long as the schools were open, I was OK to coach.

“When the SFA put out their second statement, I contacted the school and said I was going to cancel the session because it didn’t feel right.

“I have not had a class for a few weeks now so it has been difficult but you just have to manage it as best you can. Obviously everybody’s health and safety is the main priority right now so you have to do what you can to aid that.

“The impact has gone right down to grassroots football. The first weekend, it started on the Friday when I take my son’s team. They are supposed to have a game on a Saturday and a Sunday and that weekend we got to 12pm on the Saturday and my son was sitting on the couch saying he was bored.

“Even that hour and a half on a Friday, the Saturday and the Sunday, that sets them up for the rest of the day. They are in that routine, that is the structure of their life at that age at 11 years old and it is quite difficult to take them away from that.”

A career at the top level in Scotland, as well as spells in England and the United States, gave Smith a wealth of experience to pass on to those he has taken under his wing in recent months.

The feeling of pulling on their boots and having a ball at their feet was all the thrill that some of his students needed. It is one that they are now denied for reasons that will be difficult to comprehend for many.

Smith said: “At the level of kids that I work with, it varies from ones who only play an hour a week to kids who play every day.

“To have that stripped back, to go from having a 9s game on a Saturday and 11s on a Sunday and training three, four times a week to nothing is difficult.

“The boys have worked hard to get to a certain level. Some of the kids I coach won’t get into academy teams at clubs, but they have put in the hours to get to a certain level and they have had that taken away from them so it is going to be difficult to get them back up to that level again.

“It is difficult for them to understand and some of them just don’t get it and don’t get the seriousness of the issue. It is about trying to educate them as best you can, but you don’t want to scare them either.

“You don’t want to put a fear into them so I am trying to keep my kids away from the TV and social media as best I can while making sure they do the right things.

“It is difficult for them to understand the impact that it is having everywhere.

“Whether you are at the top level of the game or the grassroots level, it is not an

It is going to be difficult to get them back up to that level