A MAGICAL JOURNEY
The head of St Johnstone’s youth academy looked on with great pride after seeing many of the players he developed make history with a cup double.
And Alistair Stevenson is already looking forward to bringing through the next generation of Saints stars.
The likes of captain Jason Kerr, Chris Kane and Ali McCann came through the Perth production line and made themselves legends by clinching the Scottish Cup and League Cup.
The trophy-laden success has even seen midfield star McCann (21) linked with a club recordbreaking transfer to Celtic.
And coach Stevenson believes the current youth academy crop will be inspired by what they have seen from the senior side in the club’s most historic season.
“I was just absolutely over the moon – you just never believed that it was possible,” said Stevenson.
“And for the boys to have done so well again, I was just so proud of them. It is a dream come true.
“The younger ones Liam Gordon, Jason Kerr and Ali McCann were just absolute stand outs again. It is great for David Wotherspoon and Callum Booth who were some of my boys at Hibs as well.
“What great experience they have already and they have still got a great future.
“For the younger ones coming through now, to see these guys playing at such a high level again was just fantastic.
“They have really earned the right to be called legends.”
Stevenson says the phone has been ringing “non-stop” with parents hoping their kids can get a Perth footballing education.
“They are asking ‘are you having trials?’ and ‘is there any chance of a trial?’”, he said.
“It is going to make things even better within the academy.
“It is quality players who have been brought up the right way and then the manager can take them on to greater things and really improve them.”
The Saints academy graduate whose name is on everyone’s lips at the moment is 21-year-old talent McCann.
The young midfielder added a few pounds to his price tag after netting his first goal for Northern Ireland in a 3-0 friendly win over Malta on Sunday.
Club chairman Steve Brown has warned Celtic and other interested clubs that they will have to smash the Perth transfer record to prize him away from McDiarmid Park.
That was the £1.75 million Blackburn Rovers shelled out 23 years ago for now manager Callum Davidson.
Speaking before the game Stevenson said: “This year already Ali McCann has played in the World Cup qualifiers against Italy against Marco Verratti, so he has already been given a taste of that before.
“And that will have given him huge confidence going forward.
“Anything like that helps players believe that they can get to that level.”
Speaking about McCann, Perth boss Callum Davidson said last week: “When you look at what other players are going for, the chairman is quite right to be looking to break the club record.
“Ali is right up there with the best of them. He has been outstanding for us this season playing in a couple of different roles for me. Hopefully he doesn’t go over the summer.
“But if he does, he will be going on to bigger and better things and we’d wish him luck.”