The Courier & Advertiser (Perth and Perthshire Edition)
Honest Men’s young boys have come of age
DUNFERMLINE: Pars boss hopes his high-flying former pupils don’t come back to haunt him
Dunfermline boss Stevie Crawford has revealed he earmarked Rangers kids Stephen Kelly and Jordan Houston as top talents at the age of TWELVE.
The Gers starlets are currently shining on loan with Ayr United and will cross swords with Crawford’s Pars on Saturday.
Classy midfielder Kelly has already bagged four goals in 12 outings and his reputation continues to soar, while Houston started their last fixture against Inverness in defence.
Crawford had a little-known season helping out with Rangers’ under-13 side seven years ago and insists they were two of his most precocious pupils.
However, he is determined to shackle them when joint-top Ayr arrive at East End Park.
He smiled: “Stephen Kelly, who they’ve got in from Rangers, is someone I can remember from when I was working at Rangers!
“I was with the under-13s squad and Stephen had ability back then. He was a lot smaller, as you can imagine, but he was a talent even back then.
“It’s been really nice to see him progress in the game but we’ll hopefully keep him quiet on Saturday.
“He would have been 12 and stepped up a level to my age group, as did Jordan Houston, who played right-back in the last game for Ayr.
“It shows the age I’m getting when I’m talking about boys I knew at 12 becoming first-team players!
“You could tell at that age that they are in the academy for a reason – they had great attitudes and, as well as their ability in that age group, they definitely had the mind-sets that they wanted to be professional footballers and would put the work in.”
Crawford admits he takes a special pride in playing even the smallest part in any youngster’s rise to the senior ranks.
And he has stuck to his principles this term, affording the likes of Kyle Turner, Cammy Gill, Aaron Comrie and Josh Edwards a platform for the youthful Pars.
He added: “That satisfaction of seeing young players come through is a big part of who I am in football.
“I know that, as first-team manager, I’m going to be judged on results.
“However, there is nothing more satisfying than looking around the country and being able to say ‘I played a small part in helping them become a footballer’.
“I might be like a stuck record, but I’m all for developing young talent – and that will continue to be the case at Dunfermline.”