The Courier & Advertiser (Perth and Perthshire Edition)
Pars kids give a triple boost
James Mcpake hopes Dunfermline have secured future mainstays of their first-team after agreeing new contracts with a trio of promising youngsters.
Andrew Tod, Taylor Sutherland and Sam Young have all penned their first professional deals following apprenticeships.
With their previous agreements expiring in the summer, the three talented 18-year-olds have committed their futures to the Pars until 2026.
Midfielder Tod, son of former fans’ favourite from the 1990s and 2000s, Andy, already has a dozen topteam outings to his name and would have had more but for a knee injury this season.
He started the opening league game against Airdrie back in August and then managed seven appearances before being sidelined in September.
Striker Sutherland has played nine times for the Fifers this term, as well as enjoying a spell on loan at Bonnyrigg Rose, where he played in 11 matches.
Centre-half Young started twice in the SPFL Trust Trophy last season but has not featured for Dunfermline this term.
Mcpake said: “I’m delighted with it. When we first came into the football club and were having conversations with the board, a big thing for me at the time was they were keen on getting the academy going.
“The academy was back to being Dunfermline Athletic’s academy and we were building it back up again.
“And, as a football club, we’re looking to produce young players from our academy.
“Those three, we believe, can go and play in the first team.
“They’ve got a lot of work to do but Andrew has shown he can start games and Taylor’s shown he can come on in games.
“And Sam has done it in a good way by going out (on loan to East Stirling) and got minutes. He played against a decent Dundee team in a cup game up there last year.
“For centre-halves, they are normally a bit longer in terms of when they get into the team, compared to at the top end of the pitch.
“With those three in particular, in terms of what they’ve done by training with the first team, they’re the ones who you’re looking at saying they could be mainstays in the Dunfermline team in four or five years.
“As a football club, that’s what we want.
“We want Andrew to be the next Matty Todd, where the fans are singing his name, and he plays however many games for Dunfermline.
“And then, if that’s his dream, he goes on and plays in England or wherever. We want to help him with that.
“Just for the football club, it’s massive, and I love being part of a club that’s very supportive of bringing young players through.”
Mcpake earned a reputation at Dundee, where he was first the under-18s coach, for bringing through young players.
And, the team’s current precarious position close to the relegation play-off spot may make that more difficult at Dunfermline, but the Pars boss is keen to develop as much local talent as possible.
He added: “For the club, I think it’s massive to have homegrown players.
“And we’ve got a few now – Matty Todd, Paul Allan, Chris Hamilton – who are Dunfermline fans.
“That identity of having Dunfermline fans in your building and desperate to play for this club, I think that matters a lot
“Supporters love seeing that and the players love doing it. It just brings a good feeling about the place when you’ve got your own young players playing on the pitch for the first team.
“It’s exciting and just give everything.” they