Airdrie & Coatbridge Advertiser
Simon Donnelly aims to roll back the years
Former pro running training camp in Coatbridge
Former Celtic and Scotland forward Simon Donnelly is hoping to bring an essence of street football to his training camp in Coatbridge next week.
Donnelly, who was capped 10 times for his country in the 1990s, is running the camp during the October break with pal and former Rangers midfielder Charlie Miller.
The former Dundee United coach hasn’t worked in first-team professional football for two years and instead is focusing on helping younger players “develop without being overcoached”.
Donnelly told the Advertiser: “I have a wealth of experience in football and want to put that to good use.
“I’ve worked in loads of different environments but want to bring back the essence of years gone by.
“I grew up in a time when you honed your skills at the park or on the street.
“I’m one of the last of that era, unfortunately. I have three sons myself and all the football they do is organised.
“What I’d like to do is bring back the focus on having plenty of touches on the ball, technique and quick thinking.
“All things I feel I automatically learned and did growing up.
“We’ve lost a bit of that with recent generations who have been overcoached and I’ll try to implement that in the camp.”
Donnelly’s camp will take place from October 15 to 19 from 10am to 3pm each day.
His company, SD13 sports, have been offering specialist training at different clubs around central Scotland, but this is his first weekly training camp.
And he’s looking forward to working with the enthusiastic kids of Monklands.
He continued: “St Andrew’s has great facilities and I’m really looking forward to launching the camp there.
“I’ve been working in Eaglesham recently and we had a few travelling through from the Monklands area.
“Their commitment and enthusiasm realy impressed me and I’m sure many other kids who are coming along will have the same approach.
“I really want the kids to enjoy this and we’ll get a buzz out of how receptive they are to the training.”
Donnelly last worked in professional first-team football alongside Jackie McNamara at York City.
But he has no desire to get back into that side of the game.
He said: “It’s been about two years since I worked in football properly.
“I’ve done some media work but I’ve always liked the training pitch. I get to see a different side of that by working with kids.
“I work with girls as much as boys and they’re really receptive of the work we do.
“The numbers look good for this week coming and I’m looking forward to getting started with it.”