Fears that SFA call on development teams will hamper entire generation
EARLIER this week, hundreds of players in the Lowland Development League were hit with a gut-wrenching sucker punch. After going well over a year without kicking a ball as the world grappled with the pandemic, young players the length and breadth of Scotland were gearing up – finally – for a return to competitive action.
There had been false dawns before but this one felt more concrete. After numerous green lights to return to training that were hastily reversed back to red as local restrictions imposed by the government fluctuated, youth players eventually made their way back onto training pitches at the end of last month with a new season to look forward to. For those players born in 2001, the upcoming campaign holds special significance. They missed their final season in the under-20 division – the one where they are effectively playing for their futures, either at their current club or elsewhere – and so the Lowland Development League wrote to the Scottish FA’s Professional Game Board asking for dispensation to be granted for 2001s to be allowed to play under-20s football this season to make up for circumstances that were outwith their control. Earlier this week, the response arrived: no.
“Last season the league didn’t go ahead because of Covid so players of that age weren’t allowed to play as youth football was off the cards,” explains Chris Pow, host and producer of the Official Catchup podcast. “The Scottish Lowland Development League put forward a proposal to allow these players to play again this season if they were registered with their club by the fifth of February.
“The SFA have came back and rejected it, which is a bit unkind to the players.
“From what the league are saying, it’s going to affect over 400 players. That’s a whole generation of footballers potentially. Unless they get signed up by the first team, which some might, I don’t think there’s going to be enough players for the clubs.”
It is a troublesome spanner to be thrown into the works with the new campaign only a matter of weeks away. Each under-20 side’s preparations have been hurled into disarray with vast swathes of their squads now ineligible to play. But away from the park, Pow adds that he has other concerns.
“We talk about inclusion and development and things like that but one thing I’m concerned about is the mental health of these young guys,” he said. “Over the last year I’ve seen how much football means to these guys so to say to them that they’re not going to play for another year – that would be a concern for me.
“I would hope that the SFA listen. The reason the youths didn’t play last season was due to health and safety and things like that – for me it’s the same thing. They should be allowed to play now that restrictions have been eased for what it would do for their mental health. Where are these boys going to go?”
It is a question that Matty Scott has been asking himself a lot over the last few days. A centre-back currently playing for Preston Athletic in East Lothian, Scott had been playing under-20s football for a couple of years before the pandemic struck. As a player born in 2001, he now feels he has been cut adrift from football at a crucial juncture.
“There’s been a lot of talk
From what the league are saying, it’s going to affect over 400 players. That’s a whole generation
about mental health at the moment and obviously lockdown has taken its toll but football is an escape from all that,” he explained. “Without that, without being legally allowed to train, I know it’s taken its toll.
“We had a green light to return to training then a couple of weeks later it was a no. We’ve been back training consistently for the last five weeks or so but at the start we weren’t allowed any contact. So we couldn’t even play bounce games with the first team. We were expected to train in an environment that wasn’t really football. We weren’t even allowed training games.
“We’re all really gutted, especially at Preston. I think 16 out of the 20 players can’t play now as they’re 2001s. That doesn’t just screw us over, it screws over the younger lads in the team who are trying to progress and now don’t have a team. We’re all scrambling about trying to find a first team but most of them are full at this stage of pre-season. We also weren’t good enough for our own first team. We’ll be struggling and a lot of us will filter down to amateur teams.
“The SFA have not done one good thing for us in the last couple of seasons so I don’t expect them to start now. Hopefully they see the backlash and come up with a different solution. There might not be a Development League if you’re booting these older players out the door.”
A spokesman for the SFA said: “The proposal was submitted to the Professional Game Board by the Lowland League representative, George Fraser, and after consideration by the PGB it was decided not to progress.
“Covid-19 has had a profound effect on Scottish society and football is a microcosm of the challenges faced across the country. The paper was submitted in isolation, with no similar proposals coming from any other part of the game.
“The primary consideration was the impact on the player pathway. Extending an age group will undoubtedly affect the progression of younger players who would ordinarily make the step up to under-20 level, and would be displaced to accommodate the increased age group request.
“Additionally, clubs can sign those players they consider talented enough to step up to the senior team and loan them out to aid their development.
“Furthermore, there is already provision for two overage players to play in Lowland Development League matches.”