LAST WEEK the Scottish Football Association released the names of the players in a Scotland Under-16 squad, to play back-to-back internationals against Denmark, next month. Now, as we all know, 16 is the statutory earliest school-leaving age in Scotland, therefore, since these boys were in an Under-16 squad, all had to be schoolboys. However, they were not listed as, (for example):
Jack Harkness (Queen's Park Secondary, Glasgow); George Young (Falkirk Schools), Danny McGrain (Kingsridge Secondary, Glasgow); Billy Bremner (St Modan's High School, Stirling), Billy McNeill (Our Ladies High School, Motherwell), Dave Mackay (Carrickvale Secondary, Edinburgh); Willie Henderson (Caldercruix Secondary, Lanarkshire), Craig Burley (Cumnock Academy, East Ayrshire), Derek Johnstone (Linlathen Secondary, Dundee), Kenny Dalglish (High Possil Secondary, Glasgow), Billy Liddell (Dunfermline Schools).
Those are just 11 random names, plucked from my copy of the Scottish Schools Football Association's Schoolboy International Who's Who. These legends all won their caps via their schools. The 2022-23 crop are distinguished in the release by their clubs.
Twenty boys are named – four identified as Celtic players, Rangers and Heart of Midlothian each provide three boys, Hamilton Academical, Hibernian and Manchester City each provide two boys, while Aberdeen, Ayr United, Kilmarnock and Leeds United each provide one player.
I haven't a clue which schools provide the present-day crop of youngster, other than that goalkeeper Ollie Ecrepont, the Ayr United player, attends Grange Academy in Kilmarnock – which has one of the SFA's Schools of Football. Yet Ollie lives in Ayr; with that name he couldn't live anywhere else, the Ecrepont family basically built Ayr – where the “Ecrepont bungalow” is a distinct local house style.
Rugby does it differently. While the Under-16 squad is the top one in football, in the handling game, the big squad is the Under-18 one. There is a 39-strong Under-18 team listed on the SRU website. The breakdown of which is:
Listed by Schools – 16
Listed by Clubs – 19
School/Club joint listing – 9.
All 16 boys listed by their schools attend private or fee-paying establishments, while, of the nine listed by both school and club, four attend State schools and five private or fee-paying ones.
So, while the SRU has basically sub-contracted elite young player development to a handful of private schools, the SFA, works on a combination of club development and local schools of football – working out of state schools. Going forward, it will be interesting to see which model works best.
However, I think we can admit, the heyday of organised sport in state schools has passed – and more's the pity. Saturday mornings on buses, travelling to face other schools was a key part of my youth – today's kids, taken everywhere by car, are missing out big time.
WORCESTER WARRIORS' current travails have meant the Gallagher Premiership side will not be taking-on Glasgow Warriors in Inverness, tomorrow night. Instead Franco Smith's first game in charge will see him send his side out against Ayrshire Bulls.
This should be interesting, because there is a history, in “training games” between previous Warriors' sides and Ayr XVs, of matters becoming somewhat heated. It is well-known in Scottish sport, facing a side regarded as of lower status is seldom easy for the supposed “big team.”
I remember a Rangers legend telling me, he believed every time they stepped onto the park against another Scottish team they were facing: “Four Rangers fans, determined to show they were good enough to take out place; four Celtic fans determined to beat us and maybe three local fans, playing for the jersey.”
I also recall Jim Fleeting – back when he was a respected football man in his own right and not better-known as: “Julie's Faither,” on becoming manager of Kilmarnock, declaring his intention to mend fences with the Ayrshire junior clubs by playing as many of them as possible in pre-season games.
However, he made it clear, Killie would not be offering pre-season fixtures to Auchinleck Talbot, Cumnock and Kilbirnie Ladeside, then the three top sides in God's County. His reasoning was simple: “They all fancy they can take us and the last thing I need in pre-season is three additional cup ties.”
I still expect Warriors to beat the Bulls tomorrow night, with tries to spare, but, the game still offers potential for spread betting riches. I suspect it will be a hard-fought affair. What a chance too for some of the younger Bulls to show what they can do.
SAD NEWS at the start of the season, with Fergus Scott (pictured below) announcing his retirement. Fergus has suffered more than most from serious injury – that's what curtailed his career in the professional ranks; however, he can reflect on a good career, with Scotland Age Group and Club XV caps to show for his time at the coal face.
Fergus was a terrific hooker and I am sure, had the injuries not intervened, he could have joined big brother Matt among the full caps in the record book. Then, when the stresses of the front row became too-much for his body to endure, Fergus rebuilt himself as one of the top flankers in the Premiership.
Currie Chieftains, a side he captained with distinction, will miss him this season but, I am sure, in partnership with Ross Weston and Gregor Hunter, coaching the Currie second team, he is at the start of another great career.
Fergus is one of the good guys – I wish him well in his future endeavours.
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