Miller: Youth is the way forward – we will produce stars
Millions invested in youngsters
Published:
ABERDEEN now invest £500,000 per year in the youth development scheme in an attempt to find more stars of the future.
That huge expense underlines the magnitude of the youth operation within the club.
We view youth as the way forward at Pittodrie, and are working hard to bring the best emerging talent to the club.
In today’s market, youth development is the only way forward because Aberdeen cannot constantly bring in first-team players from elsewhere, especially with the inflated wages some players demand.
In recent years we have strived tirelessly to establish a successful youth network under Lenny Taylor, and now have four centres across Scotland.
For the first time we have a centre in Edinburgh, which is already beginning to produce promising young players.
As a club, we have never had a presence in the capital, so it is fantastic to finally be established down there.
That is an area we believe can be tapped and ideally Aberdeen will be first to the best young players emerging from Edinburgh and the surrounding area.
My old team-mate Peter Weir heads the Glasgow operation and is working tirelessly to identify, secure and develop new talent.
Aberdeen have also made strong inroads into Ireland and the capture of Sammy Stewart is the latest fruits of that link.
A lot of work and surgery was required for the youth system to get to the position it is now.
But we are now reaping the rewards of that endeavour, and the last year has been the most successful since the new scheme was established.
Chris Maguire was the first player we fast-tracked through to the first team and he has gone on to install himself in manager Jimmy Calderwood’s plans.
Chris recently turned 19 and should be pushing to become a regular in the first team now.
Aberdeen fans can expect a number of exciting young players to emerge this season.
Furthermore, there are promising players set to move from the youth development stage into the U19 squad, and we expect many of them to be pushing for the first team over the next few years
The 16 and 17-year-olds will have a great chance of making the breakthrough if they are developed well and work hard.
Once they progress to the U19 squad, it is the job of both Neil Cooper and Neil Simpson to get them ready for the rigours of the first team.
Aberdeen are not unique in their commitment to youth.
I sit on the SFA Youth Development Committee and I can guarantee that almost all the clubs in Scotland are committed developing talent which is great for the game.
READ WILLIE MILLER’S EXCLUSIVE COLUMN EVERY MONDAY – ONLY IN THE EVENING EXPRESS
RELATED ARTICLES
We’ll increase full-time pool – but onus is on youth
Readers' Comments
The Evening Express is happy to encourage discussion and debate on the topics featured within our newspaper and on our website.
However, we would urge people to respect the opinions of others even if they do not agree with them. We will not tolerate abusive comments of any type and such posts will be removed with the people responsible facing a ban from this website.
Only registered users can supply comments, and your registered name and location will automatically be appended to any comment that you upload.
We reserve the right to remove comments from anyone using a false name or pseudonym.