News

YOUTH SQUADS NAMED

Thursday, 16 December 2004

The Scotland Under 18 team will take on England next week in a prestige friendly to be shown live on Sky, while the Under 17s will head to Malta in the New Year. And Scottish youth football has been given a festive gift from FIFA.

Scotland Under 18s travel across the border for a friendly in Hartlepool against England next Wednesday evening, with a 6 pm kick-off. Coach Ross Mathie has ensured he has his strongest squad available for the match in front of the cameras, and will be hoping they can go one better than the Under 16s, who drew with England a couple of weeks ago. The Under 18 squad, for players born in 1987, is:
Goalkeepers
Andrew McNeil (Southampton)
Callum Reidford (Rangers)
Defenders
Patrick Boyle (Everton)
Scott Cuthbert (Celtic)
John Kane (Hibernian)
Steven McKeown (Leeds United)
Jason Thomson (Heart of Midlothian)
Midfield
Brian Gilmour (Rangers)
Charles Grant (Celtic)

Bryan Hodge (Blackburn Rovers)
James McCluskey (Hibernian)
Michael McGlinchey (Celtic)
Robert Snodgrass (Livingston)
Forwards
Scott Agnew (Rangers)
Calum Elliot (Heart of Midlothian)
Steven Fletcher (Hibernian)
Kevin Smith (Leeds United)

Early next month, Scotland Under 17s continue their preparation for the next round of UEFA qualifiers with a double header in Malta, hoping to take advantage of the better climate to develop a good team understanding. A 22 man squad has been selected for the one week trip, which includes games against Malta in Valletta on 10 and 12 January. The Under
17 squad is:
Goalkeepers
Matthew Curtis (Hibernian)
Scott Murray (Dundee)
Fraser Stewart (Aberdeen)
Defenders
Guy Kerr (Inverness CT)
Scott Laird (Plymouth Argyle)
Alan Lowing (Rangers)
Jordan McMillan (Rangers)
Chris Mitchell (Livingston)
Alex Pearce (Reading)
Lewis Stevenson (Hibernian)
Midfield
Greg Cameron (Dundee United)
Paul Emslie (Rangers)
Simon Ferry (Celtic)
Steven Lennon (Rangers)
Paul MacDonald (Heart of Midlothian)
Sean Mackle (Heart of Midlothian)
Mark Millar (Celtic)
Forwards
Andrew Bagshaw (Aberdeen)
Matthew Glass (Nottingham Forest)
David Gray (Manchester United)
John McGoldrick (Partick Thistle)
Darren Smith (Motherwell)

Finally, there was some festive cheer for youth football in Scotland this week, thanks to a seasonal boost from FIFA. The world governing body has presented 260 footballs to the Scottish FA, which is distributing the balls around the country through its Community Scheme to youth clubs for use as match balls.

Tommy McIntyre, Head of Youth Development, and Jim Fleeting, Head of Regional Programmes, have been ensuring that the early Christmas presents find their target this week by passing the balls to the SFA community coaches.

The SFA Community Scheme covers the whole of Scotland, reaching out to almost a million participants each year through its youth and children’s programmes.