Australia u-23s v Scotland u-23s

AIS European Training Centre, Varese

Tuesday, 26 September, KO 11:30am/10.30am UK

Scotland will play Australia in Italy later this month in an under-23s match, part of the Scottish FA’s strategic priority to bridge the gap between youth and senior international football.

The six-day camp at the Australian Institute of Sport, near Milan, will culminate in a match against the Women's World Cup co-host’s under-23 side.

Pauline MacDonald, women’s under-17’s head coach, will lead the squad, assisted by Gavin Beith, Hearts Women’s assistant coach, and Gary Doctor.

Michael McArdle, Girls’ and Women’s Performance Manager, believes the development of a women’s under-23 games programme will be a key part of the women’s performance pathway, providing valuable international experience for domestic players on the cusp of full international recognition: “It’s great to get the squad together to face some good opposition this year. The development of an under-23s category is a key priority of our performance strategy and in completing the developmental pathway from under-16s to the senior team for all potential talent, as well as preparing for future UEFA programmes.

“England, Belgium, France, Italy, Netherlands, Norway, Portugal, Spain and Sweden have established their own women’s under-23 international teams, who will participate in a structured games programme this year, and the aspiration is that Scotland can become part of that elite games programme.

“In addition, in a commitment to developing an experienced coaching framework, it is intended that coaches will be rotated from within the Scottish Women’s Premier League and national youth teams across the full international pathway to accelerate elite coach development."

On the development of an under-23s programme, Michael McArdle added: “The development of a women’s under-23 programme is part of our women’s strategy, Accelerate Our Game, and we believe it will help bridge the gap between domestic football at club level, national youth teams and the Women’s A squad.

“As well as preparing players for full international football, we also believe the women’s under-23 squad will provide great experience and knowledge-sharing opportunities for our coaches within the women’s game, which in turn will help develop coaches and managers domestically and within our existing youth teams.”

The squad will be announced in due course.