hutchy14 4 Posted April 24, 2010 Share Posted April 24, 2010 Scotland's football authorities and the government have been challenged to come up with £500m to solve what a major report claims is a crisis in the game.Former First Minister Henry McLeish has made 53 recommendations in the first part - focusing on the grassroots - of his Scottish Football Review.A system of football academies and kids' summer football are among them."We have a crisis on our hands in terms of facilities and infrastructure," said the former East Fife defender.Scotland are currently ranked 41st in the world and have failed to qualify for the last six major international competitions.And, in a 74-page report that was commissioned by the Scottish Football Association in May, McLeish said Scottish football is "underachieving, under-performing and under-funded".The 61-year-old urges the SFA, Scottish Premier League and Scottish Football League to work together more closely.McLeish wants a minimum of 20 football academies in comprehensive schools, something he said the SFA is already committed to, and wants to see participation in football rise from 360,000 to 500,000.The former MSP also calls for summer football to be piloted at youth level and said that the SFA is already moving to appoint a national performance director, something he said had been endorsed by Scotland coach Craig Levein.McLeish admitted his recommendations were "ambitious", especially in the current financial climate, but he urged local and national government, Scottish football and the private sector to come together to create a "unique and powerful investment vehicle" to make them a reality. My linkThoughts? Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
mac444 6 Posted April 24, 2010 Share Posted April 24, 2010 Long over due, but I don't think the £500m will be spent, knowing SFA and the Scottish Goverment, it will be lucky if its 10% of that. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
adam2102 577 Posted April 24, 2010 Share Posted April 24, 2010 fair enough about focusing on grass routes but the kids need something to aim for. right now the league is dire, the stadiums are dire, the money is dire. no point in raising fantastic talented kids to then ship them off the more more lucrative english leagues Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bobby83 0 Posted April 24, 2010 Share Posted April 24, 2010 LOL, no get real. Theres been reviews and think tanks before. Nothing ever changes. football is dead up here. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
docspiderman 1,220 Posted April 24, 2010 Share Posted April 24, 2010 Football academies would be a waste of money.More places for kids to play should be the neccessity,places to play football for free is where skills and footballing ability are learned. Getting rid of the "No ball games" signs would be a start and then make more public pitches and areas in schemes/estates for kids to kick a ball. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
radlord 24 Posted April 24, 2010 Share Posted April 24, 2010 Football academies would be a waste of money.More places for kids to play should be the neccessity,places to play football for free is where skills and footballing ability are learned. Getting rid of the "No ball games" signs would be a start and then make more public pitches and areas in schemes/estates for kids to kick a ball.this is the only thing that will truly help. You can have all the 'facilities' in the world but it won't help if there aren't any interested youngsters to play in them. We must protect and create more public pitches, in places where people can get to them easily, and encourage participation at all times. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
mac444 6 Posted April 25, 2010 Share Posted April 25, 2010 fair enough about focusing on grass routes but the kids need something to aim for. right now the league is dire, the stadiums are dire, the money is dire. no point in raising fantastic talented kids to then ship them off the more more lucrative english leaguesThat IS what the kids have to aim for, a move to one of the Bigger leagues. I don't see whats wrong there, in Holland, Ajax in particular have been doing this for years.The problem in this country is Pro-youth, big clubs taking players they know fine well won't make it as jersey fillers so they can claim money off the SFA/Government for them.The other major problem is scouts and coaches place far too much emphasis on size and strength rather than skill have done for years.Fixing these won't necessarily make big strides as you still have problems at Boys club level. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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