Linton Hotspur and Salvesen Community Football Club have joined forces on a new partnership in the hope of creating a pathway for young players into senior football.
The collaboration with the West Linton club, which is located in the Scottish Borders and the Edinburgh club has resulted in an U20s squad in the East of Scotland West Region Development League for the 2024/25 season.
Chair of Linton Hotspur Campbell Forsyth offered an insight into how the scheme came about.
He said: “We had both been through a similar process in terms of ambitious plans for our facilities and infrastructure and that was the key commonality connecting the two clubs.
“Within our conversations, the idea for the U20s came up and we knew that our U18s were perhaps going to university, moving away from the local area and it would have been a challenge for us to keep that age group going.”
Salvesen Chair Graham Buckley echoed those sentiments and revealed the challenges of establishing a senior side: “The club have been a force in Edinburgh for the past 40 years, we have tripled the number of kids and have teams for every age group, but what was missing was a pathway.
“We have ambitions to establish an East of Scotland side but the reality is really difficult. We do not have our own 3G pitch and we are in talks with the council, SFA and Sport Scotland, so hopefully we will have a solution this year.”
Graham continued by praising the effort of the players as they make the move to a higher level while also touching upon the aspirations for this season: “It has been a big step up for the boys as they are a young side, but they have been working really hard.
“Anything in the top half of the table would be fantastic, but it is a building process and the most pleasing thing is we have kids playing and training with the first team already with a 16-year-old in the squad as a number two to the goalkeeper.
“That proves that this is working and as we both get stronger, we will feel the benefit and the success will come.”
While the players train in Edinburgh on Tuesdays and Thursdays each week and also gain opportunities to play with the first team, both clubs are still seeking a 3G facility and Campbell stressed why that is important.
He explained: “The measurement of having a successful pathway is not winning the Development League, which would still be great, but providing players who are perhaps aiming beyond our first team, a platform with good coaches and a quality environment where they want to work hard in order to be the best they can be.”
The boards of each club are working towards securing sponsorships to bring in funds to strengthen and attract players and Graham detailed why that is key.
He said: “People will not give a football club money if they do not believe in what they are trying to achieve.
“It has got to involve local communities, whether that be alternative school programmes and that is what opens doors for funding.”
To conclude, Graham and Campbell disclosed what they want to achieve in the short, medium and long term at their respective clubs and within the partnership.
Graham said: “We want to get as many players into the first team as possible and give them the platform to step into the U20s, but also be able to continue the relationship with Linton to give players the structure needed to be successful.”
Campbell discussed how they want to utilise the positive start they have had bringing two organisations together: “We want to build on the start we have had, ensure there is a strong platform and witness the players progress as they get more involved with the first team.
“Linton are not going to have multiple teams at age groups due to numbers and where we are, but we have kids that need to be pushed on, so we can now move them onto Salvesen and offer the exposure they require.
“What the pathway then does is loop them back into our first team, which means we have ways of retaining them through a wider network, a benefit we did not have before, so ultimately it’s vital we strengthen the pathway from bottom to top within the respective clubs.
“There are good people involved at both sides to make this work and we are committed to delivering this in the years ahead.”
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