ALEX MCLEISH is confident Scottish football will continue to benefit from the work of Hillwood Boys Club after he returned to where it all started for him in the game.
The former Rangers and Scotland boss was inducted into the Hall of Fame alongside Nottingham Forest legend Kenny Burns at a dinner on Saturday evening.
McLeish is a lifelong friend of Hillwood founder Willie Smith and the 60-year-old is encouraged by plans that will see a new clubhouse, changing rooms and a community hall built in Pollock.
McLeish said: “It was a great night and a really proud moment for me. Willie and I have been good friends since I played for Hillwood when I was a teenager and he was a great mentor to me in those days. He has run a tremendous ship there for 50-odd years and he doesn’t have an honour to his name. Maybe that will be rectified soon.
“The amount of boys he has helped is tremendous and I am proud to be a Patron of the Hillwood Boys Club Trust. We are a small country and we need coaches like Willie and teams like Hillwood that give kids the chance to keep playing when they are maybe not quite ready for the Academies at 11, 12, 13 years of age.
“We are really lacking in facilities these days and the plans that Hillwood have look fantastic. I opened one in memory of Neale Cooper and that is a fantastic facility.
“When you think about the facility that Willie is looking to launch at Hillwood, it is amazing and it will have a great impact on the community and the players that use it. Back in the day when I played as a kid, on the Saturday morning there were 100 teams on the 50 pitches and then in the afternoon there were another 100 teams.
“Unfortunately, over time the infrastructure changes and the pitches go as properties are built and roads are built and those pitches are sadly never replaced. They are a big loss for Scotland and I think that has a part to play in the fact that we haven’t produced the top teams to get us to major tournaments.”
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