Introducing Game Changer, a Herald Sport special investigation into repairing Scotland's national sport.
Set to feature in Saturday's Herald newspaper (October 12), and rolled out online from today onwards, join us for a dedicated series of in-depth and exclusive interviews, opinion pieces, Q&As and deep-dives into the shortcomings of the Scottish youth football system.
The system's inability to produce a reliable generation of players capable of competing at the highest level – underpinned by a reluctance to emulate the frameworks of some of Europe's most successful footballing nations – has had a devastating impact on the Scottish game at club and national level.
From the overarching impact of Brexit, to England's pivot in the youth player marketplace, FIFA's underwhelming compensation measures for youth starlets, the response to the SPFL's transition report, and a multitude of case studies, the Game Changer campaign asks: Why is the Scottish youth football system broken? And, crucially: What can be done to fix it?
Game Changer – a Herald investigation into fixing our national sport
Here is where we'll gather each Game Changer article in turn as they're published online – starting with Herald Sport Chief Football Writer Matthew Lindsay's comment piece on why clubs must think of the bigger picture when it comes to developing homegrown youth football.
Clubs must shelve self-interest and put Scottish football first for game to flourish
By Matthew Lindsay
Herald Sport's Chief Football Writer Matthew Lindsay kicks off the Game Changer series with an op-ed on the state of Scottish youth football, comparing it against some of Europe's most thriving nations while calling into question the self-serving conceit of our nation's biggest clubs.
Here's an excerpt: "Yet, for the Scottish game to flourish, for our clubs to produce their own talent, serve up entertaining fare for their fans and excel, not just make up numbers, in the Champions League, Europa League and Conference League every season, there has to be seismic change from grassroots level up.
"For Scotland to compete with larger rivals – or even just rivals who have long ago tackled the issues which were preventing their youngsters from fulfilling their dreams of becoming professional footballers - for a place in the knockout rounds of major tournaments there has to be an acceptance that how this country produces and promotes talent needs to overhauled and upgraded."
Our next Game Changer feature will be published this evening, Friday, October 11, at 5pm UK time.
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