How SFA scheme is helping to turn Rangers' best kids from boys to men

Rohl will once again put his faith in multi-million pound signings like Ryan Naderi, Tuur Rommens and Youssef Chermiti and senior internationalists such as Jack Butland, Nicolas Raskin and John Souttar in the last eight encounter with Martin O’Neill’s men.

Could the German head coach, though, be tempted to take a chance on a promising youngster in a big game in the future despite the far-reaching implications that defeat can have both for him personally and his club?

Read more:

• How Rangers kids took Alloa by storm and showed SFA scheme can succeed
• I joined the Clyde 1 phone-in to see why it's still a Scottish football phenomenon
• How a Scottish visionary defied the Homeless World Cup doubters and got FIFA onside

David McCallum, the interim head of the Rangers academy, is hopeful the impact of the new SFA Cooperation System as well as the revamped KDM Evolution Trophy will help more talented hopefuls to make the difficult step up from the age-group sides into the first team at the Glasgow giants in the seasons ahead.

The cooperation loan scheme – one of the main recommendations in the Transition Phase report that was co-authored by Andy Gould, the governing body’s chief football officer, and Chris Docherty, their head of men’s elite strategy, and published 18 months ago – was only rolled out at the start of this season.

But McCallum, the former B team coach who was a member of the interim management set-up at Rangers before Giovanni van Bronckhorst replaced Steven Gerrard back in 2021, has already seen a change in the mentality of the boys who have been farmed out to Alloa Athletic and Stirling Albion.

He is unable to say that Calum Adamson, Josh Gentles and Lewis Stewart, who are at promotion-chasing William Hill League 1 part-timers Alloa, and Connor Campbell and Arran Kerr, who are at bottom tier outfit Albion, will be ready to challenge for a place in the Ibrox starting line-up when they return to their parent club in the summer. They are all just 18 and competition for places is considerable.

Still, he has definitely witnessed the benefits of Adamson, Campbell, Gentles, Kerr and Stewart - who may not have been allowed to go out on loan in previous seasons because UEFA homegrown player rules needed to be satisfied in Champions League and Europa League matches - gaining invaluable experience in the lower leagues. He is cautiously optimistic it will make a real difference going forward.   

“Everyone in the Scottish game recognised the gap between academy and first team, particularly at the bigger clubs, was an area that needed attention,” he said, during a chat in his office at Auchenhowie earlier this week.

Lewis Stewart of Rangers (Image: Stuart Wallace / Shutterstock)

“For years, we were pushing the B team and trying to get a Rangers second team into a League 2, League 1, the Championship. That happens in many countries in Europe and was an ongoing conversation. But that was blocked. We never managed to get beyond the Lowland league.

“Cooperation loans were then mooted as a bridge to help those players who are trying to come through, who have outgrown the academy but have not quite taken that step up to the first team. That can obviously be a big jump at a lot of clubs in the Premiership.

“This concept was new, it was different, it was something we didn't really know too much about it. But the young players who we have in the Rangers system who are at the latter stages of their development need to be able to go and be challenged at a higher level. 

“Our programme will always challenge the young players technically. We've got a lot of technically strong players in here. Physically, too, we will push them to their absolute maximum in terms of their body strength and their capacity to cover distances.”

Read more:

• New SFA scheme increases young players’ game time by 71,395 minutes
• UEFA coefficient collapse will cost Scotland's clubs millions - it's a wake-up call
• David Dworkin on his plans for Kelty Hearts - and Jamie Vardy's love of bargain beers

McCallum continued, “But the mindset is a massive factor. To get that in an environment where you may be considered the best player, or one of the best players, is very difficult. It becomes too comfortable. What the cooperation loans do is put them into an uncomfortable situation.

“They've got to go into a man's dressing room, they've got to develop as a player, they’ve got to believe in themselves, they’ve got to make an impact and contribute. That's one of the things you see when they come back in here - they're a lot more confident in themselves because of the impact that they've had in the men's game.

“They start to feel that's something they can continue to do here as well. That’s probably the biggest bit. They've got to adapt to a different environment and sometimes it’s not as nice an environment as the one we can provide for them here. 

“They've also got to go out there and thrive, not just survive. To play for Rangers you can't just fit into League 2, League 1, maybe even Championship. You need to go beyond that. If you want to play here you need to compete to win leagues and trophies.

“It's one of the things we'll speak about. When they walk into a first team scenario they need to show who they are right away. But we do see the boys coming back in with their shoulders back and their heads up. They're contributing at weekends and they start to believe in who they are as people.”

Josh Gentles of Rangers (Image: Mark Runnacles / Shutterstock)

League 1 is, despite the involvement of full-time clubs Cove Rangers, Hamilton Academical, Inverness Caledonian Thistle and Queen of the South, a considerably lower standard than the Premiership. Still, McCallum knows it is a significant step up from age-group football for a number of reasons.

“Alloa means as much to the 500 to 1,000 fans who go to watch them as the 50,000 fans who come to Ibrox to watch Rangers,” he said. “It's their team. They have exactly the same feelings about what happens on the pitch as our fans do. So our players are feeling that pressure.

“They hear every shout when they're playing in front of 1,000 fans. There is a certain pressure that's attached to that too. Our lads need that because the pressure playing for Rangers is 24-7. It doesn't go away. Alloa are currently sitting in the play-off places at the moment as well. They are competing for promotion and experience that. 

“Potentially, it won't be as much of a shock to the system going into the Rangers first team because of the experiences they've had playing men’s football at stadiums with fans. They may be a bit more comfortable about it. It's all hypothetical just now, but they'll maybe have more to their armoury if they have to make that step up.”

Read more:

• Major Scotland World Cup venue update as governor addresses £5.5m funding fallout
• Rangers vs Celtic: TV channel, live stream, kick-off time & team news
• Man arrested over alleged breach of the peace at Rangers v Celtic match

McCallum continued, “Look at the two lads who are at Stirling Albion, Arran Kerr and Connor Campbell. Neither of them was considered ready to start when they joined, they had to fight their way into the team. When we speak to their manager Alan Maybury now, he tells us he can't take them out of the team because of how they've performed.

“They did that by fighting. It has taken away that feeling of being entitled to start that they had. Going through the academy journey, they play all the time. They're not sitting on the bench or not getting on. But they went to Stirling and experienced that at the start. They had to face up to that challenge. That is going to be great for them in the long term. 

“Lewis was the same at Alloa. When he first went there he wasn’t getting in the team. But he was training every week and he forced his way in. He is now a regular starter and has become a Scotland Under-19 internationalist at the same time despite never having been a youth internationalist before. Andy [Alloa manager Graham] tell us he can’t leave him out.    

“Managers' jobs also become vulnerable if you don’t win games in men’s football. They pick a team to win the game. That is the reality of it. If you're, say, a defender who doesn't match runs or a striker who doesn't take opportunities you just won’t play because the manager has to win to keep their job. We need to help the players get that level of understanding and we now are.”

Cooperation loans allow players in the 16 to 21 age bracket at Premiership and Championship clubs who are eligible to represent Scotland go out on flexible loans to lower league outfits.

Calum Adamson of Rangers (Image: Stuart Wallace / Shutterstock)

McCallum feels the ability to recall youngsters when they are required – and Adamson, Gentles and Stewart have all been in the Rangers first team squad for domestic and European matches this term - is the beauty of the groundbreaking new initiative.

“For a number of years we've wanted to improve the space between the academy and first team,” he said. “Players outgrow academy football and need that exposure to the men’s game. At the same time, though, we're trying to get them to a level where they can play for Rangers.

“When they go out on a normal loan, the opportunity to train and be available for matches with the first team is removed. That bit became quite challenging. They certainly grew as players when they went out, but that wasn't always the major consideration. The opportunity for them to be available for the first team is what we want.

“You never know when that opportunity is going to come. When you're out the door on a normal loan, it's difficult because it simply can't come. But if you're on a cooperation loan and the manager decides he wants to see you in training or use you in a match the ability is there to do that. That's what we want because the reason we're here is to create players who can play for Rangers.

“Look out the window just now. Some of these lads are actually out there on the pitch with the first team this morning. We're not just bringing them back to train with their under-19 teams. There may be times that is the case, but there are also times when there is a first team opportunity.

“That's a massive benefit to the players as well and the cooperation loans allow that to happen. We've had some of the players travel with the first team on European trips and be involved in that.

“Calum, for example, played with Alloa one Saturday in December and was then involved in the Rangers game against Hearts at Tynecastle the following day. His minutes with Alloa were limited because the manager here wanted him to be in the first team squad. There is that ability to move the players around and create those opportunities which weren’t there before.”

Read more:

• The Rangers fan anger that will derail their title bid
• Aberdeen icon fears Pittodrie hierarchy are 'gambling' with their Premiership future
• Danny Rohl responds to criticism of key Rangers duo after second-half Celtic collapse

McCallum and his colleagues at Auchenhowie monitor how their players are faring at their cooperation clubs closely and tailor their training based on the feedback they receive from their managers. They have been very selective about who they have formed partnerships with. But their homework has paid off.

“We want a loan club to be asking about our players, to have a knowledge of what we have in our system and what they might look like within their set-up,” he said. 

“We have a really strong relationship with Alloa. Josh had a strong loan there last season. We liked the way he was managed, we liked the constant communication which we got on a daily and weekly basis. Stirling have been great as well. Brian Gilmour makes sure there's constant dialogue about how are the boys are doing. 

“But not just on game day and training days. What they're like within the squad is important to us. Do they feel as if they were part of what's happening? The clubs that we've worked with have been great, but it's the people who help. They've got to find what we're trying to achieve and we do.

“We've got a bespoke programme. We've got players who train on Tuesday and Thursday night with their part-time clubs. But we'll fit a programme around about that schedule.”

Rangers' interim head of academy David McCallum (Image: Shutterstock)

The KDM Evolution Trophy, together with the introduction of the SFA Cooperation System, increased Scottish youngsters’ game time by nearly 50 per cent to 71,395 minutes in the first three months of the 2025/26 campaign. McCallum has also been impressed with the revamped Challenge Cup.

“It's about combined experiences,” he said. “We've also used some of the players in the KDM Evolution Trophy. They've got the experience of men's football with their cooperation loan clubs and they've got the experience of playing for Rangers, albeit with the B team.

“On top of that, they have the opportunity to train with the first team here and be part of match day squads, including European ones. Hopefully the combined experiences all add up and make them more rounded players and people and more ready to make the step up into the first team.

“We may not be able to fully work out the benefits until we're a bit further down the line. It's difficult to judge the impact it will have now. The first season of it hasn’t even been completed. But right now we're already looking at next season. What's going to be right for the ones who are in the programme next season? How do we get them into the right space as early as we can?”

The lack of academy players to force their way into the Rangers first team has in recent years has disappointed supporters of the Ibrox club. Will the radical changes which have been made to the youth system in this country this season help more of them to make the transition. McCallum can definitely sense an eagerness to promote the kids when he and his colleagues speak to Rohl and his backroom team. 

Read more:

• What we learned from Celtic's fightback against Rangers and what the Ibrox draw means
• When a Celtic legend kept a Hollywood screen icon waiting - so he could cut his grass
• The Brexit brawn drain, Lochee United school of hard knocks and Dundee's prized asset

“I do,” he said. “We have constant check-ins about where the best talent are currently sitting, what's projected for them next, what opportunity do they have of being involved.

“During the check-ins that I have with the manager or with Dan Purdy (technical director), I do feel they want to make positive stories with the best young talent here. But it's something that needs to be joined up, academy wise, cooperation wise and first team wise. We need to be aligned and that's what we're working hard to try and achieve.

“Like I said earlier, academy football can only take you so far. Playing against men will only improve them and increase that readiness to make the step up to the first team. The cooperation loans are a brilliant opportunity for them to do that.”