Footballers fix sights on Centenary Shield success

Scotland's best schoolboy footballers are preparing for upcoming international fixtures with an intensive training camp this week.

Yesterday the Scottish Schoolboy Under-18 squad gathered at Stirling University and today they undertake training at the Ravenscraig and Toryglen indoor facilities.

Tomorrow they will play a testing friendly against a Dundee United XI ahead of next Friday's opening Centenary Shield match at Seaview, Belfast against Northern Ireland.

Head coach Stewart Taylor and his coaching team have assembled a squad of 18 to take part in the showcase event which also involves England, Wales, and the Republic of Ireland.

To reach this level, the players have had to impress firstly by playing for their schools, then their local area and then in trials overseen by Taylor.

The coach has been involved with schoolboy football since 1974 and the national set-up since 1991, but the experienced campaigner still gets a buzz whenever a new campaign and a new set of players come around.

He said: "The squad have done well when they have come together, but we are trying to keep their feet on the ground. Playing in friendlies is a lot different to playing in competitive fixtures and we know it will be a tough test against Northern Ireland in the opener next week.

"We don't get to see the boys that often all together as they have other school commitments and such like, so it's important that when we do all meet we use the time carefully and get across everything that needs to be said. To that end the camp this week is really good because the boys are completely focused on their football with no distractions and the squad is growing in character all the time."

Taylor does not have the luxury of picking players who are signed up with SPL teams for his squad, but in Nick Devlin (Turnbull HS) he has a right back who has been playing regularly for Dumbarton in the Second Division this season.

Three players - Alan Urquhart (Hillpark Secondary), Owen Ronald (OLHS Cumbernauld) and Kieran Kennedy (OLHS Motherwell) - are on the books at Queen's Park while Jordan Burns (Bo'ness Academy), Dean Shaw (Falkirk HS) and Stuart Love (Lornshill Academy) - ply their trade at Stenhousemuir.

"It is great to have these players available to us as they have that bit more experience than the others, but there is some real talent in schools football at the moment and we feel we have a good blend in this squad," the head coach added.

Taylor is helped by assistant coaches Neil Ross and Stewart Neilson with this current crop of players and he still believes there is an important place for schools football in the game despite increasing demands on youngsters' time from their clubs and other activities."Schools football is definitely still a valid product and it can help unearth players who may not have made it into club professional clubs at a young age for whatever reason," he said.

"I think about the likes of Steven Saunders who played for this very team just a couple of years ago, was picked up by Motherwell and has become a first-team regular. He has also been capped by Scotland at age 19 (in a friendly against the Faroe Islands late last year] and a story like that just shows the boys involved at the moment what they can achieve."

After months of build-up the real business is soon to start for this talented bunch, with central midfielder Alan Urquhart favourite to be captain.

Scottish Schoolboys squad for Centenary Shield: Jordan Burns (Bo'ness Academy), Jamie Clark (Larbert HS), Connaire Connelly (St Johns HS), Nicky Devlin (Turnbull HS), Alan Duff (Tain Royal Academy), Jack Guthrie (Cults Academy), Ciaran Johnston (St Andrews and St Brides), Kieran Kennedy (OLHS Motherwell), Alan Lawson (Bathgate Academy), Michael Lennox (St Matthews Academy), Stuart Love (Lornshill Academy), Lewis Milton (St Margarets Airdrie), Tom O'Ware (Queen Margaret Academy), Owen Ronald (OLHS Cumbernauld), Michael Scott (Inverkeithing HS), Connor Shaw (James Young HS), Dean Shaw (Falkirk HS), Alan Urquhart (Hillpark Secondary).