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Celtic and Hearts B Teams in Lowland League?


falski

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During the transfer window I saw Hibs sign a couple of players that were said to be for their Development squad.

https://www.hibernianfc.co.uk/article/steve-keans-development-dream

They seem to be gearing up for next season. No mention of the Lowland League thankfully, although a bit worrisome there's no mention of an SPFL Reserve League. They're going the cherrypicking friendlies route. 

Quote

A fundamental factor in taking the academy to the next level is the introduction of a new squad for next season, the Development Squad. Kean explains:

“We are looking into adding another age group in, so below the First Team but older than the U18.

“This will be the Development Team which will be a group of lads who are aspiring to be in the First Team but aren’t quite there yet.

“The team will compete in a lot of matches in England, against teams from the English U23 system, to help try and bridge the gap between U18 football and First Team football, which I have said from day one is a huge jump."

The Development Team will still play some fixtures in Scotland, whilst also travelling across the border to player English teams from the U23s system. Steve insists that exposing, players to a new environment, different styles of play and technical abilities will help the development of players going forward and ultimately prepare them for First Team football.

“It has been a big financial commitment from the club because it is not cheap to travel down to England for these types of matches. Logistically it is a big job so it is great to see the club backing that.

“At the other end, the rewards are huge. To play against that level of player, will really help stretch our lads, taking them outside of their comfort zone.

“We want to be involved against high-profile teams, your likes of Newcastle, Liverpool, Brentford etc and play against opposition that has highly technical, quality players.

"We want our players to be tested at a higher level, to be exposed to a different style of football so we can see exactly where our players are in terms of their development.

"I think the players will really benefit individually from playing in these types of fixtures and then collectively we will see those benefits as a club.

“Ultimately the focus is preparing them for First Team football and preparing them as well as we can for when they run out on Easter Road for their First Team debut.”

 

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1 hour ago, craigkillie said:

There is not going to be a reserve league any time soon. The big clubs all pulled out of it a few years ago, it's not on their agenda at all.

It was still kept going by the smaller full time teams. The only reason it stopped was due to COVID.

The Lowland Development League seems to be filling a void for some of the part-timers in the area. Doubt that would be good enough for the full-timers though.

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1 hour ago, FairWeatherFan said:

Hearts now making noises about how they're looking to handle youth development. They want the Reserve League back, if not they'd be looking to enter the lower leagues.

 

We do seem to be struggling to at getting players to step up from u18 level at the the moment and would prefer a reserve/u23s league, but I understand that not a lot of clubs in this climate can do a second team on top of u18s. I would say the OF, the Edinburgh sides and Aberdeen could (and that's not to say other top clubs couldn't btw, St. Mirren do good work there for eg) do it comfortably enough without too much impact on the first team, and there is clearly a demand for it.

I could live with setting up games against u23s in England, but they are still at the end of the day, just friendlies.

If there is no reserve league and we do end up applying to join the pyramid, as long as it's from the bottom of the pyramid. That should be the non-negotiable part. It doesn't sit well at all getting a leg up at other clubs expense regardless.

Edited by the jambo-rocker
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  • 2 weeks later...
11 minutes ago, AsimButtHitsASix said:

With a full, nationwide pyramid, and B teams playing at the lower reaches already in half of those leagues could Hearts, for instance, make plans to join the EoSFL at the bottom tier? Whether they're accepted is a different story obviously.

If Hearts B applied and met the EoS requirements then they would be admitted, at the bottom level obviously.  Both Hibs and Hearts have had teams in the EoS in the past, along with others such as Arbroath and Berwick Rangers.

With all this Rangers/Celtic B hoo ha, what's been lost is that most clubs wouldn't have an issue with them being in the Pyramid, just not parachuted into tier 5, they should start at the bottom like any new member.

Edited by Burnieman
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Berwick Rangers have expressed interest in having a team in the EoS. Presumably bringing their Colts through. This may have been on Twitter within the last year. Not able to be more precise than that.

However, weren't Edinburgh City B rejected last summer by the EoS?

Edited by Dev
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