The positive progression of the Rangers Academy was summed up by a 6-1 demolition of Partick Thistle in the Glasgow Cup at Lesser Hampden this afternoon.
Such a convincing victory is symbolic of the strides being taken by the club’s youth set-up.
Despite going behind, Dapo Mebude and Liam Burt doubles and strikes from Stephen Kelly and Andy Dallas secured the victory. Rangers also included numerous youngsters born this millennium in the matchday squad.
Rangers are blooding young players into the U20s, the same way they intend to bleed young players into the main squad.
And this strategic approach is part of the reason we’re having success.
Rangers Academy progress is testament to superb work of staff
Craig Mulloholland, Graeme Murty, Peter Lovenkrands and everyone else involved with the U20s are doing a superb job.
The group in charge of the young Bears have treated their development superbly. We tried our hand against some of the best development teams in Europe last season. And we didn’t just compete – we achieved major results against these sides.
Young players like Ross McCrorie and Glenn Middleton (although he was signed from Norwich last year) have made the step up into the first team. The likes of Stephen Kelly, Zak Rudden and Serge Atakayi have had a taste. Players like Dapo Mebude, Andy Dallas and Josh McPake are likely to make that jump in the next season or so.
There are opportunities for our young players.
Director of Football Mark Allen also prioritised more funding for the Academy earlier in the year.
It’s a very exciting time for the Rangers Academy indeed and it’s great to see the progress it is making.
Let’s hope we’ll see more of these youngsters in the coming months and years.
