Rangers announcement that there won’t be a B team in the Lowland League next season is a huge blow.
A proposed SFA vote to restructure the pyramid would have seen the introduction of a Conference League but it was knocked back before it even got going.
Rangers now need to find another way of developing their 18-21-year olds as the B team withdraws from the Lowland League.
The frustrating thing, is that Scottish football continues to hold itself back.
Take the SPFL for example, there are almost as many part-time as full-time teams in the set up and yet they get the same voting rights on the TV deal as Rangers.
Stewart Robertson, to his credit, waged an almost personal war against Neil Doncaster and Murdoch MacLennan but not having the support of other clubs has seen repeated attempts to inspire change denied.
B teams are nothing new, as the club’s statement explains, it is proven to be a successful model in developing youngsters across Europe.
It wasn’t perfect, but Rangers playing in the Lowland League was a start.
It provides a structured pathway into senior football rather than the scatter gun approach of the loan system especially for players like Alex Lowry and Leon King.
You can guarantee that many of the clubs who have been so opposed to the B teams will be the first to phone Michael Beale looking for some of his most talented youngsters to bolster their squads.
New initiatives take time, players like Lowry, King and Adam Devine have shown that it makes for an easier transition to the first-team if they have the opportunity to train with them on a weekly basis too.
Best v best is ok for one-off games but Rangers now need to find a suitable alternative to the Lowland League and the competitive games that the 18-21 year olds have been used to in the last few years.
There’s a reason why Scotland has a problem bringing through talented teens into first-team football.
If you always do what you’ve always done, you’ll always get what you’ve always got.
