SFA Club Academy Scotland approval granted.
Livingston Football Club is thrilled to confirm that its new academy will officially commence activities in January 2022.
Following the most recent Scottish FA Licensing Committee meeting we received approval for the club’s academy to participate in the SFA Club Academy Scotland (“CAS”) programme for 2022.
This approval comes after a lengthy audit process with the Scottish FA to ensure plans met the criteria across several different areas. These included:
- Club, Academy and Player Development Plans
- Coaching Staff and Qualifications
- Match Day Facilities
- Training Facilities
- Talent ID and Player Recruitment
- Sports Analysis
- Child Wellbeing and Protection
- Support Staff and Services
- Football Science & Medicine
This represents a substantial six-figure investment in extending Livingston FC’S commitment to providing pathways from grassroots football to the professional game, following our support of the now well-established West Lothian Community Foundation.
The SFA Club Academy Scotland programme runs by calendar year and does not follow the senior football season of August – May. Our Academy coaching activities will begin early January and the games programme for the teams will commence early February. In total, the Academy will run 7 teams. These are Under 11/12/13/14/15/16 and U18s.
Manager David Martindale said:“This represents a substantial investment from Livingston Football Club when it would have been easy to use this money for the short-term success of the club.
I was more than happy with this investment being utilised to secure Livingston FC’s entry into the CAS system and I am delighted that we now have a pathway for young footballers that will hopefully bear fruit in years to come.
There has been a massive amount of work put into making sure we were eligible, and it’s testament to the Academy system that one of the individuals who was instrumental in making this happen was our club secretary, Derek White, who was himself a product of our youth academy.
I am delighted that Livingston FC can now offer pro-youth football to the next generation of potential LFC players.”
