Academy Stars on Show at The city Stadium

THE city Stadium played host to Scotland’s current crop of international stars last week.

Then our very own would-be stars of the future followed in their footsteps just 48 hours later.

More than 120 talented youngsters of the Queen’s Park Academy were treated to training sessions on the pitch – just like Steve Clarke and his Men’s A team squad had done two days before.

It was a pro experience for the players – and an impressive sight for the parents and staff on the sidelines, with the club’s drone footage even capturing the scale of the Spiders’ youth section over the course of one busy afternoon and evening.

After the under-18s worked on the pitch earlier in the day, age-groups from the under-nines through to under-13s trained over tea-time before the under-14s and under-15s were put through their paces.

Academy Director Tommy McIntyre said: “The Academy Open Training session at The city Stadium was a huge success.

“Following on from the Scotland ‘A’ squad training sessions, the entire experience for all 120 academy players, and their coaches, was something that will live with them all for a long time.

“We had a perfect evening and an immaculate pitch at The city Stadium which made for a special time.

“Hopefully, this was an example of our top players of the future sharing the same pitch as the top players of the present, just a few hours apart.

“The open Academy session was a great opportunity for all the age-groups across our talented programme to share the experience together with the players’ parents and carers at our club’s fantastic facility.”