YFS Magazine Issue 1 | Page 64

CLUB PROFILE KINGS OF THE WEST From the legendary boot room at Anfield to the breeding ground that La Masia has become for Barcelona, quality coaching has been the catalyst for all of the greatest teams in history. The work that goes on behind closed doors on training fields in all conditions is what creates the player that you see perform on Saturday. At a grass roots level the notion of buying ones way to success is completely unrealistic and to have the best players generally means taking the time and effort to develop them yourself. Over in Milngavie this has been borne out over the past few years with a group of coaches that have taken a club that didn’t even exist less 64 | YFS Magazine | Issue #1 than half a decade ago to lift seven trophies over the past two seasons including back to back GADYFL league titles. Milngavie Wanderers currently count amongst their staff Manager Scott Carson, Head Coach Paul Mooney, assistant coach Brian Carmichael, goalkeeping coach Joey Muir and Club Secretary Paul Regan. They are currently the men charged with safeguarding the success of one Scotland’s most promising teams, despite their base in the west end of Glasgow they are attracting talent from across the city and although the team evolves almost from game to game the level of achievement has been the one constant. This group must also be applauded for what is in my personal opinion one of the greatest innovations in youth football in Scotland as the founders of the annual Scottish Youth Champions League tournament; an invitation only event where successful teams from regions across the country arrive to face off in a best of the best style competition where unlike any other tournament each and every encounter will be against a fellow champion.