Raith Rovers' Dougie Imrie on which club's 'best in Scotland' academy is proof of value of playing under-21s
In the wake of new Scottish FA proposals to increase playing time for youngsters at the nation’s football clubs, Raith Rovers manager Dougie Imrie has outlined the success which his former club Hamilton Accies has had and is still having blooding youth on the back of its revered academy set-up.
Imrie, 43, who had two playing spells at Accies from 2010 to 2012 and between 2014 and 2019, was speaking after the SFA recently announced plans to make all SPFL clubs field eligible Scotland under-21 players for an average of 60 minutes per game (6% of available minutes), across the season. Also proposed is having clubs start two eligible Scotland under-21 players in all Scottish Gas Scottish Cup and Premier Sports Cup matches, with one player on the pitch at all times.
And the Raith gaffer, who also did coaching work at Accies before a managerial career which saw him spend four years at Greenock Morton before moving to Kirkcaldy last November, told the Fife Free Press: “First and foremost, if young players are good enough, then they'll play. Simple as that.
"I can only use my own experience playing at Hamilton Accies for 10 years.
"They had an owner in Ronnie MacDonald who believed in youth. Season on season, producing players, because that was his philosophy. That was his remit to the managers. He had a squad of players, an experienced spine of players who helped the young lads.
"We were playing five, six experienced players and then five or six kids were in our team. But the whole club has to be linked from top to bottom. And what I mean by that is, if you've got an owner or you've got a board who say you don't have to worry about results.
“They say: ‘We want to produce kids, this is how we've got to do it’. Then your job will be safe and then I think you'll see more kids.
"That was the one thing with Ronnie and Colin McGowan (ex-Accies owner), they gave the manager that assurance: ‘Play the kids, this is what we want, then we'll look after you’.
"To a certain extent, obviously, if you weren’t winning games then you'd be out the door. But they wanted to see a pathway for their academy.
"And their academy, to be fair to both of them, is one of the best I've watched.
"It's the best in Scotland. They produce year on year.
"I understand that the SFA want to try and make it better for the national team, to get better players, to make sure the national teams qualify for the top tournaments.
"But I think the big thing has to be that players have to be ready and good enough.
"Players shouldn't get pushed to the first team because clubs are thinking: ‘If we don't play young kids hen we're not going to get, let's say 100 grand or we're going to get docked points’.
"The big thing here is you have to earn the right.”
Imrie then provided some examples of young Scottish players who he thinks have blossomed after entering the first teams of some of the nation’s top clubs in recent years.
He said: “You just need to look at the last four or five years. Lennon Miller at Motherwell – was he pushed to play or was he good enough?
"He was good enough, so that's why he played before experienced players.
"You look at Lewis Ferguson for Hamilton, aged 17 and straight into the first team, went on to play for Scotland. Michael Devlin, first team at 17, 18, played for Scotland.
"There's a lot more – James McCarthy and James McArthur, Stephen Hendrie, Leon McCann at Falkirk.
"I could give you a conveyor belt coming through Hamilton who went on and played in the first team and then got moves.
"And I wouldn't be surprised, I don't know how far away, but there'll probably be a player in every team, certainly in the League 1, League 2 or in the Championship, who came through Hamilton's academy.
"But that was Hamilton's philosophy. That was a model.
"And it was backed from the top, which then gave the manager assurance that whatever the result was on a Saturday, it didn't matter, because it mattered more how they wanted their club to go.
"And I think it's a two-way street. I think, obviously, we know as managers that we're under pressure to win games.
"But I think if you've got a board who are backing you and telling you: ‘This is what we want and this is the way we want to go’, then I think it becomes easier for you as a manager to go and give young players that experience and opportunity to play in your first team.”
The SFA’s proposals for giving Scotland under-21 eligible players minimum game time will be voted on at a Scottish FA General Meeting in October and the SPFL's AGM in November.
It has announced that £1million would be made available to clubs to incentivise increased game time for under-21 Scotland-eligible players.
The plans were put to clubs by the Scottish FA's Chief Executive Ian Maxwell and Chief Football Officer Craig Mulholland at a conference held at the Old Course Hotel in St Andrews, titled 'Made in Scotland?'
If approved, the new rules will come into force for the 2027/2028 season.
The proposals involving the Scottish Gas Scottish Cup and the Premier Sports Cup would be added to the rules of the respective competitions.
Under the league recommendation, clubs who fail to reach the target of an average of 60 minutes per game across the season would be deducted 10% of their final placing prize money - with the funds re-distributed among the clubs who have achieved the target.
The SFA’s proposals to give young players minimum starting minutes come with Scotland having slipped to 18th in UEFA's coefficient, while Scottish eligible players played just 18,706 minutes in the top flight last year compared to 80,345 in 2013.
The current figure for the SPFL Premiership sits at 4.1%, below the European average of 8% and significantly behind comparable leagues such as the Danish Superliga, which leads the way on 15.3%.
The clubs in St Andrews also heard from sports intelligence leaders Twenty First Group and Belgian side Club Brugge who both presented on the potential gains that clubs can make through a player trading model - with Scotland ranking considerably below comparable countries on that metric.
Alongside these potential rule changes, the Scottish FA also revealed significant progress that has already been made below the top flight since last year's introduction of the Co-operation System and the revamp of the KDM Evolution Trophy.
The Co-operation System, which allows increased freedom of movement between a parent club and a 'Co-operation Club', has led to 27,000 minutes for under-21 Scotland-eligible players - helping the Championship, League One and League Two all see large increases in player minutes.
Minutes for under-21 Scotland-eligible players in the Championship have risen 9.6% from 43,369 in 2024/2025 to 47,573 last season, with League One minutes increasing by 3.5% from 85,043 to 87,420 and League Two minutes rising by 17.6% from 74,330 to 87,043.
In addition, the refreshed format of the KDM Evolution Trophy has seen minutes for U21 Scottish eligible players rise from around 21,000 in 2024/2025 to 94,000 in 2025/2026.