Category: Youth Development

Under 20s Contract News – Liam Johnston

Camelon Juniors Under 20s are pleased to announce that forward Liam Johnston has extended his contract with the club. This ensures he will be with the club until at least 2021.

Liam celebrated his new contract by playing with the first team yesterday evening in a bounce match against Linlithgow Rose. Not only that, he netted his first senior goal as well.

Thanks for sticking with the mighty Mariners Liam.

#weareCJFC #itswhoweare

Under 20s Signing – Finlay Mackay

Camelon Juniors FC Under 20s Development Squad are pleased to announce the signing of Finlay Mackay who has previously played for Civil Service Strollers U20s.

Finlay signed over the Festive period and is pictured here at the home of Community Football, and our training facilities, Galaxy Sports Little Kerse.

Welcome to the mighty Mariners Finlay!

#weareCJFC #itswhoweare

Accreditation for CJFC u20s Development Pathway

Camelon Juniors FC are proud to announce a huge accreditation for our u20s Development Squad.  Following a recent audit, we have achieved Club Academy Scotland (CAS) Lite status.

CAS is the Scottish FA’s structure that defines, operates and partially funds the Academy system in Scotland, alongside a games programme. It governs the development of players from the age of 11 to 18. Clubs are assessed against set criteria and a set of Measureable Performance Outcomes, which take into account performance in areas like domestic and international appearances for home-grown players, coaching qualifications, facilities, talent identification and sports science and medicine set-ups.

Back in March 2018, u20s Secretary Allan Morrison had a vision for how the u20s Development Squad could be and this accreditation, that is down to his hard work and tenacity, is another piece in the jigsaw to creating something unique in the local area.   We join Spartans as the only clubs outside of the SPFL to have this status.

CJFC have taken time to build the u20s Development Squad over the last 18 months to become one of the best local development teams in the area.  This is a squad where boys can come to further their footballing opportunities under the umbrella of the Lowland and East of Scotland Football Associations.  The CAS Lite endorsement goes a long way to establishing the criteria that the Club will follow to ensure that any player coming through our player pathway to u20s development level are nurtured to move into adult football. We are also greatly assisted by Galaxy Sports Little Kerse – the home of Community Football – with access to their great playing facilities.

Some players that we have supported to move to further their development have been: Blair Hastings (East Stirlingshire); Jack Frame (West Calder); and Marcus Boyce (East Kilbride).  These young lads are a credit to Camelon u20s and played a big role in the first year of the development of the club.  Most recently, Jack Denham has moved on loan to Kilsyth Rangers as part of his development.  Also, Grant Wotherspoon reached the final stages of selection for the Scottish School Boys International Squad. 

Over the next 2 to 3 years, we have some fantastic young players in our other Academy teams that will get to play at the standard the u20s provide competitively, to continue their pathway within a development environment.

Camelon u20s will always try to improve and provide a strong development pathway for what is currently one of the youngest u20s teams in the league set-up.

The committee wish to thank Allan for his work behind the scenes to achieve this status, and for the vision for developing these aspiring young stars together with the coaching teams and Academy staff.

#weareCJFC #itswhoweare

Under 20s Signing News

Our Under 20s Development Squad may not have had a game tonight, but we can still bring you some signing news from them.

Firstly, we introduce Ryan Duffy. Ryan joins from Syngenta and plays in central defence. We have been tracking his development for the last 18 months and are delighted to capture his signature.

Ryan Duffy

Secondly, we introduce Jack Denham. Jack joins from Fallin Amateurs having had previous experience with Airdrie and Motherwell youth. Jack played as a trialist in the first teams mid week friendly against Harthill and even got on the score sheet. He also has a family  connection to the club as his father, Greig, is a previous manager of the Mariners.

Jack Denham

Welcome to the mighty Mariners Ryan and Jack.

#weareCJFC #itswhoweare

Under 20s News

The committee have been working away behind the scenes over recent weeks to sign and re-sign numerous players for our u20s Development Squad. Here’s information on just some of those players:

Kai Wilson: Kai is a product of our U17s team from the 2018/19 season and was a stand out player who has now progressed to our U20s as an indication of our youth pathway.

Paul McIntyre: Paul has re-signed from our U20s last season were he was team Captain. It is great to retain a player who also progressed from our U19s team in 2017/18.

Lewis Croy: Lewis has also re-signed from our U20s last season and has another 2 years at this level. He is another player progressing through our youth pathway from the U17s in 2017/18.

Keir Young: Keir has also re-signed from our U20s last season and is another player to benefit from our player pathway having played with our U19s in 2017/18. Keir has also had the opportunity to play with our first team on a couple of occasions.

Gregg Clarke: Gregg came from Pitreavie Pumas with whom our U20s have developed close ties with since last season. He has shown that opportunities to progress are there for boys outwith the Camelon pathway.

There are other players that will feature in due course but these are just some of the rising stars that we’re pleased to have the signature of as part of the CJFC family.

#weareCJFC #academy

He is one of our own

We are delighted to welcome local lad Grant Wotherspoon to the club. Grant is a towering central defender with great potential and joins our under 20’s development squad from Dunipace.

U20s Development Squad Sponsors required

The Camelon Juniors u20s Development Squad is seeking sponsors for its home and away match kits.

The u20s play in the Lowland Development League and as part of the CJFC u18s squad taking part in this year’s Scottish FA Youth Cup.

This would be a great opportunity for a local business or someone from further afield to get behind this Development Squad that regular provides additional opportunities into our First Team.

For more information or to discuss further, please contact our u20s secretary, Allan Morrison, on camelonjuniors20s@gmail.com or call our Club Chairman, Eric Henry, on 07739 066229.

Thank you in anticipation of your support.

#weareCJFC #itswhoweare #supportlocal

Scottish Youth Cup – First Round Draw

The draw has been made for the first round of the Scottish Youth Cup and we’ve received an away tie against Dunipace to be played on Friday 27 September.

Good luck to our Academy players taking part in this competition.

#weareCJFC

Here’s the full Central region draw:

Central Section

Civil Service Strollers v Partick Thistle
Dunipace v Camelon Juniors
Spartans v Stirling Albion
Tynecastle v Inverkeithing Hillhead Swifts

Byes

Alloa Athletic
Bonnyrigg Rose
Kelty Hearts
St Johnstone
St Mirren

Scottish Youth Cup

Once again, we’re proud to be entering a development team from our Academy into the 2019/20 Scottish FA Youth Cup. With our First Team making their first steps on the senior Scottish Cup this weekend, it highlights the commitment from the club and the potential for players to achieve great things on these high profile platforms.

There are a total of 41 clubs participating in the Scottish FA Youth Cup Competition 2019/20. Clubs are regionally placed in Round One to minimise travelling.

The draw will be made on 12 August and we could face any of the following from the Central list:

Alloa Athletic; Bonnyrigg Rose; Civil Service Strollers; Dunipace; Inverkeithing Hillfield Swifts; Jeanfield Swifts; Kelty Hearts; Partick Thistle; Spartans; St Johnstone; St Mirren; Stirling Albion; Tynecastle.

In the first round draw, there will be 14 numbered balls (we’re number 3) and 5 ties will be drawn. The remaining 4 clubs will receive a bye into Round Two.

Proposed Dates for Ties:

Round One – Friday 27 September 2019

Round Two – Friday 8 November 2019

Round Three – Friday 6 December 2019

Round Four – Friday 24 January 2020

Semi-Finals – Friday 21 February 2020

Final – Friday 24 April 2020 (TBC)