Scottish football today is being forced to confront an old problem again, with the Scottish FA inviting SPFL clubs to a summit on September 4 to discuss homegrown talent and the wider state of youth development. The message is clear: there is a willingness to talk, but the scale of the challenge still looks huge.
That is the strong view of Chris Docherty, who spent three years as SFA Head of Men’s Elite Strategy before becoming technical director of San Diego FC in June. Docherty believes Scotland has made progress, but only in the most limited sense.
“It was a privilege to have the chance at a young age to be given responsibility to influence Scottish football at the SFA,” Docherty said. “And I think that we made some changes, which might help in the longer term.
“But I would say, in all honesty, that we changed maybe 5% of what needs to be changed if we really want to move forward on player development.”
Why the September 4 summit matters
The significance of the summit is not just that it has been called, but that it reflects how long this issue has been simmering. The Scottish FA Review of Youth Development warned that Scotland was falling further behind other nations in producing young players, and the response now appears to be a renewed attempt to get clubs around the table.
Docherty’s point is that change cannot remain partial or cosmetic. If the system is still producing too few players ready for the highest level, then the conversation has to move beyond good intentions.
That is where self-interest becomes a problem. Even with clubs voting in favour of co-operation agreements, the source of the issue is described as a persistent reluctance to give up individual advantage for the good of the wider game.
The Norway comparison offers a clear lesson
Docherty points to Norway as an example of what can happen when a football nation decides to act collectively. He recalled a conversation in which he was told that 15 years ago there were no Norwegian teams doing well in European competitions, while the national team was also struggling and young players were not getting into the league.
“The national team was not doing well. There were no young players playing in the league and they got all the directors of the clubs round the table in a room and said ‘for our national team and to bring revenue to the league and for your teams to do better in European competition, we all need to agree collectively to go in this direction now,’” Docherty said.
He added that he was told: “that’s what you should do in Scotland.”
The comparison is especially sharp because Norway have moved on while Scotland still look stuck in the first stage of reform. Last month, Norway reached the quarter-finals of the World Cup, while Scotland exited after the first stage.
That does not mean progress is impossible in Scotland. But it does mean the September 4 summit has to be more than a discussion. If the game accepts that only around 5% of the necessary change has been made, then the next step needs to be much bigger, and much more decisive.
Docherty’s final warning is that excuses cannot be allowed to distract from the real issue. For Scottish football, the question is no longer whether the problem exists. It is whether the people running the game are finally ready to do enough about it.
