billko Posted December 12, 2014 Report Share Posted December 12, 2014 Excellent news for ThistleWeir and shows all the hard work that has been going on at the Academy is paying off. http://thistleweir.co.uk/news/2014/december/academy_awarded_4_star_status_by_sfa_licensing_committee 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
north stander Posted December 12, 2014 Report Share Posted December 12, 2014 This achievement now places the Academy within the top football development institutions in the country. It marks a vital step in the Academies aim to compete in the top tier of the Club Academy Scotland games programme. Good news. Can you tell us who else has 4star status (or higher?) Is the top tier, only clubs with 5star status, or lower? Is there somewhere that breaks down the leagues and star status of each club, or can you summarise it here? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mr Bunny Posted December 12, 2014 Report Share Posted December 12, 2014 Found this: http://www.scottishfa.co.uk/resources/documents/ClubLicensing/Part2:National/Part2Sect7_YouthTeamFootballCriteria.pdf Not easy to find stuff ... Google OK for obvious stuff but sometimes useless. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jagfox Posted December 12, 2014 Report Share Posted December 12, 2014 (edited) Can we get four stars on our shirts now? Edited December 12, 2014 by jagfox 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SookeJag Posted December 12, 2014 Report Share Posted December 12, 2014 Copied from Facebook. by Scott Allison. A great end to 2014 for our youth academy! The SFA licensing committee have awarded our academy 4 star status, we have jumped from a 2 star in one year and now sit at same grade as many top established academies in scotland. In my opinion the success of any organisation ultimately comes down to the attitudes and efforts of the people within it. In the past year I genuinely believe we've put together a staff team of the highest quality - from coaches, sports science staff, medical etc. A great bunch of folk and the hard work all are putting in is starting to pay off as we motor forward with our plans. All the guys working in the academy can be proud of their efforts in 2014 creating a top quality environment for player development. Well done team 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kni Posted December 12, 2014 Report Share Posted December 12, 2014 (edited) Congratulations to everyone at Thistle Weir on their achievements in only a year. The Weirs will be hopefully be very satisfied with such an early return on their very generous investment. Does anyone know what needs to be done to get a five or six star rating? Would it require further financial investment? Edited December 12, 2014 by kni Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lambies Lost Doo Posted December 12, 2014 Report Share Posted December 12, 2014 Superb news. Great work from the youth setup. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
billko Posted December 12, 2014 Author Report Share Posted December 12, 2014 (edited) The Weirs investment has been fantastic for Thistle but you still need the right folk running it and the difference in the Academy from 2yrs back is unbelieveable. The kids are going in at much younger age groups to the Academy now and this will make a huge difference getting top quality coaching at such an early age. The 4 star rating is also great news in that Thistle now have an Academy set up as good as any and will be able to compete with these so called Elite teams both on and off the park where young talented kids will now see Thistle as an attractive option to become a part of. I'm sure the set up will continue to improve in the coming years and this will hopefully see lots of talented players from the Academy push on to first team football. Good news. Can you tell us who else has 4star status (or higher?) Is the top tier, only clubs with 5star status, or lower? Is there somewhere that breaks down the leagues and star status of each club, or can you summarise it here? 4 star is the level required for Elite which is the top tier in Scottish youth football and i know it's difficult to get everything in place to achieve this level. Thistle making the jump from 2 - 4 star shows how serious Thistle have been in regards getting their Academy up with the best of them. I think 5 star status would be having an indoor facility (i might be wrong) but it's not required and at the moment Thistle have in place what they need in terms of the amount of coaches with the required qualifications and all the other staff that is required to reach this high standard. The facilities the club have the use of are also of a high standard which is important. At the moment Thistle's younger teams still playing 7 a sides have been playing against the Elite sides but the older teams playing 11's have been playing in the second tier although it's still a good standard. Elite sides are, Aberdeen, Celtic, Forth Valley Regional Academy ( Stenny, Falkirk ,East Stirling) Dundee Utd, Fife Regional Academy (Dunfermline, Raith, East Fife and Cowdenbeath) Hamilton, Hearts, Hibs, Motherwell, Rangers.and St Mirren The Club Academy section below the top tier have Airdrie, Annan, Alloa, Clyde, Dumbarton, Dundee, Elgin, ICT, Morton, Queens Park, Queen of the South, Ross County, Stirling Albion, St Johnstone and Thistle Weir Will be good to see the boys moved up and play in this Elite tier and hopefully it happens soon. Edit (forgot about Ayrshire's teams) Killie are Elite and Ayr are in Thistle's section) Edited December 12, 2014 by billko 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kni Posted December 12, 2014 Report Share Posted December 12, 2014 ^ When do we start playing in the elite tier? From your list, it seems that Ayrshire is missing out. Kilmarnock and Ayr should get their act together. Do they have lower rated academies? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
billko Posted December 12, 2014 Author Report Share Posted December 12, 2014 (edited) ^ When do we start playing in the elite tier? From your list, it seems that Ayrshire is missing out. Kilmarnock and Ayr should get their act together. Do they have lower rated academies? Apologies I forgot about the Ayrshire sides Killie are in Elite and have a good set up and Ayr are in Thistle's section who are also a decent outfit. They were Elite a couple of seasons ago but lost their status The SFA really want to set up Regional set ups throughout Scotland where teams from a region join up youth set ups and move their best boys into these set ups with the idea that the players will all go to a nearby SFA performance school. No idea when Thistle will move up but hopefully it's next season. Edited December 12, 2014 by billko Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
billko Posted December 12, 2014 Author Report Share Posted December 12, 2014 Can we get four stars on our shirts now? 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
north stander Posted December 13, 2014 Report Share Posted December 13, 2014 Found this: http://www.scottishf...allCriteria.pdf Not easy to find stuff ... Google OK for obvious stuff but sometimes useless. Thanks Mr B. Not the easiest of document to follow. But informative in itself with a bit of wading through it. 4 star is the level required for Elite which is the top tier in Scottish youth football and i know it's difficult to get everything in place to achieve this level. Thistle making the jump from 2 - 4 star shows how serious Thistle have been in regards getting their Academy up with the best of them. I think 5 star status would be having an indoor facility (i might be wrong) but it's not required and at the moment Thistle have in place what they need in terms of the amount of coaches with the required qualifications and all the other staff that is required to reach this high standard. The facilities the club have the use of are also of a high standard which is important. At the moment Thistle's younger teams still playing 7 a sides have been playing against the Elite sides but the older teams playing 11's have been playing in the second tier although it's still a good standard. Elite sides are, Aberdeen, Celtic, Forth Valley Regional Academy ( Stenny, Falkirk ,East Stirling) Dundee Utd, Fife Regional Academy (Dunfermline, Raith, East Fife and Cowdenbeath) Hamilton, Hearts, Hibs, Motherwell, Rangers.and St Mirren The Club Academy section below the top tier have Airdrie, Annan, Alloa, Clyde, Dumbarton, Dundee, Elgin, ICT, Morton, Queens Park, Queen of the South, Ross County, Stirling Albion, St Johnstone and Thistle Weir Will be good to see the boys moved up and play in this Elite tier and hopefully it happens soon. Edit (forgot about Ayrshire's teams) Killie are Elite and Ayr are in Thistle's section) Thanks. Just what I was looking for. You're a fantastic poster when you post about the Jags. After todays latest events (comedy), you now ready to fully convert to Glasgows true football team, and leave that shame and nonsense of Sevco in your past? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Garscube Road End Posted December 13, 2014 Report Share Posted December 13, 2014 This is fantastic news and makes my heart swell with pride. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jaggernaut Posted December 13, 2014 Report Share Posted December 13, 2014 Well done to everybody concerned! (Psst: somebody should point out to the author of the piece on the Thistle Weir page that the singular possessive of Academy is Academy's, not Academies......) Their kit is better than the senior team's kit! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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