Community & Leisure - News

Shetland football under the spotlight  

01 June 2006

The development of local football has come under the spotlight this week with a visit to Shetland by Graeme Sutherland, Regional Manager with the Scottish Football Association (SFA) for the North of Scotland.

On his first visit to Shetland since taking up his Elgin-based post in January of this year, Mr. Sutherland is here to discuss future of the sport in the isles, and how links with national football programmes can benefit Shetland football. 

At a meeting last night attended by representatives of local football organisations, a number of topics were discussed including the structure of the sport in Shetland;  coach and referee training programmes; and player pathways to access mainland competitions and possibly North of Scotland Regional squads .

Last night's meeting was attended by representatives of the Shetland Senior and Junior Associations, Shetland Women's Football Club, the Works League and the referees group.   Discussions have also taken place today with the Council's Sport & Leisure Service, including topics such as school and community football programmes

Mr. Sutherland has been impressed with the enthusiasm for the sport locally, commenting - "We have had some open and productive discussions and there a strong commitment to further develop some of the recent links made by Shetland football with national SFA programmes, such as coach and referee education."

Mr. Sutherland will also be coaching junior squads over the coming weekend, in the Under 12, 14 and 16 age groups, as well as the Senior Men's County Squad, before leaving on Sunday.   He will return later in the season to deliver coach training workshops and to discuss football club development initiatives, such as the SFA Quality Mark scheme.

More information on the work by the SFA in the North of Scotland can be found at:  www.footballcentral.org/sfa/north