The Scottish Soccer Affiliation have employed Neil MacFarlane because the Males’s U19’s supervisor, changing long-time servant Billy Stark.
MacFarlane brings an elite pedigree to the position, having served as the top coach of Brentford B since 2019, a job during which he led the younger Bees to the Premier League Cup final 12 months.
The 46-year-old will proceed on this position alongside his SFA duties. He might be joined by a well-recognized face within the type of Chris Burke, who received seven caps and scored two objectives for the nationwide group between 2006 and 2014.
Burke loved a fruitful profession as a winger for the likes of Rangers, Kilmarnock, Ross County and Birmingham Metropolis, and brings an enormous wealth of expertise for Scotland’s future stars to study from.
In the meantime, MacFarlane performed over 300 video games throughout Scotland’s 4 leagues, representing Hearts and Aberdeen within the high flight earlier than shifting into teaching.
Over a twelve-year teaching profession, he has labored at numerous golf equipment as an assistant to former teammates and Scottish internationals Steven Pressley and Robbie Neilson, in addition to a sole managerial stint in control of Kidderminster Harriers within the 2018-19 marketing campaign.
Chatting with the SFA, the Dunoon native expressed his satisfaction at lastly representing his nation and likewise stated: “I feel the position has many similarities to my position at Brentford. This job with Scotland may be very comparable and that’s what attracts me to it.
“I’ve obtained to develop gamers, give them my experiences, push them and make calls for of them and hopefully push them into the U21s after which into the complete squad.”
MacFarlane additionally hailed the skills of the squad he has inherited from Stark, which incorporates starlets like Motherwell’s Lennon Miller, Kilmarnock’s David Watson and Aston Villa’s Rory Wilson.
The group is likely one of the most promising youth sides Scotland has produced in years, with a lot of MacFarlane’s squad already tasting senior soccer within the Scottish Premiership.
Within the SFA’s announcement of the teaching duo, chief soccer officer Andrew Gould stated that MacFarlane’s enticing and progressive fashion of play made him stand out and made him the right match for his or her imaginative and prescient going ahead.
Following Scotland’s disappointing marketing campaign at Euro 2024 in Germany, many followers have been crucial of the pragmatic group choices and magnificence of play favoured by the nationwide group.
This provides a stage of intrigue to the appointment and positively makes the U19 facet one to observe over the approaching years.
