CELTIC FC ACADEMY

Celtic FC Academy:

Children’s Programme Update:

The past few months have marked an exciting new chapter for our Children’s Programme, with the opening of our state-of-the-art training facility at Barrowfield. The new complex, featuring a world-class indoor dome and a performance analysis suite, has transformed the way we operate and develop our young players.

The indoor dome provides an outstanding, weather-proof training environment that ensures our sessions can continue year-round at the highest possible standard. The dome allows for consistency and creativity in our coaching programmes, ensuring every young player has the opportunity to train and learn in the best possible setting. Alongside the dome, our new analysis suite is an addition that brings another benefit to the development process. Players can now review training and match footage with their coaches, helping them understand their IDPs (Individual Development Plans) in detail, learn different aspects of the game and their own development.

One of the most significant benefits of the new Barrowfield facility is that it allows us to host our Development Centres and our U8–U12 age groups at the same time, on the same site. Having all our young players and coaches together in one environment has created a more vibrant and inspiring atmosphere. It encourages collaboration, mentorship, and a strong sense of belonging across all levels of the programme. Being together also allows our coaches to exchange ideas more fluidly, ensuring that the Celtic coaching philosophy is consistently applied throughout every session.

Beyond the improvements to Barrowfield, our commitment to providing a diverse and unique development experience remains important to the programme. We have continued to expand and enhance our futsal programme, which runs weekly across our age groups. This initiative gives our players the chance to develop their technical skills in a fast-paced, high-intensity environment that rewards creativity, quick decision-making, and close control. The futsal sessions have become a firm favourite among players and coaches, and they play a vital role in nurturing confident, skilful players.

In addition, our creative games programme has continued to grow in strength and variety. We have placed particular emphasis on small-sided formats such as 3v3 air pitch games, which provide young players with more touches of the ball, more opportunities to express themselves, and more involvement within game situations. These games are designed to encourage imagination, problem-solving, and flair—values that are central to the Celtic way of playing football.

Our players have also benefited from opportunities to test themselves in cross-border fixtures in England, where they have faced quality opposition in a competitive but developmental environment. These experiences are crucial for our players’ learning and giving them a taste of different styles and challenges beyond Scotland.

Overall, this has been a period of great progress and positivity for the Children’s Programme. The move to Barrowfield has provided the ideal platform to elevate our standards even further. The combination of world-class facilities, innovative coaching, and a quality learning environment ensures that our young players continue to thrive both on and off the pitch.

Willie McNab
Head of Children’s Programme