Craig Mulholland salutes Rangers B’s ‘massively successful’ Lowland League spell  

There has long been acknowledgment that Scotland’s youth development system falls down in offering a bridge between academy football and men’s first-team action. 

Rangers have been at the forefront of trying to address this missing element of the development pathway, advocating the introduction of Colts into the Scottish league pyramid without success. 

A temporary solution was reached last season with the Old Firm clubs added to the game’s fifth tier and the status quo was maintained this year with Hearts also becoming part of the set-up. How long that will last is anyone's guess and a more stable framework for the future remains elusive. 

So how has it gone? With well over a season of football now water under the bridge, Mulholland is under no doubt that exposing his talented kids to the challenges of men’s football has been a positive addition to the toolkit used to breed the next generation of elite footballers. 

“It’s been massively successful,” he beamed. “They got a games program that exposed them to competitive men’s football. If you look at players who featured last year, they benefited because they were in the training centre and could utilise our medical team, our sports science team, our analysis team, our coaching staff and other facilities.  

“We do acknowledge that some games in the Lowland League are tougher than others. We are grateful we are in it but it’s also about the variety of competition. The fact you also have the UEFA Youth League means you have get best versus best at the lower age group. The fact you have the Challenge Cup means you play Dumbarton and Alloa and teams like that. 

“The biggest thing though was that for the likes of Alex Lowry, Charlie McCann and Cole McKinnon, they are playing with the first team most days, not with us. So they get used to it and that’s done by design. If they are on loan somewhere we don’t get that experience so we are lucky that the Lowland League allowed us back in but it is only a one-year thing.” 

The lack of permanence in the structure is clearly a source of frustration to the Academy head who feels an integration of clubs into the pyramid, with the ability for promotion that provides, could benefit the whole of the game. 

“We’ve spoken openly about the massive gap after under-18s football and Scottish football needs to fill that gap,” Mulholland said assertively. “It’s ridiculous there’s nothing in place. We will push really hard to ensure there is something next year that actually could be beneficial for everyone, even though we are most interested in Rangers.  

“You mentioned being impressed with Robbie Ure earlier, he could be the next Scotland striker or Alex Lowry the next wide player or Adam Devine the next right back. We need to be sure these lads are getting the right opportunities for us, for the national team and do something really exciting for the whole national game in that space.” 

B Teams are a controversial issue at the best of times, with fans of smaller clubs not slow to make their feelings known on social media.  

And the problematic nature of the debate seems to have bled into attitudes within Scottish football’s corridors of power.  

I ask if that’s about selling a vision of a wider impact, but Mulholland feels that ship has now sailed. 

He admitted: “We won’t be able to sell the vision because if you look at Rangers and Celtic they are for many a fantastic brand for Scottish football, but for others at smaller clubs, lower down the league they can see it as quite a toxic brand for Scottish football.  

“So this can’t be driven as a Rangers and Celtic piece although it will benefit us and we are not hiding from that. It needs to be something that’s beneficial for Scottish football and something that’s driven by the leadership of Scottish football.  

“It can’t be driven by us, although we are wholly committed to and fully supportive of it. That’s where we need to make sure we are involved in the right groups and committees to do something exciting for Scottish football.  

“We all want to see young players do better, get to the top level and see our national team get to World Cups and Euros. One of the things we are really proud of in here is that two of the brightest players in Scottish football in a while have been Billy Gilmour and Nathan Patterson who came through our academy. We want the next three or four coming from here as well but every other club should have that aspiration. Scottish football has to have that aspiration and sometimes it means some hard changes.”