Rangers have recorded a landmark achievement for the Auchenhowie academy system after topping the Scottish FA youth development league table for the first time.

The Ibrox board have invested significantly in the academy in recent seasons following a complete overhaul under the guidance of former youth chief Craig Mulholland in 2015.

And Rangers have now come out on top of the Club Academy Scotland standings that judges clubs on the standard of their facilities and programmes and rewards them for producing players that go on to star for clubs on both sides of the border and for the national team.

Clubs are assessed against a series of Measurable Performance Outcomes that also take into account the qualifications of coaches and areas such as talent identification and sports science.

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Rangers are one of a handful of clubs – alongside the likes of Celtic, Aberdeen, Hearts and Hibernian – that are in the ‘elite level’ category and the Association provide six-figure grants each season to aid the progression of the top young talents within setups across the country.

Points are awarded to clubs for the pathway that their players take in the game and Rangers have scored highly after seeing former Auchenhowie starlets Billy Gilmour and Nathan Patterson establish themselves in the Premier League as well as becoming key parts of Steve Clarke’s national squad.

Players that play in the top division south of the border earn the most points for their respective affiliated clubs and other leagues – such as the Premiership and English Championship – are bracketed together to reflect the levels that academy products are operating at.

Rangers have benefitted from seeing the likes of Robby McCrorie, Leon King, Adam Devine and Alex Lowry progress to the first team in recent seasons but the Light Blues are still benefitting from players such as Lewis Ferguson, who had a stint within the youth structure before moving to Hamilton Accies and latterly Aberdeen and Bologna. In a similar regard, Celtic collected points for their input into the development of Scotland skipper Andy Robertson ahead of his switch to Queen’s Park.

Players must spend at least a year within an academy to earn points for that club as the SFA use the MPO framework to continually assess the level of talent that is emerging through the ranks in Scotland.

This is the first time that Rangers have been ranked as the highest-rated academy in the country and comes as Auchenhowie chiefs embark on another formal review of their processes and structures to ensure a conveyor belt of talent is produced for the Ibrox first team and national squads.

Rangers appointed as Zeb Jacobs as their academy director following Mulholland’s departure from the club earlier this year and the Belgian is now putting his own stamp on the youth system in partnership with Michael Beale and his first team staff.

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Coach Harry Watling was a key part of the team that launched the ‘Ready’ initiative last year as Rangers took an innovative approach to the grassroots game by starting up football centres in several locations across the country. And it is hoped that the collaboration throughout the football department at the Training Centre will see the club reap the rewards as they strive to provide the platform for players to go on and make a name for themselves as part of a successful Rangers side.

Rangers have implemented a range of schemes – such as their partnership with Boclair Academy and the ‘best v best’ programme – in recent years to aid the development of players on and off the park and the results of their latest internal review are expected to be finalised by the end of the year.

Rangers were at the forefront of the plans for the introduction of a Conference League within the SPFL setup towards the end of last term and subsequently withdrew from the Lowland League after funding a place for their Under-20 side for two seasons.

The board have now financially supported a schedule that sees Rangers take on clubs from across the Britain and Europe but the Colts, who are managed by David McCallum, also have domestic fixtures on their schedule and are in SPFL Trust Trophy action against Alloa Athletic on Tuesday evening.

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Beale included McCrorie, King, Devine, Kieran Wright, Cole McKinnon and Arron Lyle in his squad for the win over Real Betis this week and then spoke enthusiastically about the prospects of midfielder Bailey Rice as he turned his attention to the visit of Motherwell this afternoon.

A successful youth structure is one of the key components for Rangers given the sporting, financial and reputational benefits as they seek to follow the lead of some of the most revered academy models in the European game.

And supporters will be eager to see more young players making the most of their chance and establishing themselves in the Ibrox first team in the coming years.