St Mirren strengthens Academy with key appointments
St Mirren Football Club has moved to strengthen its academy setup with the appointments of Charley King and Scott McLennan.
Charley has taken on the role as U19s Lead Coach after spending more than 18 years with Queen’s Park. Last season, Charley led the Spiders U19s to the CAS Advanced Youth League and Cup double. As well as his time at Queen’s Park, Charley also held a position as a Scottish FA Performance School Assistant Coach.
Scott takes on the role of Head of Youth Phase & U17 Lead Coach, joining the club from English Premier League side Nottingham Forest where he was Youth Development Phase Coach for the past two years. Scott has also held roles at Celtic, Hearts and Fleetwood Town.
In line with Our Progression strategy, the appointments play a key role in furthering our ability to develop and build a sustainable football model that will allow the club to compete consistently, develop talent, grow responsibly and remain financially resilient in a rapidly changing football environment.
Speaking on the appointments, St Mirren Academy Director Allan McManus told stmirren.com: "I believe we've brought in two of the best young coaches in the business and that can only enhance what we're doing here at the club. We certainly feel they will come in and complement the existing core of staff who do a brilliant job at the academy.
"Over the last few years, Queen’s Park have had a strong academy and play a similar style of football as we do at academy level. For us to get Charley in, it’s almost a seamless transition and we're absolutely delighted to have him here. I believe that he'll have a huge impact positively on all our talented young players that are full-time.
"Like Charley, Scott is somebody that's highly thought of in the coaching world. He'll come in and be our Head of Youth Phase and lead our U17s. He'll also work closely with Charley at every opportunity, supporting him with the U19s.
"We've got a certain style of how we work within the St Mirren Academy and I think the biggest challenge was trying to replace the manager and Marc [Kelly] and the influence that they had within the academy, as well the level of quality that they bring on the coaching field.
"I firmly believe that bringing in Charley and Scott is absolutely taking us right back to the level, allied with Burton O’Brien returning to the club. With the strategy the club has in place, everyone is aligned from top to bottom and it's really exciting with the staff that we have."
"I believe we've brought in two of the best young coaches in the business and that can only enhance what we're doing here at the club. We certainly feel they will come in and complement the existing core of staff who do a brilliant job at the academy."
— End of Despatch —