Community club St Cadoc’s inspires local talent

In the small town of Newton Mearns, lies an ambitious youth football team, St. Cadoc’s. The budding youth club aims to give kids within Renfrewshire and the surrounding area an opportunity to enjoy and develop their football skills in a safe and secure environment, with the full support and backing of the club coaches.

The idea of St. Cadoc’s Youth Club was first presented in 1987 by PE teacher, David Jones. He wanted the children to participate in footballing events around the community. Now, three decades on, the youth club is going stronger than ever. The bright reds have made some astonishing achievements – including the 2006 team winning the 2018 Blackpool Cup!

Since the creation of the club, the bulk of the success has come within the last 10 years. There is now a senior St. Cadoc’s team who currently plays in the West of Scotland first division.

Several noticeable footballers played for St. Cadoc’s in their early years. Stoke City defender, Liam Linsday, and current Queen of the South forward, Michael Ruth both appeared for their local youth club. This is a testament to the fantastic work the club is doing to ensure that local talented footballers get the support and backing they need to progress. St. Cadoc’s Youth Club now has more than 700 kids across 12 different age groups, ranging from kids aged just four up to the U20s.

Recently, Dundee Utd signed up former St. Cadoc’s 2006 forward, Sean Borland following a successful trial at the Scottish Premiership giants. Sean joined St. Cadoc’s after leaving Hamilton Accies’ academy, where he featured a number of times in the U18 squad, despite being significantly younger.

St. Cadoc’s U20 development squad currently plays in the Scottish Lowlands Development Football League. They have recently seen some success there, with Lowland League title contenders signing up former development players. This emphasises again that extremely good work is being put in by the club coaches to let the youth team strive and meet its aim continuously.

The club has had a very bright start to the season, across all year groups. The 2006 and 2008 squad both lead at the top of the Paisley and Johnstone league table while the senior team sit top of the West of Scotland Premiership Division. Whether by winning trophies or celebrating players moving on to pro-youth, the youth teams have continued to create success over the last few years,

The positive energy running through all age groups shows how strong the St. Cadoc’s community is. There are regular events held for the community and youth players to celebrate the successes of the football club. This is a great example of how well a youth club can be run.  Great care is taken for the youth to ensure they have fantastic opportunities as well as striving forward the senior team to provide great inspiration for aspiring footballers within the St. Cadoc’s community group.