My Youth Career: Ally Roy

Bio:

Ally Roy was born in the Scottish town of Airdrie in North Lanarkshire in the early summer of 1997, less than a week after local club Airdrieonians had fallen 5-2 to Hibernian in the Scottish Premier Division playoffs, consigning the club to another year of second-tier football for the following season.

But Ally’s career would not begin properly until the 2010’s – when, after a childhood spent with local boys clubs such as Cumbernauld United and Kilsyth Rangers, he would join the youth ranks of then Scottish Third Division side Stirling Albion. The striker impressed enough at youth level to be snapped up by one of the giants of the Scottish game – Heart of Midlothian, just as he was establishing himself in Albion’s U20s and on the fringes of their first team.

In a career that has taken him from the Tynecastle first-team to both the Northern and Southern top flights in Ireland, and finally back to the Scottish central belt with current club Dumbarton, Ally spoke with us to retrace his steps and the building blocks of his early career that he now utilises with the young players at his own R10 football academy.

What clubs did you play for at youth level and what was the experience like?

“At youth football I played boys club throughout my younger ages up until I was about 14/15 with before choosing to sign for Stirling Albion pro youth and had two years there which was fantastic for me and I enjoyed every minute of it as it really helped me grow as a player from playing boys club to being involved with 17s/20s and occasionally first team from a very young age.

“It was great exposure to what men’s football would be like at a young age, and the demands expected before signing for Hearts. There, that went up another notch, and the differences between youth football and men’s football became so apparent.

“You no longer viewed the game as just what you loved doing as a kid and a dream, but how fortunate you are to be in a position where you are playing in front of thousands of people and getting paid to do it.

“The intensity levels and expectancy levels and everyday standards became a lot higher, and so important, as it was no longer okay to lose games. Every point mattered, which increased the pressure on players, and this is something you never experienced as a young kid.

“As a kid, you played football and just thought about how things affected you and your team, but then playing professionally showed you how it affected so many people as well, such as the fans, teammates, managers, staff and your family.

“Everything is faster-paced when you step into the senior game. Passes are all fired in, and everything is done at an intensity level, and you have a full squad of players who are ready and capable of taking your place if you aren’t performing. You don’t have that pressure as much at a young age, as you just play, and most boys clubs’ game time is shared throughout squads.”

You also played international youth football with Northern Ireland – how did this compare?

“Playing internationally was an incredible experience and something I’ve never taken for granted.  To be selected to play for your country at any level is an honour and shows that at that time you are performing well for your club, so it’s at first a nice reward but also a privilege.

“You get the opportunity to play against some of the best players in the world in other countries at your age group, which allows you to test yourself and your ability to the max.

“It’s different to club football in the sense that you have a very short time usually 10-12 days with your team and you play two games in that break so it’s a hectic period and you’re trying to cram a lot of tactically to prepare for matches while not playing with teammates on a daily basis so trying to build relationships on and off pitch too with guys you only see a few times per year.”

Best players you played with, and against, during your youth career?

“The best players I played with during my youth career were my Hearts teammates Sam Nicholson, who is at Motherwell now and Andy Irving, who has just left West Ham after playing in the English Premier League. I also played with Dan Ballard at international level, who was brilliant too.

“As for the best players played against, I would say Fabian Ruiz and Mikel Oyarzabal, who both went on to play for Spain. Patrick Roberts, who was at Celtic, was a tough opponent as well.”

Best advice you received as a youth player?

“The best advice I received was as a young kid of 12/13 year old from Ian Ross. He told me not to worry about what other people are doing or thinking.

“To be confident, trust and believe in your own ability and work harder than anyone else on the pitch, and you’ll give yourself the best chance to get to where you want to go, and it is something I’ve always stuck by.

“Stevie Crawford told me when I was 17 to have high standards every day in everything you do on and off the pitch.”

“These stuck with me and helped me push myself every day as a kid. I was always a younger kid who didn’t back themselves enough, and then growing up into the men’s game, you realise how little things mattered too.”

Who were your idols and role models when coming through the system?

“Growing up as a striker, my idols were Thierry Henry, Cristiano Ronaldo, Nacho Novo and Kenny Miller.

“I wouldn’t say I had a particular role model coming through the system. I looked up to a lot of players and respected their position and the things they achieved in the game. So I was always a person who would want to learn from everyone whenever possible.

“I was lucky enough to be around an environment at Hearts where you were constantly involved with the first team, and there were a lot of players who were established players at the time who would give you advice. They made you feel welcome, like you belonged there and constantly reminded you that you were involved on merit.  There’s no need to worry about making mistakes or playing in fear; just keep doing the same things that got you involved in the first place.

“This really helped me at a young age with transitioning out of school, playing with Stirling, to training every day and being involved with top-level players.”

You have your own coaching setup now – what piece of advice do you pass on that you feel is most important to younger players in today’s game?

“Don’t be afraid to make a mistake! Express yourself and try things. It’s important to have the belief to go and try things to allow yourself the opportunity to learn.

“Too many kids play in fear of making a mistake or worry about getting in trouble for doing the wrong thing.

“Youth football is about learning and showing how good you can be. The only way you can do that is by working hard and allowing yourself a platform to be the best player you can be.”

Most important skill set for a young player to have?

“Having a strong mindset and a good work ethic – No one gets anywhere without a willingness to work hard and give 100% to everything that you do, as well as believing in yourself and having the confidence to maximise your potential.”

“It’s not always the best technical players who make it through the system. Ability means nothing if you don’t have the mindset and work ethic to put in the effort every day.”

If you could change one thing about Youth Football in Scotland today what would it be?

“That’s a difficult one; however, I feel we could help improve the youth game by being able to lengthen kids’ training times.

“I get this is difficult due to pitch bookings, payments, etc., but some kids are left only training two or three hours in a whole week, which isn’t going to be enough time to help them learn and improve in certain areas of the game in which they are maybe struggling.

“I feel that if there was an opportunity to provide Youth football in Scotland a bit more funding and on-pitch opportunities, then this would help kids develop skills further as encouraging more time on the ball and focused training. Also, helping with kids’ understanding of the mental side of football and trying to prepare them to understand that not everything will be perfect.

“I know there is a lot of work done to help players who get let go from clubs on that side of things for older players with exit trials, but I feel for the vast majority that this is something that kids are just left to figure out for themselves, and by that point, they find it difficult to process.

“Kids can fall away from the game that they devoted everything to for years, maybe because they are unprepared for rejection and struggle to bounce back and feel like because one person/club’s views on you aren’t what you hoped for doesn’t mean that is the same opinion of everyone.”

Where can we find out more about your coaching and what you do for youth players today?

“I run R10 Football Coaching now. You can find out more about us mainly on Instagram and Facebook; however, we are also on TikTok and X too.

“Our aim is to help the younger generation of upcoming footballers through our own personal experiences throughout the last 12 years of playing professionally.

“We work with players at all different levels, from current pro players, kids in top academies in the country, kids playing at grassroots, players who have made a transition to scholarships in America and younger kids just starting out playing the game they love.”