Bio:
Born on the 29th of July 1986, Jamie Hamill was raised in his birthplace of Irvine, North Ayrshire.
Playing his boys club football with Stewarton Annick, it wasn’t long until he made the step up to professional youth level with Kilmarnock.
Hamill found great success in his pro-youth days, winning Kilmarnock’s first-ever SFA Youth Cup in the 2003/04 season. He shared the park that day with the likes of Steven Naismith, Cammy Bell and Charlie Adam.
His form in the academy eventually merited a call-up to the Killie first team in April 2007 by then-manager Jim Jefferies. The versatile midfielder bagged himself a man-of-the-match award in his debut match against Hearts. His club form also earned him a Scotland U21 call-up, for whom he notched fourteen appearances.
After over a century of games for his local side, Heart of Midlothian came calling for Hamill. Another successful period in his career took place in the Capital, playing in Europe and captaining the Jambos on many occasions.
After Hearts were relegated in the spring of 2014, he returned to Kilmarnock for one more spell before a spell at Queen of the South.
Hamill’s final playing career destination was Stranraer, where he played 126 times over six seasons.
It was at Stranraer where the now 35-year-old took his first step into management in 2021.
His belief in giving younger Scottish players a platform to play at a high level was clear for all to see at Stranraer. From 2021 to his eventual departure in 2023, Stranraer’s average squad age was 22 years old.
Jamie spoke to Youth Football Scotland’s Jack Rogerson to shed light on his youth career…
What clubs did you play for at youth level?
I played for Stewarton Annick for one season at eleven-a-side, then I moved on to Kilmarnock on an S-form. I continued to play all the way through every age group until I made my debut for the first team. After that, I was fortunate enough to go on and play over 400 games in senior football.
Who were the best players you played with and against during your youth career?
The best player I have ever played against at youth level was Aiden McGeady. He was unbelievable from an early age – I remember always trying to kick him the few times I got close to him. Most of the time, he would just drop the shoulder, then he was gone, though.
The best I’ve played with at youth level was Steven Naismith – he always had the right attitude. We went all the way through the youth teams together and also played at Stewarton Annick with each other. His career was unbelievable and makes mine look average at best.
Who were your role models at youth level?
My role models were always the boys who were older than me when I had the opportunity to play a-year-or-two up. You could always see how good the older players were and the level I aspired to be at.
Who was your favourite coach throughout your youth career?
Allan Robertson always stood out to me at Kilmarnock.
At the time when I was growing up, it was difficult to get involved, as back then we had reserve football and teams had bigger squads to choose from.
Allan always wanted the best for the youth players. If it wasn’t for him, most of the boys around my age would have struggled to get into the first team or even the reserves.
If you had one piece of advice for today’s generation of youth footballers, what would it be?
My advice to young players now would be to work as hard as you can. Do the correct things in and out of football. Work on the basic skills in football, then if you do them well enough, the rest will come naturally. Always make sure you have a good foundation and base to work on – hard work goes a long, long way in football.
