CRAIG Mulholland, Rangers’ Head of Academy, says the club are focused on “pushing forward all the time” after a successful season across the board.

In a year that saw numerous academy players make their first-team debuts as well as Nathan Patterson’s club record sale, Rangers’ youth model has justifiably attracted plenty of praise for its talent production.

Alex Lowry and Leon King established themselves in Giovanni van Bronckhorst’s squad while Charlie McCann, Adam Devine, Cole McKinnon, Ross McCausland and Tony Weston all impressed in a recent 3-1 win over Hearts.

During a wide-ranging interview with RangersTV, Mulholland discussed the academy’s philosophy, benefits of Lowland League participation and vitality of fan participation in the production of Rangers’ next generation.

“When you’re in the emotion of the season there is games that you are winning and losing, it’s hard to see the woods from the trees,” Mulholland said.

“This is a good time to reflect. This has been a fantastic season for the academy, we’ve been delighted with the outcomes, but more importantly the process that’s taken place within that as well.

“Last summer, we saw Billy Gilmour and Nathan Patterson at the Euros with Scotland at 19 years old, four years ahead of the normal starting point [for an international breakthrough]. Most people in the country spoke about them as an exciting new generation of talent and the fact they’d both been here since the age of eight was a great starting point.

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“Then we had Robby McCrorie making his debut [against Alashkert in the Europa League qualifiers]. Who would’ve known at that point his clean sheet in the last round of qualifiers would become so important to the club?

“The [B team] UEFA Youth League run was fantastic, the Challenge Cup run and then, importantly for the academy, was the sale of Nathan [Patterson]. A kid who had been here since the age of eight became the club’s record sale.

“As the season developed further, we saw Alex [Lowry] breakthrough alongside Leon [King], Charlie [McCann] and Adam [Devine]. To finish the season with seven academy graduates on the park was a great moment for everyone.

“What we try and do when we reflect is not necessarily reflect the outcomes, but look at the process that has got us there to keep pushing forwards all the time. This process didn’t start this season, we’ve looked at it over five or six years. We’re now starting to see the outcomes and publicly, people can see that we’re developing some exciting talent that is making its way into the first team and also providing a return in investment.”

Van Bronckhorst handed a number of academy players an opportunity during the final game of the Premiership campaign at Tynecastle. However, that wasn’t what pleased Mulholland and B team coaches David McCallum and Brian Gilmour most on the day.

“Ultimately that was the culmination of a strategy put in place by our Sporting Director Ross Wilson, where the club at first-team level will always look to recruit, we’re Rangers, we must win games and that will never change. But we must also see a space for young players to come in.

”What was important at Tynecastle wasn’t only that the players played, when we had seven youth team players on the pitch we went from 2-1 to 3-1 and Cole McKinnon scored. What we’ve seen from this management team is that if the young players are good enough they’ll get a chance."

In the club’s opinion, participation in the Lowland League is a big reason that those stepping into the first team on a matchday appear to slot into the team's structure seamlessly and comfortably compete in a competitive environment. 

Not only does this grant early exposure to competitive football, it also enables the club to work with the players during the week. By training with the first team and working with coaches Rangers employ, those in the academy can access everything they need for their development without having to go out on loan.

“When you watch the likes of Alex Lowry speak after his game at Tynecastle, Cole McKinnon, Adam Devine, they all reference the Lowland League as being important,” Mulholland adds.

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“All the research suggests you have to make your debut and play against men by the age of 17, we’re trying to expose our players to men’s football as early as we can.

“Had these players not been in the building, been working with our coaches in a Rangers style, not been getting pushed by the sports scientists and analysts every day, they might have been on loan somewhere else and by the end of the season we ended up with 10 graduates having played in the first team, that wouldn’t have happened had those B team players been out on loan.

“Only 15 percent of their week is game day, 85 percent of their week is spent at the training ground, if we look at these lads they’re training with the first team every single day, if they’re out on loan somewhere, they don’t get that exposure.”

Mulholland also praised the number of supporters who attended B team games throughout last season, culminating in 9000 attending a 3-0 Old Firm win towards the end of last season.

“If you think about what we’re trying to do, we want to prepare players for the first team," he says.

"But even those that don’t make it here. Playing in front of 9000 at Ibrox, we can’t replicate it at a training ground.

“To do the same at Parkhead and play in front of an away crowd only was not just the technical and tactical buts, but the mentality of the boys, when they do transition to the first team, they’ll take that with them. The Rangers fans play a fundamental part in the boy's development by turning up.”