Following the recruitment of additional scouts in the north east, the club has revealed its plans going forward to ensure there is maximum focus on the area closest to its base.
Head of AFC’s Youth Academy, Neil Simpson, believes the restructure is the sensible route for the club to take.
He said: “As we said when we advertised for more scouts some weeks ago, the club already enjoys a fantastic reputation as a front runner in developing young players and talent identification is absolutely pivotal to that.
“The new structure will result in a greater focus on the north east, including Moray and Angus, will see more AFC presence within the community, with more recognised club contact and will allow us to identify the best players at as young an age as possible.”
Head of AFC’s Junior Academy, Gavin Levey added: “What we look for in a player is awareness, football mastery, character and athleticism while all of our scouts have remote access to our scouting database with the ability to add or edit players details, player reports, trial information, etc.
“Everything that we do is linked to the club’s philosophy and coaching programmes.”
Colin Grant, head of youth scouting, explained that the newly appointed part-time scouts, in addition to having an ambassadorial role, will also be responsible for building up their own network of colleagues.
He said: “They will be responsible for recruiting their own network of scouts in order that we are covering absolutely all football activity being undertaken including juveniles, schools and fun fours and will engage in regular two-way feedback with them. While the network scouts will act in a voluntary capacity, they will be included in Academy events.”
Photo: back - Brian Paterson, Brian Wright, Ricky Cheyne, Colin Grant, Jim Fraser, Scott McKenzie; front - Bob McEwan, Craig Sharp, Gavin Levey, Neil Simpson, Alan Cheyne and David Murray