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The National (Scotland)
The National (Scotland)
Sport
Robbie Hanratty

Damning statistics display why Scottish football is falling behind Euro counterparts

Scotland's early exit from Euro 2024 has further highlighted there are several prevelant issues within our game. 

Steve Clarke's team were eliminated from the group stage at a whimper, registering just the one point from their three matches. 

The post-Germany inquest has began and with Scotland boasting the oldest squad at the tournament, new details from Transfermarkt should come as no surprise. 

Out of Europe's top 15 domestic leagues, the Scottish Premiership ranks a mere 11th in terms of minutes provided to players aged 21 or under during the 2023/34 season.

That's just 3.2% of the total league minutes being made up of personnel from that selected age bracket.

Compare that with the Jupiler Pro League in Belgium, 11.8%, or The Netherlands’ Eredivisie, 8.8%, then it’s clear there’s a block in allowing talent to progress among a first team environment.

(Image: Transfermarkt) It could suggest that Scottish clubs aren't willing to take the risk in giving youngsters adequate top-flight game time to aid their development, with data showing that half of the Premiership teams didn’t provide at least 50% of game time to a single player aged 21 or younger. 

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