Sir Kenny Dalglish insists the current Scotland team are trailblazers who can inspire a new generation of homegrown talent.
The Liverpool legend is also convinced the army of volunteers, parents and coaches at grassroots level are playing an integral part in ensuring a steady stream of gifted youngsters flow into our game. After starring as the guest of honour at an awards dinner at Hampden before Scotland beat Ukraine in midweek, the 102-times-capped former Scotland striker believes Stevie Clarke ’s squad has grown from strength to strength.
Dalglish said: “The greatest encouragement any kid can have is watching a Scotland side being successful. That encourages everybody to want to take part. The quality of the players that Stevie is getting to pick from is getting better and better.
“The better the quality of player you get, the better your chance of getting results. That is what is happening. If you get positive results that encourages the kids to go and play. The desire is still there.
“The people who work at grassroots level might be unsung but they are not unappreciated. For everyone who turned out to be a professional, they owe these people a huge debt.
“When we were growing up, our parents did their bit to get their child to go and play football, there were thousands of people like that. They used to take the strips home, wash them and have them ready for the next weekend. These people who help are hugely influential. But the greatest encouragement they can get is for the Scottish team being successful.”
Dalglish’s earliest football memories were formed in the streets of Possilpark and Milton and he insists there were mentors to whom he’ll always be grateful.
He said: “I played for a side called Possil YM and it was a guy called Bobby Dinnie who set the YM on their way. Before that there was a guy called Gordy Goodwin who had a wee club at a school which had a wee team and we played in that.
“We had a manager at Possil YM who moved at the end of one season to Glasgow United and a few of us went with him. The more encouragement you get, the better.
“Nobody has been successful without receiving a great deal of help from a lot of people. Everyone in the Scotland team just now would say that. You are only at that level because of what happened to you at grassroots.
“It is not just one tournament that you want to be successful in, you want to be successful all the time. Every single person who is involved in amateur or juvenile football isn’t in it for the accolades. They are very humble and it’s coming from the heart.
“Their motivation is just wanting to help the kids and even if they don’t get recognised for that, they shouldn’t feel as though they are unappreciated. Without them there isn’t a game.”
Dalglish believes the inclusion of both Celtic and Rangers in the Champions League group stage this season is another source of inspiration for Scotland’s youth to get engaged with the game. And he believes the Old Firm’s place at European football’s top table is already a moral victory.
Dalglish said: “Both clubs getting to the Champions League proper is a success in itself. Rangers had to go through the qualification process, not Celtic.
“But two clubs in the Champions League adds to the attraction for kids to go and play. They will be sitting thinking, ‘I could do that.’ Anything that gives them a wee nudge is good.”
Sir Kenny Dalglish was speaking at the Scottish FA Grassroots awards in partnership with McDonald’s and the Sunday Mail.
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