Inverness Caley Thistle academy ‘quickly recovered’ from impact of Covid-19 pandemic, says head of youth Charlie Christie
Charlie Christie believes that Inverness Caledonian Thistle quickly recovered from any in-house impact the Covid-19 pandemic had at the club.
Five years ago this weekend the UK went into lockdown, with the knock-on effect on sport being that everything practically shut down overnight.
For clubs like Inverness, who were sitting second in the Championship at the time, it meant they were denied a chance at promotion through the play-offs, and it would be six months before they would return to training and matches.
As such, there was serious concern at the time that there would be something of a lost generation of young talent coming through academies across Scotland, with youngsters unable to get proper training at a key stage of their development.
Up and down the country, football clubs searched for news ways to keep their prospects ticking over and engaged, and the Caley Jags were no different.
“We were stopped by the Scottish FA straight away, but luckily we did well, especially with the younger age groups,” Christie recalled.
“I take my hat off to the coaches, because we had a lot of homework sent out to the kids – basically telling them to practice with a ball and a wall.
“It was designed to do things like improving their weaker foot, and the kids bought into it. We got little videos in of them doing their skills, and it was good that they still had goals to achieve.
“Reflecting on it I don’t think there was any noticeable downturn after those kids missed all those sessions.
“I don’t think people realise the amount of coaching we do with kids, it’s incredible. We’re doing three nights-a-week, and a game at the weekend, and we sometimes have them in the gym on top of that.
“When you think Arbroath’s first team are training two nights-a-week, it puts the amount of coaching our kids get into perspective.
“The coaches did feel like they had to start from scratch in certain skillsets with some of the younger age groups, because they had lost several months of training, but five years on they have caught up.”
While young players like Daniel MacKay, Cameron Harper and Roddy MacGregor were just establishing themselves in Caley Thistle’s first team squad when the pandemic hit, the conveyor belt of talent did not stop with them.
Albeit sped up due to the club’s financial situation off the pitch, recent years have seen the likes of Lewis Hyde, Robbie Thompson, Ethan Cairns, Keith Bray and Calum Macleod become familiar faces in the matchday squad.
All of those players would have been at formative stages of their careers when football was taken away from them for a period of time, but clearly Covid did not hamper the production of academy players too much.
“I think there are eight young players we have who train with the first team on a daily basis,” Christie reasoned.
“You think about what they missed out on, but Calum would have been an under-13 for example.
“He has always been highly thought of, since he was a 10-year-old, but there was concern at the start of Covid.
“The good thing was that they were still able to do a lot on their own. To be honest, post-Covid that’s something they probably need to do more of.
“The kids bought into it big time, as did their mums and dads, so that covered a bit of what they were losing. Then we did have to go back a bit and play catch up.
“We were concerned about the youth development at the time, but we only lost a handful of young players over two or three age groups and the other kids and their parents all stuck with us.
“That meant that when we did get back, if anything they were desperate to get back, so especially at the younger age groups the youth academy managed to make up any lost time.
“We’ve also looked at whether it impinged a few years later on boys coming into the first team, but it didn’t.
“The most we’ve had in a season was 10 or 12 apprentices, and we usually have between three and six depending on how good they are, and there wasn’t any knock-on effect on that.
“That progression didn’t stop, which is important for the club. I think it’s going to get more important, and I hope it will, but at the end of the day we’ve got to try and give these boys the opportunity.”
Rather than youth development, Christie feels there may still be a lingering effect from Covid in other areas of the club – for example, the level of support in the stands.
Being given the option to watch at home on live streams, Christie believes many fans got out of the habit of coming to the Caledonian Stadium to support their team, which is something the club arguably need now more than ever.
“Covid certainly had a small impact on the youth, but we have certainly recovered from that – there were other impacts on the club that we maybe haven’t recovered from,” Christie admitted.
“I personally know one or two people who got out of the habit of coming to Caley Thistle games.
“It’s been hard to get them back, because the football has been a difficult watch at times, but the win over Stenhousemuir was maybe more like what our fans have been brought up on.
“There are people who used to be regular attendees, but they haven’t been since Covid. Maybe it was a good excuse for them after we slipped out of the Premiership, and they got out of the habit of coming along.
“We’re now trying to get our fanbase back up, and Andrew Benjamin has all these initiatives, and I reckon there are a few hundred people out there who used to watch us. It would be great if they came back.
“That has been the most noticeable impact of Covid. It was difficult at the time, but we just had to get on with it.”