Just back from a nice relaxing mini break in Barcelona where I was struck by the public football facilities that were readily available there.

As we were staying quite far out from the city centre we did a lot of travelling on the fantastic tram and metro network. Whilst on the tram I noticed that we passed a number of publicly available astroturf football facilities which seemed to be well used. There was one such facility directly beside our tram stop and whilst waiting for our transport one morning I took the time to watch a busy session that a number of coaches were running for a gaggle of schoolkids.

When you compare this to some of the stories I have heard about the lack of decent facilities for juvenile football teams in this country it puts things into perspective. I recently heard one coach describe how his team are forced to train in an area used as a car park and how he even had to resort to doing circuit training inside a changing room when the training area was too rutted ! All the while he was being denied access to a proper playing surface by an over enthusiastic “parkie” who was concerned that the boys might churn up the surface. The parkie only felt empowered to do this as he was stopping an organised team, if they were just a bunch of lads going for a kick about he would let them play in peace. What a crazy mixed up world…

Without doubt a key factor in the use of these facilities is also the more predictable, and pleasant, climate in Spain. Knowing that the weather is likely to be good must encourage people to get out and use the pitches which being astro will be available year round. Contrast that will our own experiences of unpredictable overhead and underfoot conditions, with torrential rain, howling winds and pitches that are invariably either rock hard or mudbaths waiting to develop.

With all these facilities presenting opportunities to play and learn the beautiful game from a young age is it any wonder that Spain are producing such good young football stars at the moment?

However, the work at the grassroots end of Scottish football continues no matter what facilities and weather hurdles arise. There are plenty of good initiatives coming via the SFA and the SYFA and there look to be a number of good young players coming through the ranks, let’s hope this has a positive impact on the senior game in the fullness of time.