Reserve and youth football was something considered by Raith Rovers in the summer but placed on the back burner.
They intend to revisit that in the future, perhaps as early as next year, but for now prioritising the first team and certain other pressing matters around Stark’s Park is paying dividends on the park.
Rovers are second in the Championship, within touching distance of leaders Dundee United and into another semi-final in the SPFL Trust Trophy.
On Friday, they have the chance to further their reputation as a cup team with a Fife derby in the Scottish Cup.
That game and their return to league action in Inverness the following week are the immediate focus for now and plans for reserve football and the like are for further down the line.
Ian Murray: We had to sort out the Raith first team
“It’s something we looked at at this stage last season,” said Murray. “Then there was a lot going on in the summer – takeovers and investment. We’ve not really spoken about it again.
“We’ll probably do that in January or February to give us a couple of extra months – though it might not be next year.
“It’s certainly something in the coming years that we’ll look at.
“We’re all in agreement that it was just too soon this season. We had to sort out the first team first, then we made sure we got the club sorted out when we were in a position to do it, rather than just scrambling something together.”
Though it doesn’t seem to be having an adverse impact at the moment, it can be a challenge for players who have to use first-team matches, or the odd bounce game, to return to fitness.
That can bring pressure to hit the ground running when you do get an opportunity, something striker Jamie Gullan certainly did in the recent victory over Hamilton.
He wasn’t on the scoresheet but was heavily involved in Raith’s goals.
“You don’t get that build-up of minutes as easily when you come back from injury,” he said.
“But the physio and the sports scientist are good at building you up to a level where you can come back in and compete straight away. I did a lot of rehab to get myself ready and came back in good condition.”
More to reserve football than meets the eye
There is a lot more involved in creating tiers below the first team than merely arranging games, however, which Murray is keen to point out.
Not only was reserve or youth football placed down the list of priorities going into this season, it takes a lot of legwork to get it up and running from scratch.
“We’d all love to have academies and to bring through young players, but you’ve got to have a scouting network in place, you’ve got to get coaches in place,” added the Rovers boss.
“We don’t have a training centre with four or five pitches, we have one pitch to train on. Logistics plays a big part in it.”
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