Donald Park named Scotland Under-19 coach

DONALD PARK is to combine his current role as Head of Coaching at the Scottish Football Association with that of national Under-19 coach.

Park, 63, is responsible for providing support and mentorship to the academies within the Club Academy Scotland structure. The former Meadowbank Thistle, Inverness Caledonian Thistle, Heart of Midlothian, Arbroath, Raith Rovers and Hibernian coach joined the SFA in 2009.

He said: “I am passionate about the development of our national youth team players so was honoured to be offered to the opportunity to take on this role.

“I know just how hard our clubs are working to produce players capable of one day playing for the senior Scotland squad and hope I can support their development when they represent the under-19s.

“I believe we have some exciting players coming through right now and look forward to working with them and helping them to fulfil their potential.”

Malky Mackay, Performance Director, added: “Donald is a highly-respected coach with an excellent pedigree so I am delighted that he has agreed to take charge of our Under-19 squad. We are fortunate to have someone as experienced as Donald in our ranks and the players will benefit enormously from his knowledge of the game.

“Alongside Brian McLaughlin and Scott Gemmill, we now have a highly-skilled compliment of coaches guiding our national youth teams and I am confident that we can look forward to a bright future under their tutelage.”