All 42 SPFL clubs told under-21s account for just 4.1% of Premiership minutes at St Andrews summit

All 42 SPFL clubs met in St Andrews in September for a summit where data showed Scottish players under 21 accounted for just 4.1% of minutes in the Scottish Premiership.

That figure was presented alongside comparisons such as the Danish Superliga's 15.1% for the same age group, and sits alongside concerns voiced by former academy player Calum Ferguson about the promised pathway from youth systems to first-team football.

Ferguson, now 31 and a development officer with Alba Football Alliance, graduated from Inverness Caledonian Thistle's academy at 18 but made only two first-team appearances before moving to lower-league clubs and later to Canada and New Zealand to pursue top-flight football. He told BBC Scotland's Eorpa programme: "Parents believe their boy, or their girl, will get to the first team - that they will be a star in football."

"That is not the truth at all. You just fall away from the game and your life changes overnight," he added, describing the gap between academy promise and reality for many young players.

In the first round of fixtures this season, 28% of starters in the Scottish Premiership were born in Scotland, a figure the summit contrasted with Norway where homegrown players made up 72% of starting XIs on their opening weekend.

Norway’s rules are strict: a club’s full squad must include 16 homegrown players and a matchday squad can have a maximum of nine foreign players. Nicklas Fuglestad, 20, who regularly plays for Viking FK in Stavanger, said: "Everyone I know is very happy with how the Norwegian football league operates. It makes it a bit easier for a young player to move up from the academy and make the step into A-league football."

Viking shifted focus to academy development nearly a decade ago after relegation, finished champions last year and reached the Champions League league stage, where they recently started eight Norwegians in their line-up, four of whom had been in their academy, with another three from their academy coming off the bench. With both Viking FK and Bodø/Glimt competing in Europe's top competition this year, their national team also reached the World Cup quarter final – and that wasn't just down to man mountain Erling Haaland.

Håkon Grøttland, head of player development at the Norwegian Football Federation, pointed to two wider changes behind those results: greater use of artificial pitches and increased investment in coaching and talent development. Between 2016 and 2025, 539 such pitches were built with another 586 redeveloped, nearly all open and free to use so long as official games aren't taking place. Grøttland added: "In the period 2010 to 2020 we used a lot of resources, hired a lot of talent coaches, and built some talent systems in Norway, where I think it's quite unique because it's a system that link grassroots football and top club football together." He also cited the establishment in 2013 of Landslagskollen (the National Team School) following failure to qualify for Euro 2012; eleven of the 15 players who played in Norway's 2-1 win over Brazil in the round of 16 at this year's World Cup were part of the NTS pathway from under-15 or under-16s.

In response to the figures, the Scottish FA proposed quotas and financial incentives at the St Andrews meeting, putting forward three measures: two under-21 Scotland-eligible players to start in all Scottish Cup matches; two under-21 Scotland-eligible players to start in all Premier Sports Cup matches; and clubs should field Scotland-eligible under-21 players for an average of 60 minutes in each league game across all four SPFL divisions (6% of available minutes). The SFA said a vote on the Scottish Cup rule should have happened in October at its AGM but did not take place and is now expected in mid-December, while a second vote is due at the SPFL's annual meeting this month; adoption of the league and Premier Sports Cup recommendations requires 11 out of 12 top-flight clubs to vote in favour.

St Mirren manager Craig McLeish, 36, who took the job on an interim basis in March before being given a permanent contract in the summer, said he did not believe the proposals went far enough but doubted a more extreme package would pass. By September he had given six debuts to homegrown players and, drawing on his academy experience, said he could not sit where he is and not give youngsters opportunities if they are ready. He told the BBC: "It's probably a little bit unfortunate, the governance in this country, that we can't just be told by one power, look this is what's happening." On manager pressure he added: "Yeah, you've got a longer term contract but you know that can be short-lived. It's results based and I'm totally fine with that. I don't fear the negative outcome that can come. I trust them," he says.

All will become clear once the votes on the SFA's proposals take place, with the outcome determining whether the governing body’s recommendations are adopted and whether clubs accept the proposed measures to increase playing time for young Scotland-eligible players; the delay in scheduling the first vote suggests progress is not unfolding as the SFA had hoped.