Just read this on the SPL website:

Scottish FA Performance Awards Scheme The Scottish FA has launched its ?500,000 Performance Awards Scheme (PAS) to encourage senior clubs to promote elite youth player development while providing substantial revenue increases.

The scheme, which began at the weekend, is an integral part of the new performance strategy, Scotland United, and will reward clubs who invest in youth development by providing unprecedented payments for the playing of Scottish under-21 players in starting line-ups in the Scottish Premier League and Scottish Football Leagues.

SPL clubs who select two Scottish under-21 players in their starting line-up in any competitive match will receive ?750 from the Scottish FA, and ?1000 for selecting three or more Scottish under-21 players per match.

SFL clubs will also benefit from the performance-driven scheme, with ?75 and ?100 rewards payable under the same terms.

The move is the latest in a series of initiatives under the Scotland United banner. The Scottish FA is committed to improving standards throughout the national game as part of its strategic plan, through its four strategic pillars: planning to win, achieving strong quality growth in the game, achieving better financial returns and being trusted and respected to lead.

Stewart Regan, Scottish FA chief executive: ?This Performance Awards Scheme is about the long-term development of talented young Scottish players and will provide an incentive to SPL and SFL clubs to give these players an extended run in the first team.

?The announcement is part of our long-term performance strategy, with the aim of improving the overall standard of football in the country and, ultimately, restoring the Scotland national teams to major championship finals.?

Neil Doncaster, Chief Executive of the SPL said: ?The SPL welcomes the introduction of the Scottish FA?s Performance Awards Scheme. SPL clubs already do a lot of good work in this area and incentivising clubs to further develop young Scottish talent can only be a good thing for Scottish football.?

Out of saturdays line up we had the following U21 players in the squad:

Nick Ross

Tom Aldred

Shane Sutherland

Graeme Shinnie

Martin Laing

Greg Smith

Ross and Aldred started but i'm not sure if the latter is eligible (he was born in England however he has represented Scotland at U21 level), i would imagine we wouldnt have been eligible for ? on this occasion

I'm sure at some point this season we will be fielding 2 or indeed more U21 Scottish players and therefore may well benefit from this scheme

A good idea if you ask me and it is a step on the right track in encouraging SPL clubs to invest in Scottish youth players

Ross and Aldred started but i'm not sure if the latter is eligible (he was born in England however he has represented Scotland at U21 level), i would imagine we wouldnt have been eligible for ? on this occasion

If he has represented Scotland then why wouldn't we be eligible?

Ross and Aldred started but i'm not sure if the latter is eligible (he was born in England however he has represented Scotland at U21 level), i would imagine we wouldnt have been eligible for ? on this occasion

If he has represented Scotland then why wouldn't we be eligible?

I think Tom will qualify.

Start 3 every game and thats ?38,000 in the coffers

Ross and Aldred started but i'm not sure if the latter is eligible (he was born in England however he has represented Scotland at U21 level), i would imagine we wouldnt have been eligible for ? on this occasion

If he has represented Scotland then why wouldn't we be eligible?

He may be eligible to play for the Scottish national side but strictly speaking he is not Scottish. I dont have a clue how the SFA would look at a situation like this

Can't seem to find much detail on this. Certainly, the payments will only apply to those who have been capped for the U21's which rules a fair few on the list above (everyone but Nicky?). As for how recent the cap needs have been and whether the player actually needs to start the game, i don't have a clue.

Aldred's birthplace shouldn't be an issue if he has actually been capped at U21 level but i don't think he has.

I didnt think it applied to capped players only?

if this is the case then it would rule out a fair whack of young uncapped Scottish players playing in scotland at the moment, especially those playing in lower leagues.

Unfortunately the majority of young scottish talent are stuck in the reserves or youth teams of big clubs without much chance of seeing first team action, my original view on this scheme was that it would try to encourage teams to play young scottish players although on reflection i think it will have little impact on bigger clubs such as the Old Firm etc

Edited July 25, 201114 yr by Libero

graeme shinnie was called up to a training camp last season but had to pull out because of his illness is andrew shinnie still eligable for u21?

A bit of a missed opportunity here methinks ......

SPL clubs who select two Scottish under-21 players in their starting line-up in any competitive match will receive ?750 from the Scottish FA, and ?1000 for selecting three or more Scottish under-21 players per match.

SFL clubs will also benefit from the performance-driven scheme, with ?75 and ?100 rewards payable under the same terms.

Is the promotion of youth development really worth 10 times as much in the SPL as it is in the SFL?

graeme shinnie was called up to a training camp last season but had to pull out because of his illness is andrew shinnie still eligable for u21?

I would imagine this is an expansion of the ruling that demands a club list 3 players who are under 21 in the team lines. Where, in the past, those players hardly ever came off the bench clubs are now being rewarded for starting them. Dont know the criterea for eligibility though. May be 21 or under at start of season in which case Andrew would not be eligible as he was 22 on 17th. The article is not very clear on this.

the wording of the whole release is terrible ...

As already seen by comments on here to the sentence "SPL clubs who select two Scottish under-21 players in their starting line-up....." ... it makes you wonder whether they mean players capped at U21 level rather than the other interpretation of "two Scottish players, under the age of 21 on <qualifying date>"

still cant get my head round the 10-1 ratio in payments though .... if we could get more U21s playing regularly in the lower leagues our teams could potentially bring on these players whilst guaranteeing themselves some much needed cash. Maybe it should be a lower amount in the SPL and then staggered further down each league rather than a straight drop from 750 to 75.

I read Scottish U-21 as being a Scottish player of that age as opposed to Scotland U-21.

I read Scottish U-21 as being a Scottish player of that age as opposed to Scotland U-21.

Same here. It doesn't say Scotland U-21 internationals, it says Scottish U-21 players.

If it meant only capped internationals then the whole scheme wouldn't really make any sense.