New Dundee United Academy

Dundee United have announced a radical overhaul of its youth development system, following the departure of Academy Director Graeme Liveston after 25 years of sterling service.

Manager & Director of Football Craig Levein has restructured the entire operation, appointing Brian Grant as Senior Academy Manager and Ian Cathro as Junior Academy Manager, with both reporting to Youth Director Stevie Campbell.

Craig Levein said that he had been studying the youth set up at the Club in his role as Director of Football for over two years and had decided that now was the time to implement his vision.

He said: "I decided I had to basically scrap the entire existing structure and start over to ensure the Club would be better placed in terms of home grown talent in future years. This isn’t a criticism of what’s gone before, it’s simply a recognition that football – and society in general – has changed dramatically in the last quarter of a century and that we need to change with it.

"Twenty five years ago there wasn’t the same need to work on basic skills, as kids practiced all the time. Coaching emphasis therefore was quite rightly on team shape, tactics, set plays and so on. Nowadays however, kids have so many distractions that they are rarely seen practicing with a ball in their spare time – if they have any – and we therefore need to compensate for this by teaching and encouraging basic skills only, particularly in the younger age groups."