The Scottish FA has announced a series of new proposals designed to increase playing opportunities for young players at a meeting with all 42 SPFL clubs held in St Andrews s week.
The three proposals, which will be voted on at a Scottish FA General Meeting in October and the SPFL’s AGM in November, are as follows:
- Two under-21 Scotland-eligible players start in all Scottish Gas Scottish Cup matches, with one player on the pitch at all times.
- Two under-21 Scotland-eligible players start in all Premier Sports Cup matches, with one player on the pitch at all times.
- Under-21 Scotland-eligible players in all four William Hill SPFL leagues to play an average of 60 minutes per game, across the season, (6% of available minutes).
The Scottish FA announced that £1m would be made available to clubs to incentivise increased game time for under-21 Scotland-eligible players.
The plans were put to clubs by the Scottish FA’s Chief Executive Ian Maxwell and Chief Football Officer Craig Mulholland at a conference held at the Old Course Hotel in St Andrews, titled ‘Made in Scotland?’
If approved, the new rules will come into force for the 2027/2028 season.
The proposals involving the Scottish Gas Scottish Cup and the Premier Sports Cup would be added to the rules of the respective competitions.
Under the league recommendation, clubs who fail to reach the target of an average of 60 minutes per game across the season would be deducted 10% of their final placing prize money – with the funds re-distributed among the clubs who have achieved the target.
The proposals come with Scotland having slipped to 18th in UEFA’s coefficient, while it was revealed that under-21 Scottish eligible players played just 18,706 minutes in the top flight last year, compared to 80,345 minutes back in 2013.
The current figure for the SPFL Premiership sits at 4.1%, below the European average of 8% and significantly behind comparable leagues such as the Danish Superliga, which leads the way on 15.3%.
The clubs in St Andrews also heard from sports intelligence leaders Twenty First Group and Belgian side Club Brugge who both presented on the potential gains that clubs can make through a player trading model – with Scotland ranking considerably below comparable countries on that metric.
Alongside these potential rule changes, the Scottish FA also revealed significant progress that has already been made below the top flight since last year’s introduction of the Co-operation System and the revamp of the KDM Evolution Trophy.
The Co-operation System, which allows increased freedom of movement between a parent club and a ‘Co-operation Club’, has led to 27,000 minutes for under-21 Scotland-eligible players – helping the Championship, League One and League Two all see large increases in player minutes.
Minutes for under-21 Scotland-eligible players in the Championship have risen 9.6% from 43,369 in 2024/2025 to 47,573 last season, with League One minutes increasing by 3.5% from 85,043 to 87,420 and League Two minutes rising by 17.6% from 74,330 to 87,043.
In addition, the refreshed format of the KDM Evolution Trophy has seen minutes for U21 Scottish eligible players rise from around 21,000 in 2024/2025 to 94,000 in 2025/2026.
Ian Maxwell, Scottish FA Chief Executive said: “We are all in agreement that Scottish football needs to create more opportunities for young players to gain regular first-team experience, and we strongly believe that today’s our proposals are the next positive steps towards achieving this goal. Today’s meeting was the start of that process.
“Scotland’s return to the World Cup created a huge sense of excitement around the national team, but it has also underlined the need to plan for the next generation.
“Clubs across Europe are showing that giving younger players minutes does not have to come at the expense of success on the pitch, and we believe that these proposals which we have presented today could both strengthen Scottish clubs and have a positive effect on the national team in the future.
“We are grateful to all the clubs who attended today and we will continue to engage with members to find a solution that works for the country.”
Craig Mulholland, Scottish FA Chief Football Officer said: “We’re at a point in Scottish football where we need to take a holistic approach to improvement.
“The time for reviews is over: it’s time for action to make sure that our young Scottish people get the best opportunity to go and become top professionals.
“We have already seen progress from the introduction of the Co-operation System and the revamp of the KDM Evolution Trophy but we know that the lack of opportunities in the top flight is concerning.
“We would always love to do more but we believe that introducing requirements for under-21 players in the Scottish Cup and League Cup and targets for minutes in the Premiership would represent a significant step for Scottish football.”
