Jim Magilton feels young stars can benefit from extended time in the Irish League
Cliftonville manager Jim Magilton feels young players can benefit from gaining further experience in the Irish League rather than making early moves to academy football in England or Scotland.
The Premiership continues to provide a platform for top talent to showcase their skills with Magilton handing 15-year-old Coran Madden his debut earlier this season while 16-year-old Chris Atherton, who is set to join Premier League giants Chelsea, has impressed at Glenavon.
More than 30 teenagers have made a top-flight appearance this term, including five at the age of 15 and another four at 16, with club’s creating a pathway for their youngsters to earn senior opportunities.
The likes of Trai Hume, Terry Devlin, Sean Moore, Braiden Graham and George Feeney have all benefitted in recent years from getting a taste for senior football before earning high-profile moves and Magilton has a number of players at Solitude who are talented enough to make the jump, including Madden and Shea Kearney.
Former Northern Ireland international Magilton made one appearance for Lisburn Distillery before joining Liverpool in 1986 and in his previous position as Elite Performance Director at the Irish FA worked with the country’s best emerging talent.
"I left at 16 and I can tell you now I was nowhere near ready,” he said. “It was the era of no mobile phones so resilience was built on a daily basis.
"When I wore my IFA hat it was all around building a full-time academy where all players will be judged around four pillars of technical, tactical, physical and the mental aspect of it.
"Kids are definitely not ready at 16. What's apparent is there is more emphasis now on youth academies in Northern Ireland and lots are trying to establish a path into first teams, which is the way it should be and why they are created.
"I think there's a benefit in staying and playing because at 18 you'll sign a professional contract rather than a two-year scholarship which is still hit or miss.
"If you're working with professional or senior players from a young age, which we're trying to establish at Cliftonville, it can only be of huge benefit.
"The players have reaped the benefits of working with the top-class pros we have and we can see it.
"If Liverpool, Manchester United, Celtic or Rangers comes in at 16, it's very difficult to convince a young player to stay - that would take massive confidence and trust in the club they're with and in themselves that at 18 or 19 they'll get an opportunity.
"At the IFA we were doing everything we could to help them be ready and now at Cliftonville I want to keep as many good players as I can while being respectful of an individual's ambition to go and play in England or Scotland."
Cliftonville will make a weekend trip to Linfield, who have opened up a 15-point advantage at the Premiership’s summit.
If they can turn their current position into silverware, it would mark a sixth Gibson Cup triumph for David Healy and Magilton has been shocked by criticism aimed at the Blues boss.
"It's unbelievable in my opinion,” he said. “For a manager in his first job...he has been there eight or nine years now and you look at his track record, at the teams he has produced, the games he has won, the trophies he has won, the way he has conducted himself.
"I think he has done a magnificent job and he deserves a lot of credit.
"He has taken a lot of heat, which comes with the territory of being Linfield manager...the expectation is to finish first and compete in every competition. I think he has embraced that and he has produced fantastic teams."