Ten years ago today Celtic opened their Lennoxtown Training Ground in a move that Tommy Burns had been pushing for for over a decade.
Upgrading certain facilities at Barrowfield would have kept the club close to it’s heartland but an out of town complex seemed to be the way forward.
Lennoxtown in winter is a fearsome and often freezing arena, in summer it can sometimes be pleasant but a training complex is only as good as the coaches and players working there.
The remit has always been to produce Champions League players and in that regard it has certainly succeeded. In Celtic’s most recent venture Kieran Tierney, Callum McGregor and James Forrest all played a significant role.
Building up some momentum there are a number of other players knocking on the door with Tony Ralston and Calvin Miller getting ever closer while Mikey Johnston, Jack Aitchison and Ewan Henderson are starting to make inroads.
Elsewhere the Scottish game is littered with former Celtic players, from time to time three or four former hoops players can be found enjoying top flight action with Ross County winning their only senior trophy with a squad stacked with ex Celts such as Scott Fox, Marcus Fraser, Jackson Irvine and Michael Gardyne.
With a network and pathway to the top team established and a hands on manager dedicated to promoting from within the next ten years should really see a generation of Lennoxtown players make their mark in the Celtic first team.