For anyone that doesn’t know - what are the Young Reds?
The Young Reds is the junior supporter’s scheme of Stirling Albion Football Club. Membership is open to boys and girls up to the age of eighteen and our main aim is to encourage more children and young people to become associated with the club.

What is your role with the club and the Young Reds?
I don’t have any specific role within the club but with the Young Reds I have a variety of roles. I look after the finances and help in the administration of the Soccer School. I also do some coaching with the under 11 team which plays in the Forth Valley Football Development Association League and I am about to do my Goalkeeping Intermediate Certificate so that I can do some coaching with the keepers.

How did the Young Reds come about and how did you get involved?
When Jim Fleeting was manager of the club in 1988 he started up the Young Reds. However, when he left later in that season, the scheme folded. Then, in 1997, I received a letter from Tricia Chillas, daughter of club chairman Peter McKenzie, inviting me along to a meeting to consider the setting up of a junior supporter’s scheme.

How many Young Reds have there been throughout the years and what is the current number?
Over 850 children have been members over the years and current membership is just below 200.

Ian Jones with some of the Young Reds at McDiarmid Park

How much support and backing do you get from Stirling Albion?
The Young Reds has the backing of the Directors, Players and Management of Stirling Albion. I have a lot of contact with Marlyn Hallam, the club secretary, keeping her up to date with everything that is happening with the Young Reds. The support we get from the club is good. Members get discounted entry to home league matches, a discounted season ticket and a discount in the Club Shop. However, we would like the club to take more initiatives to attract young people to come to the matches but we realise that the financial position of the club puts restraints on what they can do.

Do any of the senior players get involved and take part at all?
When the Young Reds started, the players were full time and this made it easier for them to get involved as football was their livelihood. Several of the players would come along to the Soccer School and help coach the kids and the kids thoroughly enjoyed this as they got the chance to get up close to the players. Kevin Drinkell, the manager at the time, took a keen interest in what was happening and would always pop in to committee meetings to see how things were going. When the club went part time, it became more difficult to get players to come along as most of them had day time jobs and it wasn’t always easy for them to get down to Forthbank when the Soccer School was meeting.
We also held a Bowling Night each year when most of the senior players would come along. Again, when the club went part time, they had to do this after training had finished

The Young Reds now compete in the FVFDA League – how are the teams getting on?
The under 12’s have improved as the season has progressed despite playing against teams who have been established for 2 or 3 years. The FVFDA is a developmental league where scores are not recorded at under 12 and below. However, that doesn’t stop the boys from being desperate to win each week. The coaches, Norman and Willie, have put in a lot of hard work and the boys are now more than holding their own.
The under 11’s have struggled due to the composition of the squad. Because of low numbers at under 11 level in the Soccer School, we have had to include boys who are really under 10’s. As a result, they have struggled against older boys in other teams. However, the enthusiasm of the boys hasn’t diminished and, again with some hard work by the coaches, Chris and Andy, they are showing signs of improvement.
Next season, the under 12’s will move up to under13’s and this will see us with 3 teams in the FVFDA.

Is there going to be any natural progression from the Young Red teams through to the SAFC Youth Teams?
At the moment, the SAFC Youth Teams start at under 14 and it is our aim to provide a pathway from the Young Reds teams into the SAFC Youth set up. I know that this is something Stewart Taylor is keen to see happening and, hopefully, in a couple of years we may seem some Young Reds playing for the Stirling Albion youth teams.

Have the increase in gate prices had an effect on the number of Young Reds attending matches?
We have never really tried to find out how many Young Reds come along to matches. I know from looking round Forthbank, that a lot of children do come along, most of them with their parents, so I would say that the increase in gate prices hasn’t really had too much of an effect on numbers coming along. However, I am a keen advocate of doing everything possible to attract youngsters to come to matches and the initiatives that other clubs such as Dunfermline and Partick Thistle have done this season is something I would like to see being done at Forthbank.

Is it hard to attract new members?
The best way to attract new members is by word of mouth and we are seeing new members joining each week simply because their friends are in the Young Reds and they hear about what we are doing. We are also very fortunate to have a good relationship with the Stirling Observer and they always have something about the Young Reds in the paper

What is your best or favourite Young Reds moment?
There have been a lot of good moments over the years and I have enjoyed meeting supporters from other clubs who operate similar schemes. However, the establishment of teams in the FVFDA is probably the highlight so far, especially with some of the boys taking part in a penalty kick competition at McDiarmid Park earlier this season wearing their Young Reds strips in front of nearly 3000 people.

What is your worst Young Reds moment?
A few years ago the Young Reds nearly folded. We were struggling to cope with the numbers attending the Soccer School due to lack of coaches and we had to take the decision to stop the Soccer School. This saw membership drop but, thankfully, everything has changed and the future is looking very good.

If anybody wants to donate, help out, volunteer or sponsor the Young Reds – what should they do?
Contact myself or Steven Leiper. Our ultimate aim is to have teams in the FVFDA at all age levels but this will mean having to find more coaches. You don’t have to be worried if you don’t have any qualifications as Scott Kinross, the SFA Development Officer for Active Stirling, organises courses throughout the year and we are continually putting coaches through these. Having said that, we would welcome anyone with qualifications to join our coaching team.

The running of the teams and the general Soccer School is a very expensive job and we would welcome anyone with fundraising skills. We have a number of parents who help on this side, but we would like more to help out.

We also have opportunities to sponsor the FVFDA teams with equipment.
The Young Reds also provide the ball boys at Stirling Albion and if anyone is interested in getting more information on this, they should again contact Steven or myself.

Many thanks to Ian Jones for taking the time to do the interview with the Official Website and our contributor.