The Harsh Reality of Celtic's Academy

Our resident youth and loan writer Josh McCafferty digs into why Celtic has only produced two proper first team players in a decade.

Callum McGregor and Kieran Tierney—two names that stand out. In the past decade, they’re the only players to come through Celtic’s academy and cement themselves as first-team regulars. For a club whose mission is to “create a world-class academy which produces the next generation of Champions League players,” that’s not exactly a glowing report card.

So, what’s gone wrong? Why aren’t we seeing more young talent step up? Let me break it down into three key issues.