Craig Levein reflects on 'significant day' for future success at Hearts
Thursday 5 October 2017 16:54, UK
Craig Levein believes the opening of Hearts' performance school could be a pivotal moment in the history of the club.
Balerno High School, just three miles from the club's training base at Riccarton on the west side of Edinburgh, will oversee the academic and footballing development of Hearts' academy players.
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The partnership will see teenagers who are on Hearts' books study at the school, while their education will be supplemented by 90 minutes of top-level football coaching every day.
In addition, the Hearts youngsters will visit Riccarton to train with their respective age-group three nights per week.
Celtic and Rangers have similar set-ups, with St Ninian's High School in Kirkintilloch and Boclair Academy in Bearsden respectively, and Levein is convinced the new arrangement in the capital can only be beneficial for the future success at Tynecastle.
The Hearts boss told the Edinburgh Evening News: "I'm hoping in years to come we'll be looking at this as a very significant day in Hearts' history.
"If you want to punch above your weight in football and haven't got the biggest budget, you have to find good players from somewhere else. That's the model the club has followed since Ann Budge brought them out of administration three years ago.
"This is one of the most significant things we've done in the last three years. It will be another three or four years before we really start to see the benefits of it, but as long as we don't change course then we will definitely reap the rewards."
When the partnership is fully up and running it is envisaged there will be over 40 pupils aged 11-15 involved from all over Scotland.
