Celtic FC B are to withdraw from the Lowland League at the end of this season, it is being reported.
In a move unprecedented in Scottish Football, Celtic – and rivals Rangers entered the new-look ‘B’ squads into Scotland’s regional fifth tier starting from 2021, replacing the previous Reserve team.
Initial excitement about the new team was quickly replaced by concern over whether this was an optimal solution for the Hoops’ academy players at this age,
Rangers withdrew their B team at the end of the 2022-23 season, and three years later, the Hoops are now following suit.
Have Celtic made the right call in withdrawing the B team from the Lowland League?
Celtic B to play last-ever Lowland League game this weekend
According to the Scottish Sun, the young Celts will play their last-ever Lowland League game on Saturday, away against East Stirlingshire.
They will finish the season ninth of 18 in the table. Their highest finish of any of the five seasons was second in 2023-24.
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The popularity of the B team’s participation in the division has quickly diminished, though a number of factors have led to Celtic’s withdrawal.
The league will change to a different format next season, introducing a new system of east and west divisions.
Additionally, the success of the recently-introduced club co-operation loan system has given the Hoops easier avenues to shipping out young players to clubs at SPFL level.
Right now alone, Celtic have six players on loan in the Scottish Championship: two at Partick Thistle and four at Ayr United.
Darren O’Dea was the inaugural manager of the B team, eventually moving into the role of Player Pathways Manager. Since leaving the club, he has called the situation a “shambles”.
Jonny Hayes is now in charge of the team, standing in for Stephen McManus, who is working with Martin O’Neill in the interim first-team coaching staff.
Colby Donovan is the only former B team player to have any kind of meaningful involvement in the senior squad over the last five years.
Were Celtic right to invest £20 million in Barrowfield with so many academy players leaving?
Darren O’Dea on Celtic B setup
Speaking on Open Goal about the club’s academy pathways, O’Dea recently said: “Like, my thing was, when I was their age, I was not at their level, yet, I got opportunity and then took it and played 70 games.
“But I think Celtic, because there’s so much pressure now, I’d say, and because of this new thing of, you have to win the treble, there needs to be a club ethos to say, no, this is what needs to be done.
“Celtic’s recruitment strategy for years was to sign, kind of, younger players, but by definition sign a lot.
“And maybe, let’s say, sign eight: two are brilliant, two are okay, and four don’t do well. See the four? They don’t think get into the side. They keep training with the first team. That blocks the gap.
“So nearly my job, at the end, was get rid of these lads out on loan, get the money back for them, and then create a path into the first team for the young ones.”
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