Ahead of the first team squad returning to training this week, the Aberdeen U18s Development Group were back over the weekend. After their fitness testing on Friday, they trained at Cormack Park on Saturday and Sunday before flying out for their training camp early on Monday morning.
Like the first team, the young squad will travel to Portugal. The pre-season training camp is an Erasmus+ funded trip. Erasmus+ is the EU’s programme to support education, training, youth, and sport in Europe.

U18s head coach Scott Anderson will be supported by Stuart Duff, Sports Scientist Kevin Symon and physio Beth Walker.

Before leaving Scott previewed the camp and the season ahead.

“We are really pleased with the way they have come back. It is very much changed days, in terms of the condition of players during the summer break. They had a full week off but then started working on the individual programmes they were given.

“They have all come back looking good. Even on the first day we were able to get working with the balls. So very pleased with their effort and application whilst they were away from Cormack Park.”

The 18s this year will have a very youthful look to it as Scott explains.

“It always goes in two-year cycles, where you have a year when it is really developmental, in terms of the age group. It is an exciting time because these younger ones need to learn and they need to learn quick. They are going to becoming up against second year professionals. That is the exciting bit, seeing how they do against that and how they perform.

“We do still have some second years with the 18s, and it is a big season for them. They need to go and prove that they can earn themselves a new contract and be able to reach that next level.

“You are also looking for them to show some leadership skills. They have had their first year. They have gone through what these younger ones are away to go through and it is a big change from coming out of the Youth Academy and going into full-time professional football. It is a big big shift. It will take some of these boys the best part of six months for their bodies to get used to training every single day and the demands we put on them at this club.

“It really can take that long.

“These boys are coming out of school, it is their first job and it is a really demanding one – physically and mentally. It does take them a period of time to adjust and get used to that. We do put real demands on the players so the first half of the season is a learning curve.

“I am looking for the older ones to help them along and also looking for the group to come together as a whole. As I say it is a young squad this year, but I like the look of what is in the group, so I am quite excited about this season.”

Scott last week welcomed six new players who recently won full-time contracts after working their way right through from the youth set up to the professional ranks.

“The 2007s did very well with the U16s this past season, coached by Stuart Duff and Jonny Hayes who did a great job with this group. The individuals who are coming in, they are all from different areas of the pitch so it is good that we have managed to get that amount in.

“We have high hopes for all these young players. It is now up to them. We will help them and guide them as much as possible and push them down the right path, but they then need to take some responsibility for their development and how they do. We will see where it takes them. But as I say, it is an exciting group as a whole to be working with.”

The Development Squad are going to Portugal from the 26th June to 8th July. As well as training the young Dons will play a couple of friendly matches because as part of the Erasmus+ programme there is an opportunity to play matches versus Continental teams. The programme also offers the chance to undertake coaching sessions in a favourable climate for football to increased learning opportunities. Previous Erasmus funded outings to Antequera (January 2010) and Vilamoura (July 2011), Austria (2015), Lisbon (2016), Spain (2018) and Portugal (2022) were extensive and offered our young players, including many of those who have gone on to play for the first team in recent years, excellent opportunities.

“This is the earliest we have gone on one of these trips. Normally we have two or three weeks at home first before we go. We will have more physical work done in these first two weeks but because the break was short between the end of the season and the start this season, the fitness levels are already high and we can also work on bedding in our style of play and the key actions we work to as a club.

“We have got two games organised, so we need to work towards these matches. The tactical work with them will then increase when we come back and start to prepare for the season.

“We have a clear DNA of how an Aberdeen youth team wants to play and what that looks like. We have the model in place. All the players have been involved so they know what will be asked of them and what it is to be an Aberdeen player, so we will work on that in terms of our style of play.

“We have some of the older players with us who will be going out on loan come the start of the campaign. The camp will allow them to build a base for their fitness and will hopefully help them get ready so they can go out and have successful seasons with their loan clubs.

“It is a great chance to get the group together as a whole.

“Being away means the players have to live in each other’s pockets. How they deal with that, we learn so much about the players, and how they react to certain things. Just having the group together for 14 days in a row is great for building a team spirit and relationships. It is individuals we are looking at, but at the same time we need to build them as a team because the team needs to be performing well for them to perform well as an individual.

“Portugal is a great country and venue. The facilities are always first class. As part of the trip the boys will also get some cultural visits during their downtime.

“The first team are training not far away and will overlap with us the second week. That will hopefully be an opportunity for certainly the third years, the loan players to go and be involved with Barry’s squad, if not some of the younger ones as well.”