CLYDEBANK have been awarded a Silver Quality Mark by the Scottish FA – and head of youth Paul Mooney was left delighted that the hard work he and his colleagues put in was not in vain.

The achievement aims to “recognise the hard work and dedication of clubs across the country” and “rewards those who have a desire to be the very best they can be”.

Criteria across four different categories – participation, education, club services and attractive game – are all considered, with clubs then receiving either a bronze, silver, gold or platinum grade.

Speaking to the Clydebank media team, Mooney explained that he hopes the recognition can protect the Bankies in years to come.

He said: “We’ve been lucky enough that we’ve brought players through over the years but this is really going to create a long-term legacy for the club.

“It’s been run by individuals over the year but now what we can say is that we’ve actually got structure in place and that’s what the quality mark is doing.

“It’s going to allow us access to funding as well, which is brilliant.

“It just secures the long-term future of the club so that young players coming through really want to be a part of our set up and everything that we do is professional.

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“It’s an amazing feeling to know that all your hard work over the years is finally paying off from everybody that’s been involved at the academy since day one.”

Mooney added that a large volume of paperwork had to be completed before the club got Quality Mark confirmation, and he’s glad the work has not gone unnoticed.

He continued: “The start of lockdown was actually a positive about it because it gave us time to sit down and do that so that was a huge part of it.

“[It was] things like coach education – so coaches being up to a certain standard - ticking boxes with getting through the courses and codes of conducts to make sure teams are all following the same values and principles that we believe in as a club.

“All those kinds of things are something we’ve strived towards but now it’s great that it’s been recognised by the SFA.”

First team boss Gordon Moffat believes what is being done at youth level reflects what is happening at the club as a whole.

He said: “It’s another milestone in terms of what we’re trying to do and make ourselves a professional setup.

“It ties into everything we’re trying to do at the top of the club through the SFA licence so it’s another thing ticked off and a great achievement by the guys.”