SCOTLAND and Sturm Graz full-back Max Johnston has described going out on loan to second tier Cove Rangers and Queen and the South as the best moves of his career as the SFA launched their new Cooperation System.
Premiership and Championship clubs will be able to put a maximum of three players who are eligible to represent the national team and are under the age of 21 on a cooperation list from next season.
They will then be able to move freely between their parent club and a club further down the pyramid system who a cooperation agreement has been struck with during the course of a campaign.
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The move was one of the main recommendations contained in the Transition Phase paper which Andy Gould, the SFA’s chief football officer, and Chris Docherty, their head of men’s elite strategy, published last year.
Johnston, who help Graz to retain the Bundesliga in Austria last season and also played in five games in the Champions League league phase, believes leaving Motherwell on loan was invaluable for his own development.
The right back, who made his debut for the national team in the first leg of the Nations League promotion/relegation play-off against Greece in Piraeus back in March, thinks that playing regular first team football in the Championship improved him as a footballer and ensured he was able to cope after his move abroad in 2023.
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"I still say it, I think that's some of the best decisions I've ever made,” he said. “I was extremely lucky that my dad was at Queen of the South and he took me on loan when I was 17. “I'm just so grateful that I got that chance to play and experience and learn these little details that have helped me kick on today. It doesn't feel that long ago still, but football changes very quickly, so you just need to keep a level head and enjoy it while you can.”
