Alexandria footballer's academy going from strength-to-strength

By James Humphrey

A former professional footballer from Alexandria has explained how falling out of love with playing the game led to him launching his own academy for young players.

Vale-born Graeme Ramage has run the Graeme Ramage Football Academy for four years, with a number of their players moving on to academy level at senior clubs – and Graeme employing a host of young coaches looking to learn new skills.

Graeme started his career at St Mirren before moving to local club Dumbarton in 2011.

A loan move to East Stirlingshire followed, before a successful spell at Annan Athletic was cut short due to a serious knee injury.

After a few seasons in the junior ranks for clubs including Arthurlie, Kirkintilloch Rob Roy, Kello Rovers, Clydebank and Cumnock Juniors, he finished his career at local club Vale of Leven at the age of 28.

After hanging up his boots Graeme focused on coaching, with the Graeme Ramage 1-2-1 Football Academy growing massively in recent times.

Graeme explained how a long trip to face a junior giant sparked the idea of launching his own academy.

He said: “About four years ago I was playing for Kirkintilloch Rob Roy, travelling down to Auchinleck Talbot as an unused sub and I was frustrated with playing football.

“I noticed that one-to-one sessions were starting to get big in football in areas like Glasgow, and England.

“So, I thought why not try it here? I had nothing to lose if I didn’t work out. But we’ve had success with it being four years it’s been going for.”

The Academy has had a major impact on the community as Graeme explains: “On the park we try and help the players reach their stages of progression and their journey as a player, and off the park we’ve got a number of different things to