FOLLOWING confirmation in their posts within the new Advanced Youth academy set-up at Queen’s Park, coaches Charley King and Lee Mitchell have wasted no time in preparing for the new season.
Fixtures for the 2025-26 season have been released and the duo have been preparing the Spiders under-19 and under-17 squads for the challenges ahead – and adding to them.
Cole Goldie has signed his first professional football contract and joined the club. Former Rangers youth player Kyle Rodger has also pledged his future to the Spiders regime.
Both will link up with Charley King in the under-19s and the coach said: “We are delighted that both Cole and Kyle have committed their futures to the club.
“Both were stand-outs last season for the under-16s squad and both made a number of appearances stepping up to the under-18s and performing well.
“This season they have both joined the under-19s squad full time which in itself presents a big challenge potentially playing against boys two and three years older but we feel it is best for them and their development to have this challenge. The most important thing for me is both have a real desire to improve and excellent attitudes.
“Cole is a box-to-box attacking midfielder who has improved a lot in the last year. He has good technique as well as athleticism and we feel he can really push on this season as a key player for the under-19s
“Kyle has all the attributes you would look for in a right back, he is able to get up and down the wing and is also a very good one-on-one defender. His task is to now show what he can do at the higher level which we believe he can.
The majority of the under-18s squad from last season are still contracted at the club and we are still hopeful to add a few to the group.
“Cole Burke has recently been given an opportunity with the first team and our aim is to get as many as possible pushed up as well as promoting under-17s into the under 19 group.”
Under-17s head coach Lee Mitchell echoed that aim and said: “I’m absolutely delighted that Cole and Kyle have officially signed their first professional contracts with the club – it’s a real testament to their hard work and potential.
“With our new academy structure, our focus now is to prepare players in the U19s for the first team, much like we’ve recently seen with Cole Burke, and also looking to move as many of our U17s into the U19s group as possible to provide them with new challenges that will hopefully aid in their development.
“We’re excited to see Cole and Kyle progress further this year and are committed to supporting them every step of the way.”
In addition to the new recruits, Lee has also confirmed his squad so far.
The under-17s kick off in Dundee on August 1 before hosting Dunfermline at Lochinch a week later.
The squad is as follows:
GOALKEEPERS: Charlie Watt, Max Stiven.
DEFENDERS: Reese McDonald, Duncan Weir, Aaron Browne, Lewis Smith, Harris Afzal, Lennox Quail, Max Juskowiak.
MIDFIELDERS: Michael Gibson, Joseph Lafferty, Glen Cunningham, Caiden Wright, Lucas Breeds, Luke Moore, Jason Boughey.
FORWARDS: Jacob Cunningham, Grant Kerr, Daniel Edzie, Logan Duffy, Paul Anderson, Antoni Bialkowski.
