We are delighted to announce the appointment of Paul McDonald as our new head of academy.
Paul arrives at McDiarmid Park with an abundance of experience behind him, most notably at Kilmarnock as their head of community and then academy director for almost 10 years.
He was more recently director of the Thistle Weir Youth Academy at Partick Thistle and was also first team assistant manager.
We previously communicated with supporters that club stalwart Alistair Stevenson, our current head of academy, will be stepping down from his role this summer.
Paul will officially take up his position at Saints in mid-June.
“I’m absolutely thrilled to have been appointed head of the academy – and excited to build on the fantastic work of Alistair over a huge number of years,” Paul said.
“Developing young players is a real passion of mine and is the area I feel strongest in. I have 25 years of experience to bring to St Johnstone and, hopefully, I can take us to a higher level.
“This club has a proud history of producing talented young players. Supporters want to see youngsters coming through the academy and playing in the first team. That is the highest point on our agenda.”
Paul has already been shown around McDiarmid Park and has been introduced to staff members across various departments.
He was quick to highlight that he will use Alistair as an important sounding board moving forward.
“There is a lot of preparation for any job you go into,” Paul explained. “I’ll use the next few weeks to familiarise myself with the club and look for any potential gaps we need to fill.
“Of course, I’ll lean on Alistair. That will be massive. He is a fantastic person and I’m trying to make this transition easy for him too.
“Alistair has been at this football club for such a long time and I’ll lean on him heavily over the next period of time.”
As previously mentioned HERE, Alistair will be inducted into the St Johnstone Hall of Fame later this year.
