The new season in Club Academy Scotland (CAS) is now underway, with Elite, Performance and Advanced Youth categories all kicking off.
Rangers go into the new season as champions in both the Under-19 and Under-17 elite categories, while Queen's Park achieved the same feat in the Performance and Advanced Youth leagues in the same age groups.
The hybrid Under-19 league, which gives late maturing players an extra year of development and also allows some overage players to feature, was introduced last season and continues this year. Kilmarnock are the early pace setters in the elite division, with two wins over St Mirren and Hibernian in their first two league matches.
Fixtures and key dates for all age groups are available on the My Scottish Football (MSF) app, alongwith league tables which will be updated in real time. Details on how to download the app can be found here.
The clubs are split into the following levels for the 2026-2027 season:
Elite:
Aberdeen, Celtic, Dundee United, Heart of Midlothian, Hibernian, Kilmarnock, Motherwell, Rangers, St Mirren
Performance (Progressive) and Performance Level:
Ayr United, Dundee, Dunfermline Athletic, Falkirk, Greenock Morton, Inverness Caledonian Thistle, Livingston, Partick Thistle, Ross County, St Johnstone
Advanced Youth Level:
Alloa Athletic, Edinburgh City, Elgin City, Montrose, Queen of the South, Queen's Park
The updated player pathway for 2026-27 is also listed below:
Elite – U19, U17, U15, U14, U13, U12, U11
Performance – U19, U17, U15, U14, U13, U12, U11
Advanced Youth – U19, U17
Last season's cross tier SSG Festival Format has been retained, meaning clubs can once again compete across a number of innovative formats, with more information on dates and host clubs found here.
Scottish FA Youth Cup
The Scottish FA Youth Cup was won by Hearts last year, with Euan Banks, Tommy North, Connor Dow and Jayden Mathie on the scoresheet as the young Jambos won 4-0 over Queen's Park.
This season's competition gets underway on the weekend of Friday, 18 September, with 12 ties taking place in the Central, North and South regions. The ties, alongwith the byes are listed below. The sides not entered into the draw are the sides who reached the last 16 in last season's competition, who will all start in the last 32 for this season's Youth Cup.
Central:
Greenock Morton v Dunfermline Athletic Penicuik Athletic v St Johnstone Dunbar United v Falkirk Celtic v Motherwell Dalkeith Thistle v Livingston Dundee United v Stirling Albion
North:
Nairn County v Ross County Deveronvale v Formartine United Turriff United v Huntly Inverurie Loco Works v Clachnacuddin
South:
Queen of the South v Darvel Auchinleck Talbot v Ayr United
Byes:
Camelon Juniors, Dunipace, Elgin City, Lossiemouth, Rothes, St Cuthbert Wanderers