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Steven Smith always considered it an honour and privilege to wear the Rangers jersey during his playing career and he has exactly the same feeling about his current role as under-18s coach.
He first joined the Light Blues as an 8-year-old and signed a professional contract with the club in 2002 before making his first-team debut in 2004/05 during Alex McLeish’s time as manger.
The talented left-back featured regularly the following season and started big matches – Villarreal in the Champions League and Old Firm derbies among them.
Stevie and fellow Academy graduate Charlie Adam were among the few success stories of the Paul Le Guen era as both featured heavily in the Frenchman’s side and although injuries curtailed his appearances under legendary manager Walter Smith, he was still a regular during season 2009/10.
At 24, he took the decision to move on and played for Norwich, Preston, Aberdeen and Portland Timbers before returning to Ibrox in 2013 for two more seasons.
He moved to Kilmarnock in 2015 and was also named club captain at Rugby Park before he hung up his boots in 2017.
Smith returned to Rangers as an Academy coach in 2020 and he is loving his time with the under-18s group.
Last season, he helped guide his young side to a Scottish Youth Cup Final triumph over Aberdeen at Hampden – a competition he also won as a youth star – so he know exactly what it takes to succeed as a player here.
Stevie is extremely proud to help develop players at the training ground every single day and in a wide-ranging interview as he showed his support for The Rangers Youth Development Company – who have donated more than £11.5 million to the Academy since 2002 – Steven recalled his playing and coaching career at the club so far.
He said: “I still love it. I love the schedule and the group I work with every day.
“With any under-18 group there will be inconsistencies because of their age and stage, which we understand, but it’s a really enjoyable role and a really good group I get to work with.
“I still get the same buzz driving in the blue gates at the training ground every day.
“It’s a club I love working at. Of course, the first thing is youth development and producing players for the first-team but you can add to that by putting pressure on the players to win.
“If you don’t put that pressure on them at an early enough age they won’t succeed here.
“I’ve been fortunate enough to work with so many big names who have been at the club.
“As a young player here I was lucky enough to work with Bobby Russell, John Brown, Ian Durrant, Ally McCoist, Walter Smith and John Greig when he was at the youth side.
“They are some of the greatest names ever associated with Rangers and it was the way I was brought up.
“That’s all I knew and it was a great learning experience. I was very privileged to be coached by those type of men.
“It’s all about discipline, habits and standards that they gave me that will always exist here.
“If you don’t have that then you will have absolutely no chance of making the first-team.
“The game has changed in terms of the tactical side of it but the fundamentals of coaching are the same and you try to pass them on.
“The players enjoy it, they enjoy the honesty I think and they understand when you come to training you have to work to your absolute maximum every day.
“That’s the only way you get better and you have to learn to enjoy that side of it. If you don’t it will be a hard slog.
“I’m 100% a better coach now than when I started. I’m more myself now rather than just copying other people and I was also round with the first-team which helped me massively.
“On a personal note, it probably gave me more belief in myself as a coach. Working with elite players and staff gave me different experiences every day.
“I am still learning but I am in a much better place as a coach than I was a couple of years ago thanks to the people who have helped me.
“One of the worst things I think you can do is always say, ‘This is how it was done when I played.’ because it is never about me.
“You always want to find a balance but there are times you can lean on past, valuable experiences you have gained.
“I go to that at certain points but not all the time. You have to vary the coaching and messaging and players ask so many questions now
“But players also have so many things they can access now. It could be watching The Overlap with Gary Neville and Jamie Carragher, watching the analysis on Monday Night Football or watching things like Bayern Munich training sessions on YouTube.
“There is so much information out there.
“You can take things from so many people but as a coach it is all about how you put it across in your own way.
“You need a certain type of character and a certain type of people in the building and it’s positive the young players can learn from players who have played for this club.
“There are good coaches who haven’t played for the club but I think it’s about balance.
“The thought of going into coaching came to me late on in my playing career and it was Lee McCulloch and David Weir who encouraged me to do my coaching badges.
“I retired at 32 so I am glad they did. Once you are in it, you never want to be away from it.
“You become so engrossed in the job it becomes 24/7.
“My job is to try and help players get into the B Team and then push for the first-team. That’s the priority.
“But winning is important and I believe you can do a mixture of both.
“I will never ever not put pressure on the under-18s players to win. Will they win all the time? No, but they need to feel the pressure of what I expect and what the club expects.
“People will say different things but when they get to 18s level I think the pressure of winning can help you where you want to get to.
“We won the Scottish Youth Cup last year and made the final every year since I came back to the club.
“We got knocked out early this season and that’s a different type of experience for the players.
“They need to reflect and learn from that.
“It’s a tough journey from the Academy to the first-team. It was for me and I will never hide that fact from the players.
“You need a lot of luck along the way as well and you need to be ready to take your opportunity, sometimes it comes when you least expect it.
“To be ready, you need to work to your maximum every single day.
“When I was breaking through we had a core group of players like Bob Malcolm, Stephen Hughes and Maurice Ross and we were all inspired by Barry Ferguson.
“He was an unbelievable player and captain for this club.
“Chris Burke was also round with the first-team before me and that helped me too as he is one of my good mates and still is.
“We also had Alan Hutton and Charlie Adam so there were a lot of good players and it was a great group to be involved in.
“In terms of staff, John Brown was probably the one who pushed me most when I was with the 18s to get to the level I needed to get to.
“I have brilliant memories of my playing career with Rangers. All the way back to being on the pitch waving the flag as a youth player in a Champions League game against Bayern Munich.
“Rangers was all I had known since I was 8-years-old until I left at 24.
“I loved my time at Rangers and I also enjoyed the last couple of years of my career at Kilmarnock, where I became club captain.
“I had injury problems but it was a good club for me to finish at.
“Burkey and I did our coaching badges together and there are a lot of ex-players working at 18s level now, which I think is a good thing.
“Richard Foster is at Motherwell, Alan Gow is at Airdrie and Burkey is now 18s coach at Kilmarnock. It’s good to see former players passing on their experiences.
“Ross McCausland progressed to the first-team last season and that is brilliant to see but more importantly it is brilliant for them.
“When you get to the age and stage when we are working with them they make their own way.
“You put on training sessions and give them advice but ultimately it comes down to them.
“The ones that make it have an element of luck but they also put in the hard work and Ross is one of them.
“It’s about who is next now for me.
“So much work goes in to developing players down the age groups but when you see one making the first-team, for me, it’s then about who is next.
“You want players to go round there and stay there. That’s the hard bit. Playing 5 or 10 games is easy but who is going to go round and play 100, 150 and 200 games.
“That’s what the aim is here every single day. Who is next.
“I do believe there is loads of talent in the Academy and hopefully they get the wee bit of luck they need and develop the mentality to succeed.
“It’s about mentality from the under 18s to the B Team and who has it to stick it out and push other players out the way.
“I enjoyed working with the first-team squad last season and you realise you are capable of doing the job you are asked to do.
“I enjoyed the pressure of it and I go back to it, it’s all I have ever known since I was 8.
“I know the expectations here, I know the feeling when you win here and when you lose here and I know what it’s like when it’s tough and when everything is brilliant.
“There is always pressure here and it is one of the hardest places to break through but it’s also one of the most rewarding places if you do.
“Fans always like to see homegrown players coming through.
“It’s a phenomenal place to go and play but it is hard and it should be hard to get into the first-team.
“Hopefully in the next few years we can start to produce more, that’s what our job is.
“We are also grateful for all the support we receive from RYDC, I think it’s more than £11.5 million donated to the Academy.
“We wouldn’t be able to do a lot of the work we do here without that funding.
“We are genuinely grateful and thankful for it because we wouldn’t be able to function the way we function without it.
“It is really appreciated within the Academy.
“We talk about the pride coaches have when they see a Ross McCausland playing for the first-team. Well the people at RYDC should feel the same pride.
“Everything is here for players to develop and there can be no excuses for players or for staff.
“So we will keep working hard to develop players and win the under-18s league this season, that’s the priority.”
Youth player development is assisted by annual RYDC donations to the Rangers Academy and more than £11.5 million has already been provided.
Profit from RYDC’s online store and products like Rangers Lotto, Stadium Bricks and The Union Jackpot draw all go to the Academy, while profit from Museum Lotto is donated to the club for the upkeep and maintenance of the new museum.
CLICK HERE to shop RYDC’s range for Christmas
CLICK HERE to play Rangers Lotto
CLICK HERE to play The Union Jackpot
CLICK HERE to buy Rangers Bricks
CLICK HERE to buy Rangers Scratchcards
CLICK HERE to play Museum Lotto
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