“We were giving young players the opportunity to play in a stadium and play against maybe Rangers, Celtic, and other teams who might have brought in some older players, but the young players were being stretched against good professionals. I remember our young players playing against Scott Allan who was at Celtic at this time and the experience our players got was invaluable.

“It’s not about anyone winning leagues or cups, that’s a bonus — what you must do is accelerate the players and challenge them quicker. It’s important, of course, that players are competitive and develop a winning mentality — but not at the cost of their long-term progression to playing first-team football. No one will remember who won the youth league in 2020 but if there are five players from that group playing in your first team now, then that is true success.

“If we had young players at St Mirren, they played in that Under-20s league and it was a challenge for them. If they were getting a little bit older then you put them out on loan. I think that’s the way it should be still. Young players need to get to first-team football as soon as possible. If they are not going to get it with their own team, then there should be somewhere else for them to get that experience.

“The way we used it, it worked. I didn’t see a reason to change it. We used it to our advantage and all those players I mentioned — McGinn, McLean, and Morgan — they were part of that to a degree, and they got to play in games that really helped their development.

“On top of these players, there was then Kyle McCallister, Kyle Magennis, Sean Kelly, Jason Naismith, and more who all came through the St Mirren Academy where the Under-20s system aided their development. The U20s system could be used for accelerating young players but was also beneficial for players who needed more time to develop.”

Longwell, who was most recently academy director at Burnley, spent three years in the MLS and saw first-hand how US clubs could plug the gap between Under-18 football and the first team. In many ways, there were similarities to the Under-20 system in Scotland.

He added: “In the US, you’ve got Under-18s then you’ve got your MLS Next Pro level — but again, it’s an area you can use to give players time. In Scotland, it has gotten harder. You’re having to make decisions so early on players.

“Not every kid is a late developer. Some are just not going to be good enough, but I do think there are some kids who need that extra time. At Under-21s groups in England, what I was trying to do was use them for the best reasons — so that the best young talent was getting pushed but also for players who needed a bit more time to develop. And it was the same in the US. One of the reasons to have MLS Next Pro is to have a team right underneath the first team. They can play first-team players, but it also gives you the opportunity to play your best young talent.

“The concern I have is: have they actually been training enough and playing enough meaningful games? Genuinely, I think the Tuesday nights with the Under-20s worked. We were playing 16- and 17-year-olds in a good level of game in a stadium with people watching, and that is massive for young players. It was the closest to real first-team football I have seen at that age.”

Longwell is on the lookout for his next challenge and will bring with him the font of knowledge he has gained in the US, the UK, and also wider Europe, where he has travelled to leading clubs to tap into their expertise. This has included fact-finding trips to the likes of Real Madrid, Inter Milan, Malaga, and Monaco among many others.

Longwell said: “Football is football, but there are different ways to play it and there are different philosophies and methodologies. Whenever you visit a club, you always want to pick up at least one thing. You might pick up ten but you are always looking for something that makes you do things that bit better if possible.

“Some people are very closed-minded, they never change: but for me, football has evolved a lot and you must be open-minded.

“One of the biggest differences at the top end of football is how athletic the game is. If you look at the high-speed running, the sprint distance, and the speed the players play at now, it is different from 20 years ago.

“Players at the highest level need to have athleticism, and need to know how to play football. It’s not one or the other – for me, you need both now at the top level. If you look at top, top players like Haaland, Mbappe, Jude Bellingham — even if you look at the Scottish lads, I know John McGinn had to work so hard with his body since he went down south. If you look at him now, he’s in incredible condition. I spoke to him on WhatsApp when he went to Aston Villa, and he said he had to do so much more gym work to improve his body to compete.

“You must improve all those aspects of it. So when I go into a football club, I’m always looking for that small thing I can take back, and that was always my mindset going in somewhere. Some clubs would reinforce what you were doing within your academy, or some clubs would make you think you should adapt what you do.

“I’ve been so lucky. I’ve been to so many football clubs and learned so many things, each time taking that little bit and then implementing it into my own style. I’ve been lucky to recently work with Vincent Kompany at Burnley and Jesse Marsch when I was at Red Bulls — two modern, high-level elite coaches.

“Football is always evolving. One of the biggest things I learned at Red Bull was how you profile talent, how you identify talent, and how you coach talent. Look at how many world-class players have come from the Red Bull system. When I go into all these other clubs, I’m always interested to know how they identify talent and how they hone that talent to take it to the highest level.

“At every club I have worked at, alignment through the academy to the first team is key. I feel I have developed that to ensure players do progress to the first team which, at the end of the day, is the main purpose of any academy.”