Scottish Premiership side Livingston blamed Project Brave for "forcing" it to "scrap" its entire youth development program, according to Gordon Parks of the Scotland DAILY RECORD. The club "ditched" all six of its youth teams due to the Scottish FA's decision to "dump the West Lothian club in the bottom tier" of its "revamped development structure." Livingston execs claim funding and governance requirements have "made it impossible to continue" with its academy, which is being "disbanded with immediate effect." The news will "leave dozens of kids in limbo" and "mirrors an identical move" by Scottish Championship side Falkirk last season to "axe" its own youth setup, which had Falkirk Chair Margaret Lang citing "unsustainable" losses as the reason to fold its academy. Livingston's "shock move" is the "latest blow" to the SFA’s launch of its performance strategy but the West Lothian side insisted it was left with "no option but to bring a halt to a talent factory" which has reared the likes of Leigh Griffiths, Robert Snodgrass and Graham Dorrans (DAILY RECORD, 8/12).
