Park in Brechin, Balmoor Stadium in Peterhead or Station Park in Forfar – although occasionally matches are played at Pittodrie Stadium. In the 2018–19 season, their nominated ground was the recently completed Balmoral Stadium, home of Cove Rangers. In the event that the long-awaited New Aberdeen Stadium is completed, the youth training facilities would certainly move to that location and some of the Reserve League fixtures may also take place there. Academy background Aberdeen's geographical isolation from much of Scotland's population is an advantage to the Dons' player recruitment to some extent, as they are the only major club in a region of over 500,000 people so generally have the pick of the promising youngsters in the city and shire. The relative economic power of the club also means that players from the Central Belt are frequently persuaded to move north, and over the decades many of Aberdeen's successful youth products (not least Willie Miller, McLeish, Black, Leighton, McMaster and later Joe Miller, Phil McGuire, Diamond and Chris Maguire) have moved from the west of Scotland to begin their professional careers. In the 21st century Aberdeen have also looked further afield to the English lower leagues for academy recruits as well as senior players. In 2017, the Aberdeen academy was one of eight across the country designated 'elite' status on the introduction of Project Brave, an SFA initiative to concentrate the development of the best young players at a smaller number of clubs with high quality facilities and coaching than was previously the case. The Reserves head coach is Paul Sheerin, and the head of the youth academy is Neil Simpson. Squad Reserves/Youths Honours Reserves SFL Division C (North-East) Winners: 1952–53, 1954–55 Runners-up: 1950–51, 1953–54 Scottish Reserve League Winners (4): 1955–56, 1972–73, 1981–82, 1986–87 Scottish Football Alliance Winners: 1932–33, 1935–36 Scottish Reserve League Cup Winners (9): 1950–51, 1951–52, 1956–57, 1957–58, 1972–73, 1973–74, 1978–79, 1984–85, 1996–97 Scottish 2nd XI Cup Winners (6): 1954–55, 1955–56, 1968–69, 1975–76, 1977–78, 1981–82 Youth Scottish Youth Cup Winners (3): 1985, 1986, 2001 Runners-up: 2003, 2018 SPFL Development League Winners: 1998–99, 2014–15 Runners-up: 1994–95, 2012–13 SFL Youth League Winners: 1993–94, 1997–98 Notes Former reserve/youth team players This list focuses on the players who have graduated through Aberdeen's academy since the inception of the SPL in 1998. many other of Aberdeen's earlier notable players, including most of the highly successful Alex Ferguson era also came through the youth