Wednesday 25th May, 2022 at 3:57pm
We are pleased to announce that midfielder Zander MacKenzie has become the latest Thistle Weir Youth Academy player to make the step up and sign with the club as a modern apprentice.
The 16-year-old has penned a two-year modern apprentice contract, following in the footsteps of fellow Academy midfielder Ben Stanway who did likewise back in January.
Zander, who joined the Academy at under 12s level in 2017, has spent time in and around the first team squad over the past year, most notably for our pre-season friendlies when he came off the bench to feature against East Kilbride and Rangers.
Towards the end of the 2021/22 term, MacKenzie spent a short time on loan with Petershill FC. He helped Peasy win the West of Scotland Football League Conference C title, starting in their final day league decider against Glasgow Perthshire.
Everyone at Partick Thistle welcomes Zander to the club officially and looks forward to seeing how he develops over the course of his apprenticeship.
Thistle manager Ian McCall said:
“I’m pleased to have Zander signing his modern apprenticeship with the club today. He’s a very talented young player who we believe has real potential.
“He’s had the opportunity to train with the first team this season and he’s played in a couple of friendlies too so hopefully that’s given him a taste of what could be ahead of him and only makes him hungrier to improve and grow as a player.
“As I always say to the young guys who come up from the Academy, you can’t stop now. At this point you’ve got to work even harder and push yourself even further to go and take your game to the next level so it’s now up to him to do that.”
