''Blue Heaven'' is a Scottish television documentary series filmed by

BBC Scotland BBC Scotland is a division of the BBC and the main public broadcaster in Scotland. Its headquarters are in Glasgow, employing approximately 1,250 staff as of 2017, to produce 15,000 hours of television and radio programming per year. BBC Scotla ...

which followed aspiring young footballers at Rangers Football Club as they tried to forge a career in football. The series was originally broadcast in the winter of 2003 with a follow-up episode in 2011.

Background

The building of Rangers' new training facility in July 2001 was the catalyst for the filming of a six-part television series by

. The show documented the hopes and aspirations of a group of young footballers as they try to make the breakthrough at Rangers. The production company, Saltire Films, was given unprecedented access for two years, the series begins during the

Dick Advocaat Dirk Nicolaas "Dick" Advocaat (; born 27 September 1947) is a Dutch former association football, football player and coach. He is currently the manager of the Curaçao national football team. Advocaat was successful as a football player and as a ...

era and continues through to the

Alex McLeish Alexander McLeish (born 21 January 1959) is a Scottish professional football manager and former player. He played as a defender for Aberdeen during their 1980s glory years, making nearly 500 League appearances for the club, and won 77 caps f ...

's reign. The length of filming allowed for the following of particular youngsters. Some of those would go on to graduate to the first team, Chris Burke for example. His Rangers debut covered during the series. Other players never made it as a professional footballer at all. Rangers-daft David Ford and his family's story is covered as Ford struggles to make an impact due to his lack of height and slight frame. The Head of Youth Development, Jan Derks, is replaced part-way through filming the series and is replaced by George Adams. Derks was seen deciding on the futures of young players, including Kevin Morrison, who was eventually released by the club. In May 2011, a follow-up episode was broadcast featuring several of the trainees from the original documentary.

Episodes

List of footballers which appeared

Players who graduated to first team

* Charlie Adam * Steven Smith * Chris Burke * Jordan McMillan

Players who made careers with other clubs

* Steven Campbell * Andy Dowie * Calum Reidford * Peter Leven * Scott Agnew

References

External links

*
Locate TV
Rangers F.C. BBC television documentaries 2003 Scottish television series debuts 2003 Scottish television series endings BBC Scotland television shows Association football documentary television series {{BBC-documentary-tv-prog-stub