Home   Sport   Article

Spanish U19 title winner Nico says he is 'proud of being half Scottish'


By Alan Hendry

Easier access to your trusted, local news. Subscribe to a digital package and support local news publishing.



Click here to sign up to our free newsletters!
The Deportivo La Coruña squad celebrating after beating Barcelona to win the Spanish under-19 championship. Nico is kneeling at the back, fourth from right. Picture: RC Deportivo
The Deportivo La Coruña squad celebrating after beating Barcelona to win the Spanish under-19 championship. Nico is kneeling at the back, fourth from right. Picture: RC Deportivo

A talented young footballer with a Caithness family connection has said it was "an indescribable feeling" to help his lower-division team win the Spanish under-19 championship – beating their counterparts from the country's most illustrious clubs along the way.

Nico Clouston was part of the Deportivo La Coruña squad that lifted the title after overcoming Real Madrid U19s in the semi-finals and Barcelona in the final.

Nico's father, Andrew, an English teacher, was born in Thurso and the 19-year-old defender says he is "proud of being half Scottish".

The latter stages of the championship were played in Marbella, with Deportivo going through after a two-leg tie against Las Palmas in the quarter-finals.

"I was lucky to play in three of the four games of the final round," said Nico, a right centre-back. "I had a couple of minutes against Barcelona in the final.

"It was really exciting to reach that final round and travel to Marbella. We knew we had a great team and that we could compete against the big ones.

"When we won it was just an indescribable feeling – all the work of the year had paid off. I’m sure we all felt extremely happy and proud.

"All of the city [A Coruña] was keeping an eye on us and we received a lot of messages wishing us good luck. It was awesome."

Deportivo's senior team made regular appearances in the group stages of the Champions League in the early 2000s but are now in the third tier of Spain's league pyramid. The club is based in Galicia, in the north-west of the country, and Nico has attended training sessions with the Galician squad.

Nico in a training session with Deportivo. He says he is 'proud of being half Scottish'. Picture: RC Deportivo
Nico in a training session with Deportivo. He says he is 'proud of being half Scottish'. Picture: RC Deportivo

He trained with the Deportivo B team over the past season but the club decided not to renew his contract and Nico has now signed for Silva, a third division professional team.

"My goal is to reach as far as possible," Nico said. "Depor didn’t give me a chance for next season so I have signed with a club that’s in the same division as Depor B.

"I’m just focusing on training hard and playing as much and as well as I can, so I can have more opportunities to reach higher divisions. I am very responsible with my studies too, because we all know that football is a difficult world."

Asked about his international ambitions, Nico replied: "I am eligible to play with Scotland and I would be delighted to do so. I am proud of being half Scottish and I would love to defend my colours."

Andrew Clouston (53) was born in Thurso while his father Ken, an Orcadian, was working at Dounreay. Ken went on to work for the police as a radio engineer in Perth and Dingwall and then in Aberdeen, where he entered the oil industry.

Andrew grew up in Ellon, Aberdeenshire, in the 1980s. His uncle Steve Clouston was a gym teacher at Dingwall Academy and his grandparents ran an old people's home in Dornoch.

Andrew moved to A Coruña in 1996 and now runs two English academies. He and his wife, Antia Juane Sanchez, have a younger son, Ally (17), who is also a keen footballer, and an 11-year-old daughter, Ana.

"After playing so well all season, it was a pity that Nico didn't get more minutes in the final rounds of the championship against Real Madrid and Barcelona. That's football, though," Andrew said.

"Ally was also about to sign for Deportivo but is still debating his options for next season. My dad would have been proud of both of them.

"Nico wants to play for Aberdeen and would love to get on the radar of the Scottish national coach. He reckons his height and style of play is more suited to Scottish football than Spanish."


Do you want to respond to this article? If so, click here to submit your thoughts and they may be published in print.



This site uses cookies. By continuing to browse the site you are agreeing to our use of cookies - Learn More