As mentioned already in this site, Calderbraes has a proud tradition of seeing players make the jump from Boys Club to Professional level.  We have had nearly 50 boys sign professional since 1985, about two a year. Below is a brief summary of a few of the ex Braes boys who have made that jump. (in no particular order)

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The Professionals

1) Stephen McManus - Celtic

Stephen started his career at the Braes as a left-winger and is now a regular for the Celtic first team having captained them on a few occasions.  Had an uncanny ability of scoring goals straight from corner kicks, Stephen has retained a goal scoring touch as a centre-half. 

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2) Stephen McPhee - Hull City

Stephen has had a very successful career after leaving the Braes, sigining for Coventry City.  He spelt a time on loan at St Mirren in 2001 and managed to pick up the SPL young player of the month award for his efforts during his brief period in Scotland.  After Coventry he signed for Port Vale and after impressing with a fantastic number of goals, 27 in one season alone, he signed for Portugese outfit Beira-Mar.  A move to Hull City followed where Stephen became their record signing at £400,000.

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3) Shaun Fagan - Motherwell

Shaun joined Calderbraes at the age of Seven years old and served the club with great distinction for many years before he left to join Motherwell FC.  Having come through the Motherwell Youth Team, Shaun made the breakthrough into the first team in the 2002/2003 season, making 23 appearances for the club in the SPL , scoring two goals playing mainly in Midfield.  An injury took away Shaun's chance of playing against Rangers in the semi-final at Hampden that season but became a Scotland U21 cap later that year.

His most memorable moment so far, has to be when he scored what turned out to be the eventual winner against Celtic live on BBC. 

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 4) Alex Neil - Hamilton Accies

Alex played for Calderbraes for a number of seasons in his mid teens and the experience has certainly not held him back.  After leaving Calderbraes Alex moved to Dunfermline Athletic where he played at Youth and Reserve level.  Airdrie spotted Alex's undoubted talents and snapped him up.

When Airdrie went into liquidation, Alex was sold to Barnsley in the English First Division, where Dave Bassett spent a £25,000 on him and turned him from a winger to a hard working midfielder.  Although Barnsley slipped into Division Two, Alex managed to become a first team regular, making well over 100 appearances for the club.  A move to Mansfield Town followed before joining up with the Accies, where Alec is now team captain.

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5) Stephen Low - Elgin City

Rugged stopper Low was on Celtic's books as a youngster and represented Scotland at various youth levels. Captain of Celtic's championship winning U19 team, Stephen played with Calderbraes all of his days until signing for Celtic.

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6) Paul McMullan - Hearts

Paul played with Calderbraes until the age of 13, where he signed for Hearts FC.  Paul has developed well as a Left Sided player and has moved through every level of the Club, making his SPL Debut against Kilmarnock on the 16th Feb 2002 at age 18.  Gerry Britton’s first signing for Stranraer after he took over, Paul is a pedigree player who has played at SPL level for Hearts, Livingston and Inverness Caledonian Thistle amongst others.  Paul is an industrious defender/midfielder with a creative adge and also has a shooting eye.

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  7) Marc Fitzpatrick - Motherwell

After completing his two year apprenticeship, Marc was promoted to the first team squad and made his debut towards the end of the 2003/2004 season against Celtic. Marc played for Calderbraes in his early teens.