Andrew Scott (born 2 August 1972) is an English former professional

footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby ...

and

manager Management (or managing) is the administration of an organization, whether it is a business, a nonprofit organization, or a government body. It is the art and science of managing resources of the business. Management includes the activities ...

He is currently the technical director for

League One The English Football League One (often referred to as League One for short or Sky Bet League One for sponsorship purposes, and known as the Football League One from 2004 until 2016) is the second-highest division of the English Football Leag ...

club

Charlton Athletic Charlton Athletic Football Club is an English professional football club based in Charlton, south-east London, which compete in . Their home ground is The Valley, where the club have played since 1919. They have also played at The Mount in ...

. During his playing career, Scott played in the

Premier League The Premier League (legal name: The Football Association Premier League Limited) is the highest level of the men's English football league system. Contested by 20 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation with the English Fo ...

and Football League for Brentford,

Oxford United Oxford United Football Club is a professional football club in the city of Oxford, England. The team plays in League One, the third tier of the English football league system. The chairman is Grant Ferguson, the manager is Karl Robinson and t ...

Sheffield United Sheffield United Football Club is a professional football club in Sheffield, South Yorkshire, England, which compete in the . They are nicknamed "the Blades" due to Sheffield's history of cutlery production. The team have played home games at ...

and

Leyton Orient Leyton Orient Football Club is a professional football club based in Leyton, East London, England, who compete in , the fourth tier of the English football league system. They are the second oldest football club in London to play at a profession ...

as a forward and utility player. Upon his retirement in 2005, he entered

coaching Coaching is a form of development in which an experienced person, called a ''coach'', supports a learner or client in achieving a specific personal or professional goal by providing training and guidance. The learner is sometimes called a ''coa ...

and later managed Brentford,

Rotherham United Rotherham United Football Club, nicknamed The Millers, is a professional football club based in Rotherham, South Yorkshire, England, which compete in the . The club's colours were initially yellow and black, but changed to red and white around 1 ...

and

Aldershot Town Aldershot Town Football Club is a professional association football club based in Aldershot, Hampshire, England. The team competes in the National League, the fifth tier of the English football league system. The club was founded in the spring ...

. In 2015, he moved into scouting and backroom roles with Brentford,

Watford Watford () is a town and borough in Hertfordshire, England, 15 miles northwest of Central London, on the River Colne. Initially a small market town, the Grand Junction Canal encouraged the construction of paper-making mills, print works, and ...

, Swansea City,

Nottingham Forest Nottingham Forest Football Club is an association football club based in West Bridgford, Nottinghamshire, England. Nottingham Forest was founded in 1865 and have been playing their home games at the City Ground, on the banks of the River Tren ...

and

Playing career

Early years

A forward, Scott began his career in the

youth system In sporting terminology, a youth system (or youth academy) is a youth investment program within a particular team or league, which develops and nurtures young talent in farm teams, with the vision of using them in the first team in the future if t ...

at First Division club

Wimbledon Wimbledon most often refers to: * Wimbledon, London, a district of southwest London * Wimbledon Championships, the oldest tennis tournament in the world and one of the four Grand Slam championships Wimbledon may also refer to: Places London * ...

, but failed to be awarded a professional contract and dropped into non-League football to join Isthmian League Premier Division club

Sutton United Sutton United Football Club is a professional football club in Sutton, South London, England, who play in League Two, the fourth tier of the English football league system. They play home games at Gander Green Lane in Sutton about 11 miles so ...

in 1991.

Sheffield United

Along with his brother,

Efan Ekoku Efangwu Goziem Ekoku (born 8 June 1967) is a former Nigerian professional footballer, and sports commentator. As a player, he was a striker who notably played in the Premier League for Norwich City and Wimbledon and in Switzerland for Grassh ...

and Paul Rogers, Scott was one of four Sutton United players to be plucked from non-League football by

in the early 1990s. He joined the Bramall Lane club, then members of the

, for a £50,000 fee in December 1992 and made the first professional appearance of his career as an

injury time Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 players who primarily use their feet to propel the ball around a rectangular field called a pitch. The objective of the game is ...

substitute for Brian Deane in a 1–1

Steel City derby The Steel City Derby (also known as the Sheffield Derby) is a local derby that takes place between Sheffield United and Sheffield Wednesday, the two professional football league teams based in the city of Sheffield, England. It is widely consi ...

draw on 21 April 1993. Scott made his first start for the club versus

Chelsea Chelsea or Chelsey may refer to: Places Australia * Chelsea, Victoria Canada * Chelsea, Nova Scotia * Chelsea, Quebec United Kingdom * Chelsea, London, an area of London, bounded to the south by the River Thames ** Chelsea (UK Parliament consti ...

on the final day of the

1992–93 Year 199 ( CXCIX) was a common year starting on Monday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar. At the time, it was sometimes known as year 952 '' Ab urbe condita''. The denomination 199 for this year has been used since t ...

season and had a dream afternoon, playing the full 90 minutes and opening the scoring after seven minutes of the eventual 4–1 victory. Scott played a bit-part role during the 1993–94 season, at the end of which the Blades were relegated to the First Division. Scott became a regular in the team during the 1994–95 season, making 40 appearances, but after the departure of manager

Dave Bassett David Thomas Bassett (born 4 September 1944 in Stanmore) is an English football manager and a former player. During his career he has managed Wimbledon, Watford, Sheffield United, Crystal Palace, Nottingham Forest, Barnsley, Leicester City a ...

in 1995, he fell out of favour with successive managers

Howard Kendall Howard Kendall (22 May 1946 – 17 October 2015) was an English footballer and manager. Kendall joined Preston North End as an apprentice and stayed with the club when he turned professional. He was a runner-up in the 1964 FA Cup with Preston, ...

and

Nigel Spackman Nigel James Spackman (born 2 December 1960) is an English football manager, former professional footballer and sports television pundit. As a player he was as a midfielder from 1980 to 1998, notably for Liverpool, Chelsea and Rangers. He also ...

and following two

loans In finance, a loan is the lending of money by one or more individuals, organizations, or other entities to other individuals, organizations, etc. The recipient (i.e., the borrower) incurs a debt and is usually liable to pay interest on that de ...

away, he departed the club on 21 December 1997. Scott made 87 appearances and scored 11 goals during five years at Bramall Lane.

Brentford

As one of new manager

Micky Adams Michael Richard Adams (born 8 November 1961) is an English former professional footballer and football manager. As a player, he was a full back, and made a total of 438 league appearances in a nineteen-year professional career in the English ...

' first signings, Scott transferred to Second Division strugglers Brentford on 21 November 1997. Joining for a £75,000 fee, the move reunited him with Geoff Taylor, then Director of Youth Football at Griffin Park and previously assistant manager at Sheffield United and youth team manager at Wimbledon. Despite scoring on his debut with a late equaliser in a 1–1 draw with

Oldham Athletic Oldham Athletic Association Football Club is a professional football club in Oldham, Greater Manchester, England, which competes in the National League, the fifth tier of the English football league system. The history of Oldham Athletic be ...

, Scott had a difficult start to life at Griffin Park and failed to live up to expectations, scoring just five goals in 27 appearances during the remainder of the 1996-97 season, at the end of which the Bees were relegated to the Third Division. Scott was played on the left wing by new manager

Ron Noades Ronald Geoffrey Noades (22 June 1937 – 24 December 2013) was an English businessman, best known for his investments in football clubs. He was the chairman of Southall, Wimbledon, Crystal Palace and finally Brentford. He was also the manager o ...

during 1998–99, but despite suffering a serious leg injury in November 1998, he had the best season of his career so far, scoring 11 goals in 40 appearances and winning the Third Division championship. Scott was again a regular back in the Second Division during the 1999–00 season, making 42 appearances and proving his versatility by filling in at left back and in

central midfield A midfielder is an outfield position in association football. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in that case known as defensive midfielders. As central midfielders often go across boundarie ...

during the campaign. Scott began the 2000–01 season in his regular left wing role, but deputised up front for the injured

Lloyd Owusu Lloyd Magnus Owusu (born 12 December 1976) is a retired professional footballer who last played for Hakoah Sydney City East in the NSW State League Division One, Sydney, Australia. After a move from non-League Slough Town, his career took off a ...

and enjoyed the best goalscoring form of his career, with 13 goals in a 21-match spell between late August 2000 and early January 2001. In a bid to balance the club's books, chairman Ron Noades sold Scott and teammate

Rob Quinn Robert John Quinn (born 8 November 1976) is a former professional footballer, and current youth team coach. He played as midfielder, predominantly in the centre, but also played at centre back. He represented the Republic of Ireland under-21s ...

in January 2001. Scott made 143 appearances and scored 37 goals in just over three years at Griffin Park.

Oxford United

Scott and Brentford teammate Rob Quinn joined Second Division strugglers

for a combined £150,000 fee on 12 January 2001. He was unable to prevent the club from suffering relegation to the Third Division at the end of the 2000–01 season, though on a personal note he had had the best season of his career and finished the campaign with 20 goals scored for Brentford and Oxford United. He was the final Oxford United player to score at the Manor Ground. Scott played on for a three further seasons with the Us, but fell out of favour due to injury troubles during the 2003–04 season. He was released on 24 March 2004. In three-and-a-half years with Oxford, he made 100 appearances and scored 25 goals. At the time of his departure, Scott was the club's PFA representative.

Leyton Orient

On 24 March 2004, Scott joined struggling Third Division club

on a free transfer. He scored one goal in eight appearances during what remained of the 2003–04 season and despite being aged 32, was a regular in 2004–05 and scored 9 goals in 45 appearances before being forced to retire in April 2005 after being diagnosed with hypertrophic cardiomyopathy. A 2005–06

pre-season friendly An exhibition game (also known as a friendly, a scrimmage, a demonstration, a preseason game, a warmup match, or a preparation match, depending at least in part on the sport) is a sporting event whose prize money and impact on the player's or ...

was played between Leyton Orient and Brentford to raise money for Scott after his premature retirement.

Managerial and coaching career

Leyton Orient

After retiring from football in April 2005, Scott began coaching the Leyton Orient youth team, replacing

Dean Smith Dean Edwards Smith (February 28, 1931 – February 7, 2015) was an American men's college basketball head coach. Called a "coaching legend" by the Basketball Hall of Fame, he coached for 36 years at the University of North Carolina at Chapel H ...

, who moved up to assistant manager. He remained in the role until his departure at the end of the 2006–07 season.

Brentford

2007–2009

On 9 May 2007, Scott rejoined his former club Brentford, newly relegated to

League Two The English Football League Two (often referred to as League Two for short or Sky Bet League Two for sponsorship purposes, and known as the Football League Two from 2004 until 2016) is the third and lowest division of the English Football Lea ...

, as assistant to incoming manager

Terry Butcher Terry Ian Butcher (born 28 December 1958) is an English football manager and former player. He works as an academy coach for Ipswich Town. During his playing career as a defender, Butcher captained the England national team, winning 77 caps ...

. Following a poor run of results and with a relegation into non-League football a possibility, Butcher was sacked on 11 December 2007 and Scott was named caretaker manager. After three wins, one draw and one loss from his opening five games, Scott was named as the club's permanent manager on 4 January 2008. Seven wins and two draws from a 9-match spell between late December 2007 and mid-February 2008 raised the Bees to 11th position, but hopes of a

playoff The playoffs, play-offs, postseason or finals of a sports league are a competition played after the regular season by the top competitors to determine the league champion or a similar accolade. Depending on the league, the playoffs may be eithe ...

finish were thwarted by a run of just four wins from the final 15 matches of the season. Scott signed a new five-year contract during the 2008 off-season and an overhaul of the squad and the shrewd loan signings of

goalkeeper In many team sports which involve scoring goals, the goalkeeper (sometimes termed goaltender, netminder, GK, goalie or keeper) is a designated player charged with directly preventing the opposing team from scoring by blocking or intercepting o ...

Ben Hamer Benjamin John Hamer (; born 20 November 1987) is an English professional footballer who plays as a goalkeeper for Championship side Watford. Career Early career Hamer was born in Chard, Somerset, and is a Bristol City fan. His family moved to ...

centre back In the sport of association football, a defender is an outfield position whose primary role is to stop attacks during the game and prevent the opposition from scoring. Centre-backs are usually positioned in pairs, with one full-back on either ...

Alan Bennett Alan Bennett (born 9 May 1934) is an English actor, author, playwright and screenwriter. Over his distinguished entertainment career he has received numerous awards and honours including two BAFTA Awards, four Laurence Olivier Awards, and two ...

and forwards Jordan Rhodes and Billy Clarke contributed to Brentford winning the 2008–09 League Two championship in Scott's first full season in management. During the season he was named the 2008 BBC Radio London Manager of the Year and won the April 2009 League Two Manager of the Month award. The title win made Scott the first person to win a league championship as both a player and manager of Brentford.

2009–2011

Scott again overhauled the squad for the 2009–10 season in

and he again showed prowess in the loan market, signing young Arsenal goalkeeper

Wojciech Szczęsny Wojciech Tomasz Szczęsny (; born 18 April 1990) is a Polish professional footballer who plays as a goalkeeper for club Juventus and the Poland national team. After starting his club career at Legia Warsaw, Szczęsny signed for Arsenal in Jan ...

, up-and-coming teenage attacker John Bostock and future stalwart

Toumani Diagouraga Toumani Diagouraga (born 10 June 1987) is a French former professional footballer who played as a defensive midfielder. He played his entire career in the English Football League and made 529 League appearances between 2005 and 2023. Following hi ...

. Just six defeats between early December and the end of the season led to a strong 9th-place finish. Scott's Brentford had a torrid start to the

2010–11 1 (one, unit, unity) is a number representing a single or the only entity. 1 is also a numerical digit and represents a single unit of counting or measurement. For example, a line segment of ''unit length'' is a line segment of length 1. ...

season and sat bottom of the table after just two wins from the opening 11 matches. The early months of the season were notable for a run to the fourth round of the

League Cup In several sports, most prominently association football, a league cup or secondary cup generally signifies a cup competition for which entry is restricted only to teams in a particular league. The first national association football tournament t ...

, which featured wins over

Championship In sport, a championship is a competition in which the aim is to decide which individual or team is the champion. Championship systems Various forms of competition can be referred to by the term championship. Title match system In this system ...

club

Hull City Hull City Association Football Club is a professional football club based in Hull, East Riding of Yorkshire, England, that compete in the . They have played home games at the MKM Stadium since moving from Boothferry Park in 2002. The club's t ...

and Premier League Everton on

penalties Penalty or The Penalty may refer to: Sports * Penalty (golf) * Penalty (gridiron football) * Penalty (ice hockey) * Penalty (rugby) * Penalty (rugby union) * Penalty kick (association football) * Penalty shoot-out (association football) * Penalty ...

at Griffin Park, before the run ended with a loss in a penalty shootout away to Premier League side

Birmingham City Birmingham City Football Club is a professional association football, football club based in Birmingham, England. Formed in 1875 as Small Heath Alliance, it was renamed Small Heath in 1888, Birmingham in 1905, and Birmingham City in 1943. Sin ...

. The team's league form subsequently picked up and Scott won the October 2010 League One Manager of the Month award. In the same period, Scott felt the need to address the atmosphere surrounding the club, stating "we are closing ranks. There's a lot of negativity around the place and I'm sick of it. We've beaten Plymouth,

Peterborough Peterborough () is a cathedral city in Cambridgeshire, east of England. It is the largest part of the City of Peterborough unitary authority district (which covers a larger area than Peterborough itself). It was part of Northamptonshire until ...

, Charlton, Hull and Everton and taken Birmingham to penalties – it's a terrible season we're having!". Scott also guided Brentford to the Southern Area finals of the

Football League Trophy The English Football League Trophy, known for sponsorship purposes as the Papa Johns Trophy after restaurant chain Papa John's Pizza, is an annual English association football knockout competition open to all clubs in EFL League One and EFL Le ...

, but winless run in league matches in January 2011 saw Scott and his assistant

Terry Bullivant Terry Bullivant (born 23 September 1956, Lambeth) is an English Association football, football Coach (sport), manager. During his playing career he was a midfielder, representing Fulham F.C., Fulham and Aston Villa F.C., Aston Villa. Following h ...

sacked two days after a 4–1 away defeat to Dagenham & Redbridge on 1 February.

Rotherham United

On 13 April 2011, Scott was named manager of League Two club

on a three-year contract. He immediately made wholesale changes to the squad and instigated changes to the youth setup and the training ground. Four wins and one draw during the opening month of the 2011–12 season led to him winning the August 2011 League Two Manager of the Month award. With the club in 11th position in the table, Scott was sacked on 19 March 2012.

Aldershot Town

On 22 February 2013, Scott took over as manager of League Two club

on a deal until the end of the

2012–13 1 (one, unit, unity) is a number representing a single or the only entity. 1 is also a numerical digit and represents a single unit of counting or measurement. For example, a line segment of ''unit length'' is a line segment of length 1. I ...

season. Scott and his assistant Terry Bullivant were unable to save the Shots from relegation to the

Conference Premier The National League, known as the Vanarama National League for sponsorship reasons, is the highest level of the National League System and fifth-highest of the overall English football league system. It is the highest league that is semi-professi ...

and the subsequent entry into

administration Administration may refer to: Management of organizations * Management, the act of directing people towards accomplishing a goal ** Administrative Assistant, traditionally known as a Secretary, or also known as an administrative officer, admini ...

. Despite Aldershot residing in the relegation places in October 2013, the pair signed new three-year contracts. A 19th-place finish was achieved at the end of the 2013–14 season, but with the club six points above the relegation zone, Scott and Bullivant were sacked on 21 January 2015. In August 2022, Scott revealed that he would not return to football management and that he had been "in management for a reason and that was to develop players, organise teams and get everyone playing the way I wanted to play. Realistically, where I was going to go after Aldershot was scrambling around at that level, I didn’t want to be a

journeyman A journeyman, journeywoman, or journeyperson is a worker, skilled in a given building trade or craft, who has successfully completed an official apprenticeship qualification. Journeymen are considered competent and authorized to work in that fie ...

manager applying for every job. Now I’m forging out a new career where I’m fortunate to be in the position I am in".

Backroom roles

Brentford

In early 2015, Scott resumed his association with Brentford, when he began scouting for it and its partner club

FC Midtjylland FC Midtjylland (, "Central Jutland") is a Danish professional football club based in Herning and Ikast in the western part of Jutland. The club is the result of a merger between Ikast FS and Herning Fremad. Midtjylland competes in the Danish Supe ...

on behalf of Smartodds, a

sports betting Sports betting is the activity of predicting sports results and placing a wager on the outcome. The frequency of sports bet upon varies by culture, with the vast majority of bets being placed on association football, American football, basket ...

company owned by Brentford owner

Matthew Benham Matthew Alexander Benham (born May 1968) is a British businessman who is the owner of English Premier League club Brentford FC and FC Midtjylland in Denmark. He is also the founder and owner of Smartodds, a statistical research company for pro ...

. On 1 July 2016, Scott officially returned to Brentford, as chief scout. After a re-structuring of the backroom, Scott became the club's Head of Recruitment in July 2016. He left the club in November 2017.

Watford

On 13 November 2017, Scott joined Premier League club

as the club's UK Football Recruitment Director, working under Technical Director Filippo Giraldi. He was promoted into the role of

Sporting Director A sporting director, or director of sport, is an executive management position in a sports club. The role is well known as a manager role for European football clubs, which are sometime also "sports clubs", offering many types of sports. The sport ...

in November 2018 and stayed in the role until April 2019.

Swansea City

On 24 July 2019, Scott was appointed Head of Recruitment at Championship club Swansea City. As a result of structural changes at the club, he departed the role by mutual consent on 6 December 2021.

Nottingham Forest

In January 2022, Scott was appointed Head of Scouting at Championship club

. The move reunited Scott with Steve Cooper, who served as head coach during Scott's tenure as Head of Recruitment at Swansea City. Scott and Head of Recruitment George Syrianos were sacked on 11 October 2022.

Charlton Athletic

On 20 December 2022, Scott was named technical director of League One club Charlton Athletic.

Personal life

Scott is the elder brother of Rob Scott. He attended

Wilson's School Wilson's School is a state boys' grammar school with academy status in the London Borough of Sutton, England. It was founded as Wilson's Grammar School in Camberwell in 1615, making it one of the country's oldest state schools. The school move ...

in Wallington and studied Sports Studies at university. Scott is a patron of

Cardiac Risk in the Young Cardiac Risk in the Young (CRY) is a humanitarian charitable organisation helping to raise awareness of young sudden cardiac death (YSCD, SCD), including sudden arrhythmic death syndrome (SADS, SDS). CRY was established in May 1995 by Alison C ...

Career statistics

Managerial statistics

Honours

As a player

Brentford *

Football League Third Division The Football League Third Division was the third tier of the English football league system in 1920–21 and again from 1958 until 1992. When the FA Premier League was formed, the division become the fourth tier level. In 2004, following th ...

(1): 1998–99

As a manager

Brentford *

Football League Two The English Football League Two (often referred to as League Two for short or Sky Bet League Two for sponsorship purposes, and known as the Football League Two from 2004 until 2016) is the third and lowest division of the English Football Lea ...

(1): 2008–09

As an individual

Football League One Manager of the Month The Manager of the Month is an association football award that recognises the manager adjudged best for each month of the season in the Football League One, the third tier of English football. The recipient is chosen by a panel assembled by the Lea ...

(1): October 2010 * Football League Two Manager of the Month (2): April 2009, August 2011

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Scott, Andy 1972 births Living people Sportspeople from Epsom English footballers Association football forwards Premier League players English Football League players Sutton United F.C. players Sheffield United F.C. players Chesterfield F.C. players Bury F.C. players Brentford F.C. players Oxford United F.C. players Leyton Orient F.C. players English football managers Brentford F.C. managers Rotherham United F.C. managers Aldershot Town F.C. managers English Football League managers Wimbledon F.C. players Isthmian League players National League (English football) managers Brentford F.C. non-playing staff Watford F.C. non-playing staff Association football wingers Association football utility players Footballers from Surrey Swansea City A.F.C. non-playing staff Nottingham Forest F.C. non-playing staff Charlton Athletic F.C. non-playing staff