How to get Scouted by a top Football Club
Just about any footballer will have dreamed about being watched or scouted by a professional scout at some time or another, so in this article we’ll give you some advice on what you can do if you want to get noticed by one of the bigger sides.
Probably first of all it’s worth stating that its obviously a very difficult gig to get – playing football for a living. There are millions of people who play football in England already, so do you really think you’re in the top few hundred of these people? If not, then its unlikely that you’ll get what you want. But if the answer is yes, then remember you’ve still got a long way to go!
Of course it’s also worth stating at this point that it isn’t a guarantee that you’ll get scouted. These are just outlines for you to follow to maximise your chances of getting noticed by some of the top football sides. We offer no guarantee’s and at the end of the day luck will play a very big part in the process.
If you want to get scouted by a top side then you need to play your best at every possible occasion. And this literally means everywhere. Training, practise matches, tournaments, sunday league games, cup games, and so on. You never know who might be watching, and as mentioned a lot of it can be down to luck. Sometimes scouts will watch football games on a whim, unannounced, whilst other times a scout might be watching someone else playing only for you to catch your eye. So never forget when your scout may be in attendance.
By playing at your best on every possible occasion, you’ll also be improving your own playing ability. You only improve with practise, and with game time, so without either of these you can’t possible imagine to improve. Footballers who want to play at the highest level will practise relentlessly, so you must get into this mental mindset too. Talent at the end of the day probably only accounts for about 10%, the remaining 90% will be down to hard-work and determination. Without these 2 vital attributes you’ll never make it as a professional footballer.
If you’re really confident about your ability and you’re looking for a step up to a higher level, there’s no harm getting in touch with some local teams and asking if they’re in need of more players. Invite them down to watch a game if they like, you never know they might say yes. Plus if they’re not in need of someone its likely that they will know a club or manager who is in need of some more players.
The internet shouldn’t be ignored on your quest to get scouted by a higher level football club. Remember when Owen Hargreaves set up a website/video featuring his talents? This got him a great deal of exposure, and ended with Man City signing him up. Other footballers have had success from making a video compilation of themselves in action, so if you can get hold of any footage of you playing then this would be great material for you to use. Get in touch with local sides or clubs that might be within your reach on Twitter, and send some ambitious tweets. You never know who might see it after all, and what kind of coverage this might lead to. There has been some instances in recent months of football clubs advertising positions directly on their websites too, so this is well worth checking once in a while.
To get yourself scouted then you really need to work as your own football agent. This is what agents would do for players at the highest level – phoning around clubs, looking to see which club is looking for which kind of player, as well as offering up the services of their client if they feel its a good match. So what you need to do is to become your own agent, your own marketer. You need to market your footballing skills and talents to the footballing world, which is where a lot of the hard work will come in. At the same time you’ll need to also focus on playing as much football as possible. Its a tough balancing act, and presumably you’ll have another job bringing in the cash in the meanwhile, so although its tough you need to keep on trying and to never give up.
Overall, if you’re desperate to get spotted by a football scout then you really just need to concentrate as much as possible on playing the game you love as much as possible. Marketing is important too, and if you have the time for that then great – you’ll have a much greater chance of getting noticed. A lot of scouting is actually carried out online nowadays, so if you can get some footage of yourself uploaded on Youtube or to some other kind of football video network then you’ll be on the right tracks. It’s worth as well trying to contact football scouts online and offline, and simply pestering people enough until they agree to come down and watch you play. Info by Footyblog.net