09 Mar 2017 13:18:04
Hi Eds,

I was wondering if anyone knew anything about freelance scouting in football.

I was talking to someone a while back who used to do some freelance scouting for a number of semi-professional clubs in the south of England.

The deal was that a club would come to him and say that they were looking for a LB from the local area. He would then recommend some left backs which he had been watching in the amateur leagues and he would get paid a fee for every successful signing.

For him it was just a bit of pocket money as he loved watching the amateur teams play and would've been at the games regardless.

However, would/ has this sort of system worked higher up the food chain. Are their freelance scouts who clubs approach to scout players for them, or have these been superseded by agents putting their own client's forward to clubs.

Cheers in advance Eds have a great day.

{Ed002's Note - I can't answer regarding semi-professional clubs in England but they will not do much scouting. For the senior professional clubs you will typically find there are a number of people that a club retains or employs regarding the "scouting" of players including a permanent Chief Scout and a perhaps a Head of International Scouting who all will report in to the club via a Director of Football or whatever. There is also be a guy who co-ordinates all of the reports and ensures that they go to the correct person. Obviously no one at the first team level is going to see or be interested in any reports related to kids so there is a hierarchy that deals with young kids, potential academy players up to the first team squad. There are then scouts retained (sometimes on a permanent basis, sometimes on a part time basis and sometimes on an ad hoc basis) by clubs to cover specific countries and/or areas of the world - France, South America, Adriatic & Old Eastern Bloc, Iberia etc.. On top of that there will be freelance scouts (often ex-referees and amateur club staff who will stay within their particular area of expertise and region). Once a player has been looked at a couple of times and reports reviewed, then someone from further up this chain will take a look. Eventually a chief scout will take a look, or if it is a potential first team player, then perhaps a coach or a manager will take a look. Some clubs also have advisors which include, taking one EPL side as an example, ex-managers or highly respected people within the game.

As a good example of this system - and one I know a decent amount about, there are a number of people that Chelsea retain or employ regarding the "scouting" of players including a permanent Chief Scout and a Head of International Scouting - Scott McLachlan - who all report in to the Director of Football. There is a guy called Matthew Hallam who co-ordinates all of the reports and ensures that they go to the correct person. Obviously no one at the first team level is going to see or be interested in any reports related to children. There are then scouts retained by the club in specific countries and areas of the world - France, South America, Adriatic & Old Eastern Bloc, Iberia etc.. On top of that there are both formal and informal "advisors" who often have an opinion to give - some of these are very well known people.

As for Manchester United, they will continue to look to appoint a Director of Football and have been working hard on trying to persuade someone to come - but it is proving to be a real struggle to sell the opportunity to him. Under him, they will seek to rebuild the scouting structure by adding new people and generally follow the model used by the likes of Chelsea. In the interim they have already started to make changes so they are working hard to improve.

Within the English game, particularly at lower-professional levels and with youngsters, scouts often include ex-managers and referees at that level.

With younger kiddies clubs often restrict their search area by distance - For example, Southampton has a fan shaped catchment area stretching out from Southampton and up to Swindon to the Northwest and the outer-reaches of the metropolis to the Northeast. Sunday league and youth games in this area will often see someone scouting on behalf of Southampton as they concentrate on local talent.

The London clubs, such as West Ham, have the benefit of two multi-tiered clubs that have developed numerous players who have gone on to play at the highest level - Chelsea, Spurs and West Ham have always had a good relationship with one in particular - Senrab.}


1.) 10 Mar 2017
09 Mar 2017 18:04:32
Ed002 you really are indispensable to this site.

{Ed002's Note - As you get older stuff like indespensible, and the pads that go with it, become far more common Benny.}


2.) 10 Mar 2017
10 Mar 2017 13:15:02
Absolutely cracking answer Ed002 and a great read. I second what Benny said!

Cheers very much.

{Ed002's Note - You are welcome.}