Scott Booth

Scott Booth

Booth coaching Lewes Women in August 2022
Personal information
Date of birth	(1971-12-16) 16 December 1971 (age 52)
Place of birth	Aberdeen, Scotland
Height	1.78 m (5 ft 10 in) [1]
Position(s)	Striker
Youth career
1987–1988	Deeside Boys Club
1988–1990	Aberdeen
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps	(Gls)
1990–1997	Aberdeen	163	(43)
1997–1999	Borussia Dortmund	10	(1)
1998	→ Utrecht (loan)	14	(5)
1999	→ Vitesse Arnhem (loan)	18	(4)
1999–2003	Twente	103	(21)
2003–2004	Aberdeen	21	(8)
Total		329	(82)
International career
1990–1993	Scotland U21 [2]	15	(8)
1993–2001	Scotland	22	(6)
1994–1996	Scotland B [3]	2	(0)
Managerial career
2014–2015	Stenhousemuir
2015–2021	Glasgow City
2021-2021	Birmingham City Women
2022–2024	Lewes Women
2024–	Aberdeen Women
*Club domestic league appearances and goals

Scott Booth (born 16 December 1971) is a Scottish football coach and former player, who is the head coach of Aberdeen Women in the Scottish Women's Premier League 1.

A forward by position, he began his playing career at Aberdeen as a teenager, before moving to Germany in 1997 to play for Borussia Dortmund. After a spell in the Netherlands with FC Twente (as well as loans from Dortmund to FC Utrecht and Vitesse Arnhem), he returned to Aberdeen in 2003, retiring a year later due to injury.

After his retirement as a player Booth became a coach, working with the Scotland youth teams. After a year as manager of Stenhousemuir he moved into women's football, becoming manager of Glasgow City. Booth left this position in June 2021 to become manager of FA WSL club Birmingham City, but was sacked five months later. He was appointed by Lewes in May 2022.

Club career

Aberdeen

Born in Aberdeen, Booth started his career at his hometown club Aberdeen, making his debut in 1990 aged 18 and emerging into the team alongside fellow youth graduate Eoin Jess. ^{[4] [5]}

Booth was part of the Aberdeen side that came close to winning the League title on the final day of the Scottish Premier League in the 1990–91 season, ^[6] and achieved further league runners-up finishes in 1993 and 1994, plus losing finals in the 1992–93 League Cup ^[7] and Scottish Cup. ^[8] He played in every game of the club's Scottish League Cup campaign in 1995 until an injury ruled him out of the final, in which Aberdeen defeated Dundee 2–0. ^{[9] [10] [4]}

Germany, Netherlands and return

In summer 1997, Booth left Pittodrie for a surprise move to Borussia Dortmund in Germany ^[11] under the Bosman ruling. ^[4] The success of fellow Scot Paul Lambert was perhaps one of the reasons behind the move; nevertheless, he never really got an extended run with the then-European champions ^[12] after the coach who brought him in – Ottmar Hitzfeld – moved to another role at the club, ^[11] although he got a brief taste of Champions League football alongside the likes of Andreas Möller and Matthias Sammer, ^[13] scoring against Sparta Prague. ^[14] He is also notable for being the first Scot to win the Intercontinental Cup (albeit as an unused substitute in the match against Cruzeiro). ^[13]

Booth moved on loan to Dutch club FC Utrecht in 1998, seeking more playing time to secure his place in the Scotland squad for the 1998 FIFA World Cup. ^{[15] [11]} A year later he moved to another Eredivisie side, Vitesse Arnhem, again on loan, ^[11] and contributed to a strong season where the club only missed out on Champions League qualification by a goal difference of two.

He thereafter left Borussia Dortmund permanently, returning to the Netherlands to sign with FC Twente for a fee equivalent to £400,000. He played there for four years and picked up a winner's medal when Twente won the KNVB Cup in 2001 after a penalty shoot-out (in which he scored) in the final. ^[11] In the following season he had to fight for his place, and was close to returning to Scotland to play under former manager Alex Smith; ^[16] he also made his last appearances in continental competition in the 2001–02 UEFA Cup. ^[17]

Booth rejoined Aberdeen in the summer of 2003. ^{[12] [4]} He was the club's top scorer in the 2003–04 season, ^[4] but was hit by injury. He retired from playing at the end of his contract in 2004, aged 32. ^[18] Over his two spells he made 229 appearances in all competitions for Aberdeen, scoring 70 goals.

International career

Booth won 22 caps for Scotland, scoring six goals, and was a member of Scotland's Euro 1996 and 1998 World Cup squads. ^[15] He had previously played for the Under-21 team, and set a goalscoring record for the team. ^[19]

Commentator

After retiring from football, Booth began a career in broadcasting. He worked as a match co-commentator and pundit for Setanta Sports until its UK broadcasting operation went into administration. He has also worked for STV, BBC Radio Scotland and ESPN. Booth scaled back these commitments when he was appointed as a national youth team coach by the Scottish Football Association. ^[20]

Coaching career

Having gained a UEFA Pro Licence, Booth was appointed by the Scottish Football Association as Scotland under-15 and under-16 assistant manager in December 2011, working under Mark Wotte. ^{[15] [21]}

He was appointed manager of Scottish League One club Stenhousemuir in February 2014. ^[22] On 1 February 2015 he was relieved of his duties with the club sitting just above the relegation positions in League One. ^[23]

Glasgow City

Booth was appointed head coach of Scottish Women's Premier League club Glasgow City in July 2015, ^{[24] [25]} taking over from Eddie Wolecki Black.

The club won the (summer seasonal) League Championship in 2015, ^[26] 2016 ^[27] and 2017 ^[28] — taking their run of consecutive titles to 11 — and also lifted the Scottish Women's Cup in November 2015 ^[29] to clinch a fourth treble in a row, although defeats to main challengers Hibernian in the two cup finals of both 2016 and 2017 brought the treble sequences to an end. ^{[30] [31] [32] [33]}

Glasgow City won the SWPL again in 2018, ^[34] but they did not win either domestic cup and were heavily beaten by FC Barcelona Femení in the Champions League; media observers suggested Booth may have reached the limit of what he could achieve at the club, with little hope of making an impact in Europe given the superior resources of the fully professional clubs from the leading nations, and any interruption to dominance in Scotland being viewed as failure. ^[35]

In the 2019–20 UEFA Women's Champions League Booth led Glasgow City to the quarter-final, their joint-best finish in Europe, before they succumbed to a heavy 9–1 defeat to eventual finalists Wolfsburg. ^[36]

Booth left Glasgow City in June 2021, having won six consecutive league championships with the club. ^[37]

England

Booth became the manager of Women's Super League club Birmingham City in June 2021. ^[37] He was sacked in November 2021 after five months in charge of Birmingham. ^[38]

In May 2022, he was appointed as head coach of Women's Championship side Lewes. ^{[39] [40]}

Return to Aberdeen

On 24 October 2024, Booth was appointed head coach of Aberdeen Women in the SWPL, leaving a post as assistant to Leanne Ross at Glasgow City he had taken up three months earlier. ^[41] He replaced Colin Bell at Aberdeen, while Leanne Crichton was appointed to the Glasgow City role a week later. ^[42]

Career statistics

Club

Appearances and goals by club, season and competition ^{[43] [44] [45]}

Club	Season	League			National Cup		League Cup		Europe		Total
		Division	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals
Aberdeen	1989–90	Scottish Premier Division	2	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
	1990–91		19	6	1	0	1	0	1	0	22	6
	1991–92		33	5	1	0	2	1	2	0	38	6
	1992–93		29	13	6	6	1	0	0	0	36	19
	1993–94		25	4	5	1	3	2	1	0	34	7
	1994–95		12	6	0	0	4	3	2	0	18	9
	1995–96		24	9	2	0	4	3	0	0	30	12
	1996–97		19	0	2	1	0	0	2	0	23	1
	Total		163	43	17	8	15	9	8	0	203	60
Borussia Dortmund	1997–98	Bundesliga	10	1	0	0	0	0	3	1	13	2
	1998–99		0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
	Total		10	1	0	0	0	0	3	1	13	2
FC Utrecht (loan)	1997–98	Eredivisie	14	5	-	-	-	-	-	-	14+	5+
Vitesse Arnhem (loan)	1998–99		18	4	-	-	-	-	-	-	18+	4+
FC Twente	1999–2000		31	8	-	-	-	-	-	-	31+	8+
	2000–01		23	7	-	-	-	-	-	-	23+	7+
	2001–02		27	4	-	-	-	-	-	-	27+	4+
	2002–03		22	2	-	-	-	-	-	-	22+	2+
	Total		103	21	-	-	-	-	-	-	103+	21+
Aberdeen	2003–04	SPL	21	8	3	1	2	1	0	0	26	10
Career total			329	82	20+	9+	17+	10+	11+	1+	377+	102+

International

Appearances and goals by national team and year ^[46]

National team	Year	Apps	Goals
Scotland	1993	5	1
	1994	2	2
	1995	2	2
	1996	4	0
	1997	—
	1998	5	0
	1999	—
	2000	—
	2001	4	1
Total		22	6

Scores and results list Scotland's goal tally first, score column indicates score after each Booth goal.

List of international goals scored by Scott Booth

No.	Date	Venue	Opponent	Score	Result	Competition
1	19 May 1993	Kadrioru Stadium, Tallinn, Estonia	Estonia	3–0	3–0	1994 FIFA World Cup qualification
2	12 October 1994	Hampden Park, Glasgow	Faroe Islands	2–0	5–1	UEFA Euro 1996 qualifying
3	16 November 1994	Hampden Park, Glasgow, Scotland	Russia	1–0	1–1	Euro 1996 qualifying
4	6 September 1995	Hampden Park, Glasgow, Scotland	Finland	1–0	1–0	Euro 1996 qualifying
5	15 November 1995	Hampden Park, Glasgow, Scotland	San Marino	2–0	5–0	Euro 1996 qualifying
6	25 April 2001	Zdzisław Krzyszkowiak Stadium, Bydgoszcz, Poland	Poland	1–1	1–1	Friendly

Managerial record

As of 5 November 2018 ^[update] (end of 2018 season)

Team	Nat	From	To	Record
				G	W	D	L	Win %
Stenhousemuir		February 2014	February 2015	40	12	9	19	030.00
Glasgow City		July 2015	June 2021	114	93	5	16	081.58
Total				154	105	14	35	068.18

Honours

Player

Aberdeen

• Scottish League Cup: 1995–96, ^[9] runner-up 1992–93
• Scottish Premier Division: runner-up 1990–91, 1992–93, 1993–94
• Scottish Cup: runner-up 1992–93

Borussia Dortmund

• Intercontinental Cup: 1997 ^[13]

FC Twente

• KNVB Cup: 2000–01 ^[11]

Scotland U21

• UEFA under-21 Euros: Bronze 1992 ^[47]
• Toulon Tournament: Bronze 1991 ^[48]

Coach

Scotland Youth

• Victory Shield: 2013–14 ^[49]

Glasgow City

• Scottish Women's Premier League: 2015, ^[26] 2016, ^[27] 2017, ^[28] 2018, ^[34] 2019 ^[50]
• Scottish Women's Cup: 2015 ^[29]

References

1. Strack-Zimmermann, Benjamin. "Scott Booth (Player)". www.national-football-teams.com. Retrieved 1 February 2023.
2. "Scotland U21 profile". Fitbastats.com. Retrieved 18 April 2014.
3. "Scotland 'B' profile". Fitbastats.com. Retrieved 14 September 2017.
4. "Dark Blue Dons - Scott Booth". AFC Heritage Trust. Retrieved 14 September 2017.
5. "Talking Reds: Eoin Jess was the last of the true greats for Aberdeen fans". Daily Record. 26 July 2013. Retrieved 15 September 2017.
6. "Flashback: 1991, Mark Walters and Scott Booth recall their part in Smith's maiden final-day triumph". The Herald. 14 May 2011. Retrieved 14 September 2017.
7. McKinney, David (26 October 1992). "Football: Smith's slip gives Rangers the prize". The Independent. Independent Print Limited. Retrieved 24 October 2017.
8. "Football: Hateley cleans up for Rangers". The Independent . 29 May 1993. Retrieved 14 September 2017.
9. "Dodds and Shearer end Aberdeen's wait". The Independent . 27 November 2015. Retrieved 14 September 2017.
10. "Stuart McCall says Aberdeen will miss Graeme Shinnie against Motherwell". 10 April 2018. Retrieved 1 November 2018.
11. "Brits abroad - Scott Booth". Sky Sports. 30 September 2013. Retrieved 14 September 2017.
12. "Booth makes Dons return". BBC Sport. 14 July 2003. Retrieved 20 November 2010.
13. "Scott Booth relives German glory days". The Scotsman. 28 April 2013. Retrieved 14 September 2017.
14. "Sparta Praha 0-3 Dortmund". UEFA. 10 December 1997. Retrieved 14 September 2017.
15. "Scott Booth becomes assistant Scotland youth coach". BBC Sport. BBC. 9 December 2011. Retrieved 9 December 2011.
16. "Booth interests Tangerines". BBC Sport. 5 December 2001. Retrieved 14 September 2017.
17. "Twente 4-2 Grasshoppers". UEFA . Retrieved 14 September 2017.
18. "Booth retires from football". BBC Sport. 25 June 2004. Retrieved 20 November 2010.
19. Paul, Ian (17 February 1993). "Scotland Under-21s 3, Malta Under-21s 0". The Herald. Herald & Times Group. Retrieved 29 August 2012.
20. Fisher, Stewart (14 December 2011). "Scott Booth leads familiar faces as SFA's performance schools network finally reaches the nation's classrooms". The Herald. Herald & Times Group. Retrieved 18 February 2014.
21. "Mark Wotte brings in Scott Booth to look after young Scots". The Times . 10 December 2011. Retrieved 14 September 2017.
22. "Scott Booth appointed Stenhousemuir boss". BBC Sport. BBC. 18 February 2014. Retrieved 18 February 2014.
23. "Stenhousemuir exit for manager Scott Booth". BBC Sport. BBC. 1 February 2015. Retrieved 1 February 2015.
24. "Glasgow City appoint Scott Booth as new head coach". BBC Sport. BBC. 21 July 2015. Retrieved 12 January 2017.
25. "Football: Scott Booth appointed head coach at Glasgow City". The National. 21 July 2015. Retrieved 14 September 2017.
26. "Glasgow City secure their ninth league title in a row". BBC Sport. BBC. 18 October 2015. Retrieved 15 September 2017.
27. "Glasgow City secure 10 in a row with a 3-1 win over Hibernian". glasgowlive.co.uk. 23 October 2016. Retrieved 15 September 2017.
28. "Glasgow City beat Hibs to wrap up 11th successive SWPL title". BBC Sport. BBC. 12 November 2017. Retrieved 12 November 2017.
29. "Scottish Women's Cup final: Glasgow City 3-0 Hibernian". BBC Sport. BBC. 8 November 2015. Retrieved 15 September 2017.
30. "2016 SWPL Cup Final - Hibernian 2-1 Glasgow City: Lizzie Arnot's late goal shocks the holders". Vavel. 16 June 2016. Retrieved 15 September 2017.
31. "Scottish Women's Cup: Hibernian win final on penalties against Glasgow City". BBC Sport . BBC. 6 November 2016. Retrieved 15 September 2017.
32. Southwick, Andrew (21 May 2017). "SWPL Cup: Hibernian cruise to victory over Celtic to retain trophy". BBC Sport. BBC. Retrieved 27 November 2017.
33. Southwick, Andrew (26 November 2017). "Hibs hammer Glasgow City to 3-0 win Scottish Cup final". BBC Sport. BBC. Retrieved 27 November 2017.
34. "SWPL: Glasgow City beat Spartans to claim 12th title in a row". BBC Sport. 28 October 2018. Retrieved 5 November 2018.
35. Andrew Southwick (1 November 2018). "Glasgow City 0-3 Barcelona Femenino: Scottish champions' campaign over". BBC Sport. Retrieved 5 November 2018.
36. "Glasgow City suffer Wolfsburg thrashing". BBC Sport. Retrieved 29 December 2020.
37. Coyle, Andy (30 June 2021). "Scott Booth leaves Glasgow City for Birmingham job". STV Sport. Retrieved 30 June 2021.
38. "Birmingham City Women sack manager Scott Booth after less than five months in charge". Sky Sports. 19 November 2021. Retrieved 9 March 2021.
39. Lewes appoint Scott Booth as manager, SheKicks, 12 May 2022
40. Lewes bring Booth to the Pan, Lewes FC, 12 May 2022
41. Scott Booth to join Aberdeen Women as head coach after Glasgow City exit, Sky Sports, 24 October 2024
42. Crichton to return to Glasgow City as assistant coach, BBC Sport, 2 November 2024
43. "Aberdeen Football Club Heritage Trust - Player Profile". afcheritage.org. Retrieved 21 March 2023.
44. "Scott Booth". Fussballdaten (in German). Retrieved 21 March 2023.
45. Strack-Zimmermann, Benjamin. "Scott Booth". www.national-football-teams.com. Retrieved 21 March 2023.
46. "Scott Booth | Scotland | Scottish FA". www.scottishfa.co.uk. Retrieved 21 March 2023.
47. "GLORY BOYS: The Scotland under-21 squad which has steered their country to the semi-finals of the European" . Evening Express . 22 April 1992. Retrieved 25 May 2022– via British Newspaper Archive.
48. "NO THANKS: Same old jinx" . Daily Record . 3 June 1991. Retrieved 25 May 2022– via British Newspaper Archive.
49. "Euan McLean: Scotland Under-16s victory gives us real hope". Daily Record . 3 December 2013. Retrieved 1 June 2022.
50. "No let-up for miles better Glasgow". BBC Sport. Retrieved 29 December 2020.

External links

• Scott Booth at the Scottish Football Association
• Scott Booth at Post War English & Scottish Football League A–Z Player's Transfer Database
• Scott Booth at Soccerbase
• International profile at Sporting-Heroes.net
• Twente profile at FC Twente-Files
• Profile and stats at AFC Heritage Trust
• Scott Booth at National-Football-Teams.com