Diary of a Scout: My First Role | OneFootball

The shock of Wrexham’s A-listers not offering any payment to scout for them soon wore off, as the stark realisation hit me that not many clubs would pay me, especially in my first role. I had now finished my course with Football Scouting Worldwide (which I’d highly recommend to anyone looking to get into this) and I wasn’t sure which way to turn.

The recruitment call

The course leader was really helpful going above and beyond for me. He tweaked my CV and after I asked him a few (hundred!) times about finding a position, he said he may have a couple of cards up his sleeve. One of these cards happened to be Harrogate Town. Ironically they had just knocked Wrexham out of the FA Cup in the 1st round. A well earned 1-0 home victory was the talk of the town, a town which is located over 200 miles from where I live, in sunny North Yorkshire.

However, the Head of Recruitment was looking for a scout based in the South-East and London areas. Also, with the joys of video analysis becoming such a powerful tool in the modern game, I was hopeful this could be my big breakthrough. I was pretty nervous taking that first phone call, in the garden to escape the noise of toddlers! But it was an encouraging conversation and he said he’d be back in touch.

Back to my hometown

So as it turned out, I was asked to attend the National League South match (two leagues below League 2) between Tonbridge Angels and Hemel Hempstead on Saturday the 23rd November 2024. My first proper mission and it was taking place in the town I grew up in. It felt like it was meant to be! I was nervous but I took my trusted notepad, my laptop and headed to the Longmead Stadium. On arrival I was asked who I was with and after replying with “Harrogate Town” the turnstile operator responded with “oh, you’re a long way from home!”

The calm before the storm, literally

My match ticket was complimentary and I was told I could sit where I wanted. I then went on a search for a team sheet for the game, as this was requested by Harrogate. But this point I was already pretty soaked, as the rain continued to fall on a wet and windy day. I found the team sheet and sent a photo of it over on WhatsApp, before checking the lineups.

I was asked to keep tabs on four players, which I expected to be difficult. But one of those players wasn’t even on the bench, one was a substitute and two were starting. I felt a bit more relaxed about the situation and went off to find a seat with a half decent view. The wind and rain was gradually getting worse and I was regretting bringing a bag with a laptop in it!

Gone with the wind

When the match kicked off it was chaotic from the start. Tackles were flying in everywhere and when the ball was launched up the pitch the wind was literally blowing it in a different direction. Many of the players struggled to control the passes they received and were clearly struggling with the conditions. The pitch at Angels isn’t real grass, so the ball was travelling even faster on the fake 3G greenery.

The light from a gloomy day had basically disappeared and the rain was now coming in sideways. It was difficult to watch the game with a scouting hat on as the ball zipped around like a pinball machine. The player I was monitoring for Tonbridge was having a nightmare. He couldn’t get into the game at all. I felt for him because it was tough out there, but I can only report on what I see on the day. He mis-controlled the ball pretty badly on one occasion early on and then made a really bad challenge trying to win the ball back. Lunging in, fouling his opponent and received a yellow card for his troubles. As a result he was subbed off at half-time after a disappointing 45 minutes.

The diamond in the rough

All of my energy was now focused on one player and I think this helped me concentrate more on his performance. He is my player in focus for this entry and despite being on the losing side for Hemel in a 2-0 defeat, he looked confident and assured in defence. It was an interesting day and as I drove home with the windscreen wipers on full pelt, I was already thinking about writing my first full player report.

JP Scouting player in Focus: Kyle O’Connor-Ajayi

Ajayi’s main strengths seem to be his physicality and aerial dominance. It would definitely be worth going to watch him again, in better weather/conditions and on a grass pitch. He’s vocal, confident and has good tactical/positional awareness.

He’s a key player in this starting line up and has made 17 appearances so far this season scoring 3 goals and making 1 assist (at the time of writing)

He has been at Hemel for over four years now, since moving from AFC Dunstable in July 2020, so now is a good time to consider a possible move if he wants a new challenge or progress his career. There’s potential versatility in his positioning across the defense, as he could also fill in at left-back. My advice would be to monitor him for the rest of the season.