Booth, 39, will work alongside the Performance Director, Mark Wotte, with the Victory Shield squad. The former Aberdeen, Borussia Dortmund, Utrecht and FC Twente forward will also play a role within the new National Performance Schools. Details on the National Performance Schools and their respective coaches will be announced shortly.
Scott is currently undertaking his UEFA Pro Licence and has already achieved his A and B licences.
“I am excited by the new Performance Strategy,” said Booth. “I worked under Mark at Utrecht and I know he has ambitious plans for the Scottish FA in the area of elite talent development. It is a privilege at this stage of my coaching career to be working alongside Mark with the Victory Shield squad and I look forward to learning from his experience and imparting my own knowledge on the next generation of talented Scots.
“Playing for Scotland was the highlight of my career and nothing would make me happier than playing some part in helping future generations of players fulfil their international ambitions.”
Scott scored six goals in 22 appearances for Scotland and featured in both the Euro 96 and World Cup 98 squads. Wotte believes he will be an asset to the national teams coaching stable, which also includes Ricky Sbragia, Billy Stark and the Men’s A coach, Craig Levein.
“I have known Scott from his time in Holland when I managed him at Utrecht,” said Wotte. “He was a very talented, technical player and I know he is now a young, hard-working and ambitious coach. I am sure many of the younger players will look up to Scott and I will work closely with him in a mentoring capacity to aid his own development.
“I am sure he will be an asset not just to the Victory Shield and other national youth teams but also to our new Performance Schools.”
This is another forward thinking move by the SFA as Scott has a wealth of experience playing and watching football over the years as his media work with ESPN and the BBC has allowed him to watch games all over the UK and may just have given him a few ideas that he may just take into his new role.
Billy Stark has worked wonders with the Scotland Under-21 side and it is great to see Scott come in to help assist with the National Youth teams, he has the experience coming through as a kid at Aberdeen and may just be able to pass on knowledge to the youngsters coming through on the international set up.
Things have looked rosy with a number of the youngsters coming through as I said under Billy Stark but now having someone of Scott’s experience beside him to help not only find the stars of tomorrow but help them along and keep them on the right road, will be a massive help to everyone at the SFA.
As the words of the Whitney Houston song go:
I believe the children are our are future
Teach them well and let them lead the way
Show them all the beauty they possess inside
Give them a sense of pride to make it easier
Let the children’s laughter remind us how we used to be
Everybody searching for a hero
People need someone to look up to
I never found anyone to fulfill my needs
A lonely place to be
So I learned to depend on me
If you look at the words of this song it could indeed be written by Scotland manager Craig Levein, children are the future and it is so important for our game that we start finding them and teaching them the way to play football from an early age, it can only benefit our game in the long run as can the appointment of Scott Booth, good luck to him and here’s to a bright future for our national team at all levels.
