Teddy Scott

Harold Edward 'Teddy' Scott (born 1929 in Ellon) is a Scottish former footballer and coach, who has served Aberdeen F.C. in a number of capacities since joining the club in 1954. Although he only ever made one first-team appearance for the club, Scott is a founder member of the Aberdeen FC "Hall of Fame" thanks to his more than five decades of work behind the scenes at Pittodrie.

Career

Scott played for Bournemouth during his National service at the end of World War II, and returned to Aberdeen upon being demobbed. He played junior football for Sunnybank in Aberdeen, with whom he won the Scottish Junior Cup at Hampden Park in 1954. He was signed by Aberdeen manager Dave Halliday following that victory, but as a centre half, he faced strong competition for a place in the senior side, and only played one first-team game for Aberdeen. In a search for first-team football, Scott played one season for Elgin City, but returned to Aberdeen to work as trainer, or coach. [cite book
first=Jack
last=Webster
title=The First 100 Years of The Dons: the official history of Aberdeen Football Club 1903 - 2003
publisher=Hodder and Stoughton
year=2003
id=ISBN 0 340 82344 5
page=349-352]

Scott's coaching duties were mainly with the youth and reserve sides, and he was regarded by many of the young players who later became first-team regulars, and in some cases, household names, as a mentor or father figure. Scott himself explained his philosophy of the game: cquote|You try to teach the youngsters good habits as well as skills and hope they will still be around when the club can reap the benefit. [cite book
first=Jack
last=Webster
title=The First 100 Years of The Dons: the official history of Aberdeen Football Club 1903 - 2003
publisher=Hodder and Stoughton
year=2003
id=ISBN 0 340 82344 5
page=351]

Scott's duties at Pittodrie were many and varied; the club's official history recounts the tale of arriving for an away European match under the management of Alex Ferguson; when it was discovered that the wrong shorts had been brought, Ferguson threatened to sack Scott, only for Gordon Strachan, one of Aberdeen's players, to ask cquote|And where are you going to get the ten people to replace him? [cite book
first=Jack
last=Webster
title=The First 100 Years of The Dons: the official history of Aberdeen Football Club 1903 - 2003
publisher=Hodder and Stoughton
year=2003
id=ISBN 0 340 82344 5
page=349]

Scott was held in sufficient high regard by the club that he was awarded a testimonial match - an honour normally reserved for long-serving players - in 1999. Alex Ferguson sent along a full strength Manchester United side, and the game is said to have benefited Scott and his family to the tune of £250,000.

References