The United Family: Scott's story

To me, whether you’re a fan or a player, whenever you put on a United shirt, it feels different to any other shirt you could ever, ever wear. I’ve known that since I was five. Back then, I was just playing for my local team and I got scouted to go to a few different academies. United was one of them and I ended up going to the development centres when I was still just five. My mum and dad took me all over, travelled so many miles to take me to play football and they only did that because I enjoyed it so much and I would always tell them that I loved doing it.

I still remember driving to those games. I always used to be clowning about, playing little games in the car. Who can pick the most BMWs out, little fun games like that. We’d be singing to Cat Stevens all the time back in the day on the little cassette tapes dad would keep in the car. I love thinking back to stuff like that. Good memories. I love thinking about those times, wherever I was going, travelling with my parents, and it was unreal.

I wouldn't change it for the world. My mum and dad were the most amazing parents that take me all over the world. Nothing was a problem for them. It wasn't just lopsided because I was playing for Manchester United, either; they would take my sister to athletics too, so we have a lot to be thankful for in that respect.

I’ve kept all my shirts going back to pretty much day one. I’ve got so many kits at home going back to being eight years old. There's been so many different variations of it and I’ve been able to grow and see different sponsorships, different players wear different shirts and for me, that's something that I look back on with pride, that I've pretty much got every kit from being so young. Obviously, looking through all the years of great players that have come and gone, it's been an incredible journey and I've loved it.

(Honestly, you’d think I’d take good care of that shirt collection, but if my mum and my girlfriend didn't organise the house, then it'd be a mess. Full of United gear, full of Scotland tops, United shirts everywhere, so thankfully they take good care of it for me!)

I still remember playing for United’s Under-10s and Under-11s, and all of us loved the coaches we had. It was Deano and Neil, and Deano was an absolute machine. He’d been in the army, and he used to run out carrying two bags of balls, one on each shoulder, then Neil would just walk by the side of him. And as a group we all loved it because it would get us in that mode where we were ready and we just wanted to emulate Deano. It was so good, the way that they did it. They were brilliant. Honestly, I couldn't thank them enough for the two years I had with them. It was class.

Whenever the whistle went and the game started, at that stage I never thought about what I was doing or put too much pressure on myself. I was always more just enjoying it. I’d get lost in the game. As we got older, Paul McGuinness used to say to us all the time in the youth team: “Get lost in the game. Let your mind just go with what's happening in the game. Let your body just flow with it and don't think too much about it.” You don’t need to be thinking: I need to do this, this and this. As a kid, obviously your first responsibility is to listen to the manager and what his requirements are. But after that, just go and show them how good of a player and the rest will take care of itself.

There were times, though, when I would allow pressure to build on myself, more than it should have done. When I was 14 or 15, I was only little compared to the other players. I was tiny, obviously not developed at all. You had some lads who were virtually men at that stage and then I was a little boy. I'd go home to digs and sit there with some friends and it would be hard. Other players would be getting sponsorship contracts or playing for England or Scotland and I’d just be sort of sat there, wondering: Why am I different? Why am I so small? I just couldn't get my head around it.

Again, I go back to memories in the car. I’d get in the car with my dad and say to him: "I can't do anything against some of these players."; And that's what some kids will go through. They'll be doubting themselves. And I used to do that all the time. I used to sit there and think: I literally can't run as quick as any of them, I'm not as strong as any of them and any time the ball comes near me, someone puts an arm on me and they get the ball off me.

My dad was brilliant because he would always say: “Just take your time, son. You're going to grow and you're going to get bigger,” because he knows, doesn’t he? As a kid, you don't know that. And you always think: I'm always the latest one. But then when I did grow, when I was 17 or 18, I was sat next to him and I was above him. I was like: “What’s going on here? Four years ago you were saying to me not to worry, and now look.” I’d be thinking to myself: I'm bigger than my dad and he's six foot two. So it's crazy in that respect. The way I see it now is that I grew maybe four years after everyone else, so my peak years are going to be four years later too. So I’m 26 now and my body age is technically like a 22-year-old. When I'm 30, I might feel like a 26-year-old. I might retire at 38 or 40!

It's great for me to even be able to think about that kind of thing now, and if it wasn't for my coaches and how patient United were, plus my parents and all my family, then there's no way that I would have had a career in football. No way, no chance if I was at a different club other than United. In my opinion, anyway.

Looking back, I actually think that, even though I’m in the first team now, I sometimes have more fun training now than I did when I was a teenager because I didn't actually realise how much pressure I was putting on myself at that stage to try and become a first team player. But there were plenty who put themselves under more pressure than I did. I saw some lads growing up, who took it so seriously and were so invested that they were putting too much strain on themselves and it worked against them, whereas in comparison I just enjoyed the journey and I loved training hard. And even now, like I just love going out and training and just being there in the present moment.   

Whenever I pull on a United shirt, it still feels different, just like it always has. Putting on the badge and representing the club, whether you’re playing or supporting, it just means so much. This club has got tremendous weight behind it. As players, we recognise that and we just want to fulfil our roles as well as possible, win trophies and make the fans happy, which is ultimately our biggest goal.

But, while that’s the kind of thing I think about now, I still take time to think back to where it all started. There are young kids in the same position now who are at the very start of their journey and it's easy to look at it the wrong way. In football, I feel like some young kids and some parents, both back then and now, get that a little bit mixed up. Off the pitch, you have to make sure you’re responsible, but, on the field, just go out there and just do your stuff and then off the pitch. Just go for it and just go and enjoy yourself, like I did.