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SCOTT LAIRD
Born: 15 May 1988
Came from: Trainee Went to: Stevenage Borough
First game: 14 August 2007 Last game: 14 August 2007
Appearances: 1 (1/0) Goals: 0
Laird was born in Taunton but brought up in Bridgwater, where at 12 years old he joined Argyle's soccer school in the town, run by his father Craig. He began his eight years on the club's books in central defence, where his calm and consistent displays earned him a call to represent Scotland at under-16 level, for which he qualified because of his father's north-of-the-border roots. A year later, in April 2004, he was given the honour of captaining Scotland's under-17s. In his years in Plymouth he lived in the Argyle Hotel, a supervised hostel for apprentices, with Luke Summerfield, Reuben Reid and Chris Zebroski, and played regularly for the under-18 and reserve sides, sometimes alongside his younger brother Jamie. In April 2006, manager Tony Pulis awarded Scott a professional contract and two months later, with Ian Holloway in charge, he played in one of Argyle's most famous friendlies: against Real Madrid in the pre-season tour of Austria.
As Laird's football career progressed, he gravitated from central defender to midfield before finally settling at left-back. His first move away from Home Park came in September 2006 when he was loaned out by Holloway to Tiverton Town, a month-long spell that was repeated at Tivvy in March 2007. In all he played 21 times and scored four goals for Tiverton that season, including a remarkable 16 Southern League games in only 35 days in late March and April 2007. Returning to Home Park, he was given his only first team chance at the start of the following season, in the League Cup against Wycombe Wanderers in August 2007.
Laird was then loaned out twice to Conference Premier sides; first to Torquay United for two games in a two-month spell in the autumn of the 2007-08 season, and then to Stevenage Borough in January 2008, where he made four appearances and impressed manager Peter Taylor enough to sign on a permanent basis later in the month. He picked up an FA Trophy Winners' medal in 2008-09 after Boro beat York City at Wembley Stadium, though Laird did not play in the final.
The following season, 2009–10, was an impressive one for the 21-year-old; Laird was voted both Stevenage's Player of the Year and into the Conference Premier Team of the Year. He went on to complete four years with Boro as they dropped their suffix and became a Football League club. He also played against Torquay United at Old Trafford in May 2011 when Stevenage won 1-0 to secure an immediate promotion to League One. In total Laird made an impressive 230 appearances (a mix of non-league and Football League games) during his time with the club, scoring 23 goals, and also eschewed his previous Scottish allegiance to win a single England 'C' cap in 2009.
Laird left Stevenage after rejecting an improved contract offer shortly after the club missed out on a third successive promotion with a League One play-off semi-final defeat in 2011-12. In May 2012 he signed for League One side Preston North End on a free transfer, reuniting with former Stevenage manager Graham Westley, who was by then at Deepdale. However, in November 2012 his early career with the Lilywhites was stunted by a broken leg. Recovering well, he signed a contract extension in December 2013 to keep him at Preston until the summer of 2015.
Having played over 100 times in three years for Preston, Laird signed for Scunthorpe United in June 2015. After 38 games in his first season on the Iron's books, he was loaned to Walsall for the first half of the 2016-17 campaign, the deal being extended in January 2017 until the end of the season. He made 32 appearances for the Saddlers, and was then released by Scunthorpe on his return.
In July 2017 he joined EFL newcomers Forest Green Rovers, making 44 appearances across two League Two seasons before beginning a second loan spell at Walsall, back in League One, in January 2019. Having added another seven to his Walsall tally, he was released by FGR that summer, and at the age of 31, dropped out of the Football League to become a player and assistant manager at Weston-super-Mare.
YOUR CONTRIBUTION
If you can add to this profile, perhaps with special memories, a favourite story or the results of your original research, please contribute here.
From Andrew Chapman in Leeds on 24/02/2015 ...
Since leaving Home Park Scott has come to tabloid prominence twice, both for fairly amusing reasons:
Firstly, in 2011 he was punched in the face by a 'supporter' following Stevenage's FA Cup win over Premiership Newcastle United in the January of that year. It transpired in the later court case that the perpetrator - who pleaded guilty to common assault - and was actually a Stevenage fan whose girlfriend had previously dated Laird and he had 'issues' with the way Laird had treated her - thus a tabloid frenzy ensued. The guilty man was jailed for three months and given a six-year banning ... More
From Andrew Chapman in Leeds on 24/02/2015 ...
Also noteworthy, is the fact the that Lairds are a talented family.
Laird's brother Jamie was offered apprenticeship terms at Home Park by Stuart Gibson, whilst Scott was at the club but never ultimately made the professional grade, though did go on to captain Weston-super-Mare and play for Ange IS (Sweden) and Steinkjer (Norway) where he reunited with Stuart Gibson. Another brother, Craig, played football for the University of Tampa's Spartans side and a third brother Callum, also followed the family habit of playing for Weston-super-Mare and Bridgwater Town and latterly Weymouth. At least ... More
APPEARANCE DETAILS [reselect competitions]
The details below reflect appearances in all first-team competitions.
I'm very grateful to many who have helped write GoS-DB's player pen-pictures, and to Dave Rowntree, the PAFC Media Team and Colin Parsons for their help with photos. Thanks also to staff at the National Football Museum, the Scottish Football Museum and ScotlandsPeople for their valuable assistance.
The following publications have been particularly valuable in the research of pen-pictures: Plymouth Argyle, A Complete Record 1903-1989 (Brian Knight, ISBN 0-907969-40-2); Plymouth Argyle, 101 Golden Greats (Andy Riddle, ISBN 1-874287-47-3); Football League Players' Records 1888-1939 (Michael Joyce, ISBN 1-899468-67-6); Football League Players' Records 1946-1988 (Barry Hugman, ISBN 1-85443-020-3) and Plymouth Argyle Football Club Handbooks.
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