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Steven Watt (footballer)

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For other people named Steven Watt, see Steven Watt (disambiguation).

Steven Watt
Watt playing for Grimsby Town in 2010
Personal information
Full name Steven Mair Watt[1]
Date of birth (1985-05-01) 1 May 1985 (age 39)[1]
Place of birth Aberdeen, Scotland
Height 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m)[1]
Position(s) Defender
Youth career
1998–2002 Aberdeen
2002–2005 Chelsea
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2005–2006 Chelsea 1 (0)
2005 → Barnsley (loan) 3 (1)
2006–2008 Swansea City 3 (0)
2007–2008 → Inverness Caledonian Thistle (loan) 0 (0)
2008–2010 Ross County 43 (1)
2010–2011 Grimsby Town 25 (2)
2011–2013 Dover Athletic 15 (1)
2013 → Maidstone United (loan) 6 (1)
2013–2015 Maidstone United 89 (1)
2015 Hemel Hempstead 3 (0)
2015–2016 Leatherhead 19 (0)
2016–2017 Hastings United 13 (5)
Total 220 (12)
International career
2005 Scotland U21 5 (0)
Managerial career
2017–2018 Margate
2018 Maidstone United (Caretaker)
2019–2021 Hythe Town
2022–2024 Hythe Town
*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 23:09, 30 July 2017 (UTC)

Steven Mair Watt (born 1 May 1985) is a Scottish football manager and former player.

As a player, he was a centre back who notably played Premier League football for Chelsea, and has also played professionally for Barnsley, Swansea City, Inverness Caledonian Thistle, Ross County and Grimsby Town. He went on to play non-league football for Dover Athletic, Maidstone United, Hemel Hempstead, Leatherhead and Hastings United. Watt was capped five times by Scotland U21 in 2005.

Retiring in 2017, he moved into coaching and has managed Margate, Maidstone United and has had several spells as manager of Hythe Town.

Career

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Chelsea

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Born in Aberdeen, and raised in Gardenstown, a fishing village in the North East Aberdeenshire coast,[1] Watt began his career with Chelsea, making his debut against Scunthorpe United in the FA Cup in January 2005.[2] He played the full 90 minutes and earned praise from José Mourinho for his performance. On 15 May 2005 Watt made his Premier League debut coming on as an 89th-minute substitute for Jiri Jarosik in the away fixture with Newcastle United. The game ended 1–1, with Watt playing alongside the likes of Frank Lampard, Ricardo Carvalho, Claude Makélélé, Joe Cole and Eiður Guðjohnsen.

In November 2005 Watt spent a month on loan to Barnsley, for whom he made three starts, scoring an injury time equaliser against Rotherham United.[3]

Swansea City

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Shortly after returning to Chelsea he was allowed to leave the Premier League club and joined Swansea on 10 January 2006. Watt joined Inverness Caledonian Thistle on a season long loan to regain his match fitness. He made his debut in the Scottish League Cup against Arbroath. Despite a fairly solid performance, he never played again for the first team and left the club to return to Swansea City. Watt suffered persistent shoulder injuries during his time with Swansea,[4] which meant that his contract was not extended when it expired at the end of the 2007–08 season.[5]

Ross County

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Following a successful trial, he signed a two-year deal with Ross County in August 2008. Watt made his debut for Ross County on 16 November 2008 in the Challenge Cup Final against Airdrie United. He scored his first goal for the club against Dunfermline on 13 February 2010.[6]

Grimsby Town

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On 17 July 2010 Watt played for Grimsby Town in the club's 2–1 friendly victory over Sheffield Wednesday, and went on to make several impressive appearances for Town in their pre-season campaign. On 2 August 2010, Watt signed a two-year deal with Grimsby.[7] He scored his first goal for the club in a 1–0 win over Darlington on 24 August 2010,[8] and went on to partner Darran Kempson as the club's preferred centre backs during the first part of the season under Neil Woods. However Woods was eventually sacked midway through the season and was replaced by Rob Scott and Paul Hurst who dropped Watt from the first team as he went on to only feature in the pair's first match in charge. Following the conclusion of the 2010–2011 season, he was released.[9]

Dover Athletic

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During pre-season Watt had moved south with his family and had joined Dover Athletic on trial, before formally rejecting a contract from Conference National side Gateshead in the interest of not wanting to uproot his family to the north again.[10] On 18 July Watt joined Mansfield Town on trial.[11] He signed for the club on 2 August 2011.[12]

Maidstone United

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On 15 February 2013 Watt signed an initial month's loan for Maidstone United, the player dropping down two levels to play for his adopted hometown,[13] making six appearances before signing permanently on 18 March 2013.[14] Watt captained Maidstone to the Isthmian league title in the 2014–15 season. On 16 November 2015, Watt was released by the club. [15]

Hemel Hempstead Town

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Several weeks after being released Watt joined Hemel Hempstead Town[16] making his debut on 1 December 2015 in the second round of the Herts Senior Cup, in a 0–3 defeat to Bishop's Stortford. His league debut was four days later against Ebbsfleet United, ending in a 1–2 home defeat. Watt's third and final game for the club came a week later when he captained Hemel in a 7-4 FA Trophy defeat at Eastbourne Borough.

Leatherhead

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On 14 December 2015 Watt joined Leatherhead as player/assistant manager[17]

Coaching career

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Watt was appointed manager of Hythe Town for a second time, on 17 May 2022.[18] Although he resigned following a play-off final defeat, he later rescinded his relegation and returned to the club the following day.[19]

In April 2024, the club confirmed that Watt would be stepping down from his position as manager at the end of the season.[20] Following a defeat in their next fixture however, he left the club with immediate effect.[21]

References

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  1. ^ a b c d Hugman, Barry J., ed. (2007). The PFA Footballers' Who's Who 2007–08. Mainstream Publishing. p. 426. ISBN 978-1-84596-246-3.
  2. ^ "Chelsea 3-1 Scunthorpe". BBC Sport. 8 January 2005.
  3. ^ "Barnsley 1–1 Rotherham". BBC Sport. 19 November 2005. Retrieved 14 September 2010.
  4. ^ Paterson, Colleen (11 March 2010). "Ross County defender says they have nothing to lose in cup clash with Hibs". Edinburgh Evening News. Retrieved 11 March 2010.
  5. ^ "Butler is latest Swan to sign up". BBC News. 9 May 2008. Retrieved 27 May 2008.
  6. ^ "Ross County 2–2 Dunfermline". BBC. 13 February 2010. Retrieved 14 September 2010.
  7. ^ "Big Defender Completes Town Move". Archived from the original on 6 September 2010. Retrieved 27 August 2010.
  8. ^ "Darlington 0–1 Grimsby Town". BBC. 24 August 2010. Retrieved 14 September 2010.
  9. ^ "Seven Released". Archived from the original on 8 May 2011. Retrieved 17 January 2014.
  10. ^ "Interview: Former Grimsby Town, Swansea and Chelsea defender Steven Watt « Too Good to Go Down". Archived from the original on 28 March 2012. Retrieved 22 July 2011.
  11. ^ "Bore and Watt trials | This is Grimsby". Archived from the original on 3 June 2012. Retrieved 18 July 2011.
  12. ^ "Former Mariner Watt joins Dover". BBC News. 2 August 2011.
  13. ^ "Watt comes in on loan". Maidstone United. 15 February 2013. Archived from the original on 29 June 2015. Retrieved 15 February 2013.
  14. ^ "Watt signs for Stones". Matthew Clements. Dover Athletic. 18 March 2013. Retrieved 18 March 2013.
  15. ^ "Watt released by Stones". 16 November 2015.
  16. ^ "HEMEL HEMPSTEAD TOWN SIGN FORMER MAIDSTONE UNITED CAPTAIN STEVEN WATT". Monica Villar. Football Exclusives. 1 December 2015. Retrieved 1 December 2015.
  17. ^ "Former Chelsea defender Watt quits the Tudors to join Leatherhead". Hemel Today. Hemel Gazette. 14 December 2015. Retrieved 14 December 2015.
  18. ^ "Watt back at Hythe". 17 May 2022.
  19. ^ Tucker, Craig (23 May 2023). "Steve Watt returns as Hythe Town manager a day after resigning". Kent Online. Retrieved 23 May 2023.
  20. ^ @hythetownfc (1 April 2024). "The club can confirm that, following our 3-0 defeat at Sheppey United, manager Steve Watt will be stepping down from his position at the end of the season. Statement to follow #hythe #hythetownfc #nonleaguefootball #isthmiansoutheast #HytheTown #Isthmian #Cannons #IsthmianLeague" (Tweet). Retrieved 3 April 2024 – via Twitter.
  21. ^ "Watt departs the Cannons". www.isthmian.co.uk. 8 April 2024. Retrieved 8 April 2024.
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