Scott Howie

Having made his second penalty save of the season at Accrington last weekend, and then joined the attack for two stoppage time corners, U's goalkeeper Scott Howie comes under 'The Big Interview' spotlight.

Scott decided from the age of 12 that he wanted to be a goalkeeper, and his favourites as he grew up were Man Utd and Scotland goalkeeper Jim Leighton and Everton and Wales star Neville Southall.

Playing part-time for local club Clyde while he completed a degree in Business Studies, Scott went on to become a first team fixture for Clyde and also received international recognition.

"I played quite a few times for Scotland at Under-21 level and I was in the full squad as well, for the World Cup qualifying games," he recalls. "It's definitely a great honour to represent your country."

Scott even played two games in one day, representing Scotland at Under-21 level in the afternoon against Malta and then playing for Clyde that evening!

His form for Clyde attracted interest from south of the border and in 1993 at the age of 21 he made a £300,000 move to Norwich City. As understudy to Carrow Road hero Bryan Gunn, Scott's opportunities for first team football were very limited and after two appearances in just over a year he moved on, but he has no regrets about his time at Norwich.

"I was still very young and it was a great experience to come down to Norwich at that time. It was a fantastic spell for the club - they were in Europe - and that was a great eye-opener and a fantastic experience.

"Bryan Gunn was well-established there and not much was going to displace him, but it was a pleasure to work with him."

From Carrow Road, Scott returned to Scotland in October 1994 to play for Motherwell and stayed there for over three years, before a loan spell with Coventry City and then a £30,000 transfer to Reading transpired on deadline day in March 1998.

Of course, U's supporters are watching Reading's current runaway success at the top of the Championship with great interest, due to former United striker Dave Kitson's move there and the financial reward due to United as part of his transfer if they are promoted to the Premiership.

"There are still a few players there from my time there and it was a great club to be with," says Scott. "They had just moved into the new stadium and it was a club on the move and hungry for success. They've worked hard for it and it looks as though it's almost guaranteed now, and I'm thrilled and delighted for them."

Scott was eventually released by Reading in May 2001. A host of clubs were interested in his signature and he opted for Bristol Rovers, winning Player of the Year awards in both seasons there.

"They're another big club with very good fans but the expectations are high and in the second season we didn't really deliver," he recalls.

Released in 2003, Scott again had several clubs interested in him and eventually signed a two year deal with Shrewsbury, who were newly relegated to the Conference.

"It was a good experience, my first time in the Conference, and we went straight back up at the end of that first year," he says. "It was a good time to be at the club, we were winning games in the Conference and we won promotion through the backdoor in the play-off final against Aldershot."

In fact, Scott was Shrewsbury's play-off final hero as he saved three penalties after the game had ended 1-1 after extra time. Scott saved all three of Aldershot's penalties while his team-mates scored three of their four, but he comments modestly, "It was a good day all round really. It was a really hot day in Stoke and we had taken about 20,000 fans there, so we had a good day all round.

"Financially too, it's probably better going up that way than straight up, but you have your heart in your mouth for a lot of the time. But there's no denying it's a fantastic day and a real cup final atmosphere, and something for the fans to savour."

Scott is reticent about his success in facing penalties - "I don't want to tempt fate by talking too much about it" - but admits that he wouldn't want to take one: "There's an awful lot of pressure on the penalty taker and the goalkeeper has nothing to lose.

"I think there are things you can do that help you, and you can do a bit of research into the way people put their penalties, but I think it's very much down to bottle on the day," he adds. "If the penalty taker is confident and strikes the ball well then it doesn't really give you much of a chance, but if there's the slightest doubt in his mind then maybe you can save it."

Shrewsbury returned to the Football League for 2004/05 but by the end of the season Scott had decided to move back to Norwich. His son was about to start school and his wife is from Norwich so they wanted to move, and he was delighted when the opportunity arose to play for Cambridge United.

"I did my pre-season with Boston and then Rob got in touch and asked me to come in as player-coach to try to help the young keepers along. Danny Gay from Braintree comes in to train with us a couple of times a week too and we all work together," he explains.

"The coaching side of things interests me and when I'm too old to be diving around any more it's something I enjoy doing."

Having played in the Conference before and gained promotion back to the League, Scott feels our away form is the key to the rest of this season.

"With the resources we've got and the players we've got I think we've done well," he states. "In terms of the starting eleven, I think we've got as strong a team as any other team in this league in seven or eight of those places, and if we can improve another couple of players to strengthen us a bit then that might make all the difference.

"We've got good home form, which makes all the difference, and if we could slightly improve our away form we could make a serious challenge for the play-offs," he continues.

"I fancy us against any team at home and I'm really looking forward to playing some of the bigger teams that have still got to come to the Abbey Stadium, but it's improvement away from home and a bit more resilience that we're really looking for.

"I thought for a while we'd found that on Saturday at Accrington - we were a bit unlucky, we had a couple of early chances to score and maybe should have had a penalty too - but we came away with nothing, which is no good, although we can take a bit of heart from the performance."

In addition to his penalty save, Scott joined the rest of the team in the Accrington area for two late corner kicks, causing panic in the home defence at the first and placing a header wide at the second.

"I don't normally run that far and I wasn't sure I was going to get back the second time," he smiles. "I have done it before and I've yet to score, but I always seem to get my head on the end of them; I just have to improve my timing to get up there.

"When a goalkeeper goes forward it's an extra body to defend against and with goalkeepers generally being a little bit bigger it hopefully unsettles people.

"To be honest, I think I was just hoping to drag a couple of their players out of position and give some proper players a chance to get their head to the ball!"

We closed with a few questions from supporters.

Ian Elliott asked:
You've made two good saves from penalties this season. Are you someone who does their homework on opposition strikers or do you trust to luck?

Scott: I do my homework. If the information is available to find out which way they go then I do that, and before the play-off final I'd had a look at video tapes and things.

Ian also asks:
Over the first half of the season a section of the supporters have been a bit critical of you. Have you been happy with your own level of performance?

Scott: No I haven't. I think it's taken me a while to settle in, and I think it's difficult to settle into any team and get to know each other as a defensive unit. I've never really been happy with my own performance and I think you've always got to look to improve as much as possible.

Dozzer asks:
Which of the clubs you've played for is your favourite?

Scott: I've enjoyed myself at every club I've been at for different reasons. At Clyde we won the league and when I was at Norwich we went to Europe, so it's difficult to answer that one.

Dozzer also asks:
Celtic or Rangers?

Scott: If I had to choose? I'd say... Clyde.

Ollie in Lancaster asks:
Scott, you caused havoc in Accrington's box at two successive corners. Was that the closer you've ever been to scoring?

Scott: No, I hit the bar once with a shot, for Bristol Rovers against Birmingham.

Ben in Chesterton asks:
What are your impressions of the fans of Cambridge United?

Scott: Very good fans, especially the away fans with their songs. The home fans have been good as well and that helps us at home, but in the main they haven't had much to shout about on our travels and they really do make an effort to get behind the team, so I think the away fans have been fantastic.

Ben also asks:
If you weren't playing for Cambridge United, what would you be doing?

Scott: I've got a couple of businesses on the go just now so I'd probably be spending my time on them. My wife and I have a shop in Norwich, and I've also got a tax specialist business.

Ben closes by asking:
Who has been the best manager or management team that you've had the pleasure of working with?

Scott: That's a difficult one but I'll suck up to the boss and say that in the circumstances Rob and Tony are doing a fantastic job. None of the managers I've worked with have had their hands tied and the financial constraints that Rob and Tony do, and I think what they're doing at Cambridge has been fantastic.

Andrea Thrussell

*This interview was first published in the programme for the match against Gravesend & Northfleet on 28th January, 2006.

Previous Featured Players:
13Apr06: Craig Westcarr
22Mar06: Andy Duncan
15Mar06: David Bridges
01Feb06: David Chick
08Dec05: Michael Morrison
29Nov05: Ritchie Hanlon
25Oct05: Stephen Smith
05Oct05: Fola Onibuje
29Sep05: Mark Peters

Last season's Featured Players:
15May05: Your Players of the Year 2004/05
10May05: Tes Bramble
05May05: Tom Newey
30Apr05: Adam Tann
23Apr05: Iwan Roberts
10Apr05: Stuart Bimson
17Mar05: Matt Somner
09Mar05: Daniel Chillingworth
24Feb05: Dan Gleeson
17Feb05: Shane Tudor
14Feb05: Richard Hodgson
07Feb05: Warren Goodhind
22Dec04: Darren Quinton
06Dec04: Andy Duncan
24Nov04: John Ruddy
22Oct04: Kingsley Mbome
13Oct04: Jermaine Easter
17Sep04: Justin Walker
09Sep04: John Turner
26Aug04: Luke Guttridge

Anything to say about the interview? Make your click count for the U's by discussing it on the Message Board!

You are respectfully reminded that any article, as with all content on this website (unless otherwise stated), is subject to copyright and the Official Cambridge United Website must be acknowledged as the original source.

AT060420