Scott Minto
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
- This article is about the English footballer. For the rugby league player, see Scott Minto.
| Scott Minto | ||
| Personal information | ||
|---|---|---|
| Full name | Scott Christopher Minto | |
| Date of birth | August 6, 1971 | |
| Place of birth | Heswall, England | |
| Playing position | Left back | |
| Senior clubs1 | ||
| Years | Club | App (Gls)* |
| 1989–1994 1994–1997 1997–1999 1999–2003 2003–2006 |
Charlton Athletic Chelsea SL Benfica West Ham United Rotherham United Total |
180 (7) 54 (4) 31 (0) 51 (0) 52 (0) 368 (11) |
| National team | ||
| 1990–1993 | England U21 | 6 (0) |
|
1 Senior club appearances and goals |
||
Scott Christopher Minto (born 6 August 1971 in Heswall) is a retired English footballer who played as a left-back for numerous clubs. He now works for Sky Sports as a football pundit on Gillette Soccer Saturday and also makes several appearances on Chelsea TV hosting various programmes if needed.
Contents |
[edit] Career
Minto started his career with Charlton Athletic and made his debut as a 17-year-old in 1988. After over 200 appearances for the Addicks, he moved across London to sign for Chelsea in July 1994 for £775,000.
[edit] Chelsea
Minto made his debut for Chelsea in a 4-2 Cup Winners' Cup win against Czech side FK Viktoria Žižkov, and played in every round of the side's run to the semi-finals. His time at Chelsea was plagued by injuries, though, but he was nevertheless a regular member of the Chelsea defence when fit. In 1996-97, he was an important part of the side's run to the FA Cup final in 1997, which they won, defeating Middlesbrough 2-0 in what proved to be his last game for the club. He scored five goals in 72 appearances for Chelsea, all of which came in his final season.
[edit] West Ham and Rotherham
That June, shortly after Chelsea's FA Cup win, Minto joined SL Benfica of Portugal on a free transfer as part of manager Graeme Souness' policy of recruiting British players. He remained in Lisbon for 18 months, making 31 appearances, before returning to England with West Ham United for £1,000,000 in January 1999.
His West Ham career got off to a poor start, losing 4-0 at home to Sheffield Wednesday, but he quickly established himself in the side, as the club secured 5th place in the league - its highest-ever Premiership finish. However, his time there was again plagued by injury problems and he was released by the club upon the expiry of his contract in June 2003. He played in 51 league games for West Ham, without scoring.
Minto then joined League One side Rotherham United, but once again injuries hindered his progress and he made just six league appearances during the 2005-06 season. He announced his retirement from the game in July 2006.
[edit] Post retirement
Minto is now giving something back to his local community, spending one day a week ferrying passengers to and from Rotherham hospice as a voluntary unpaid driver. Minto also regularly reports from live football games for SkySports, and occasionally makes appearances commenting on games from the studio for Gillette Soccer Special.
