Scott’s hoping Futsal role can open doors

Westwood star Scott Chaplain admits he’s excited to see the strides he can make in coaching after being appointed the new manager of Scotland’s Futsal team.

Having had 15 years experience in football, Chaplain retired and switched his focus to Futsal three years ago, playing for the national team at Home Nations matches and in the 2015 Euro qualifiers.

However, even before taking the top job, he had taken a back seat to earn his coaching badges.

“For the last year or so I’ve been focusing more on the coaching side of Futsal and I haven’t really been playing much,”he admits.

“When the opportunity of national team coach came up, the SFA offered me the position because I had experience of playing and I was coming on in the coaching sides of things as well.

“It’s a good game and there’s transferable aspects between the two sports.

“Coaching is coaching and dealing with players is dealing with players.

“But we are still at a very much semi-professional level and I have experience of that level in football to take into this role.”

Chaplain still plays football for the town’s East Kilbride YM amateur team and asked if had hopes of returning to the senior game in a coaching capacity, he said:“This is my chance to get my teeth into management and that’s what really motivates me.

“I’m excited to see what progress we can make.

“I’d like to coach or manage [in football] at some stage. This will be my first step on that ladder and we will see how that goes.

“In football, with the complexities of it, you just don’t know where it will take you.

“I’ve always had the drive and ambition to be involved in management.

“But my focus is on the year ahead and I’ll take it from there.”