Scott’s fired up for Euro charge
Champions League beckons for Mollison
Scott Mollison’s Scotland experience will come in handy when he competes in the Futsal Champions League Perth futsal star Scott Mollison is planning to play his part in a first Scottish club win on European soil.
The 23-year-old is jetting out to Mostar in southern Bosnia and Herzegovina this month for Futsal Champions League action.
Playing with Edinburgh’s Wattcell – Scotland’s champions – Scott will take to the court for three preliminary round group stage games.
Hosts Mostar SG, Futsal Gentofte from Denmark and Israel’s Maccabi Nahalat Yitzhak Tel-Aviv will provide the opposition.
“For years teams from Scotland have struggled in Europe at futsal and taken some really heavy defeats,” said Scott, who is a Scotland international.
“In more recent years results have started to look much closer, especially with the third seeded team in the group.
“It would be a great feeling to go and pick up a result and get Scotland’s first ever win at a European tournament.
“We know how tough it’s going to be, but I think personally this could be the year.
“The opposition abroad are always very strong and we know that, but the coaching staff have done their research.
“We’ve managed to have a look at a few games to look at strengths and weaknesses of the opposition, so we should be well prepared.
“We fly over to Bosnia the day before our first game so we should have plenty of rest time leading up to the first match.
“Three games in four days is always a struggle but we’ve got enough depth in the squad so it shouldn’t be too much of a problem.
“The focus is on the futsal but I’ve been fortunate enough to travel to quite a number of different places and I’m excited to see how Mostar is.”
Scott has previous experience of playing in European competition with Perth-based team Fair City Santos.
He spent seven years with the club and admits it was a tough decision to leave.
“It was always going to be a hard decision to leave but I feel like it’s the right time,” he said.
“Wattcell are growing in strength every year and to turn down playing in the Champions League was almost impossible.
“I’m really excited to see how results go this year.
“Wattcell have grown hugely over the last few years and especially now I feel they have got a strong squad moving forward. I feel like this could be the strongest squad from Scotland to play in a UEFA event.
“The squad has a very wide range of experience but I think that the most useful addition to the squad would be Diego Pagliuso.
“He has played at the top level down south and has shared his knowledge of the game excellently during sessions.”
Scott plays his football with East of Scotland League side Jeanfield Swifts but will miss a match due to the Mostar trip.
“Fortunately the manager Ross Gunnion has been brilliant with me for missing games and training due to futsal,” said Scott.
“I think sometimes boys that have football on as well aren’t so fortunate and end up missing out.
“But thankfully Ross has played futsal and understands the commitments.
“It’s a bit gutting heading away at this time of the season, especially when the team is flying at the moment.
“I’m sure I’ll be kept updated when I’m away.”
The Futsal Champions League preliminary round ties take place from August 29 to September 1.