It’s elementary for Watson to single out Mum and Dad as career influence
Kilmarnock star David Watson has a lot of people to thank for his success.
But top of his list must be his parents – they were his first coaches.
It isn’t just his dad John who gave him tips about how to play football, mum Claire has also been a huge influence.
She is a former footballer and still lets her son know what she thinks of the way he is performing.
Watson, 19, is today announced as the 2024 DoubleTree by Hilton SFWA Scottish SPFL Young Player of the Year.
He said of his mum’s guidance: “She was my first coach, alongside my dad.
“It was them who started up my boys’ club, Caledonian, in Prestwick, so they’ve been a massive influence.
“They were my coaches for the first five or six years before I came to Killie.
“I joined that club when I was four and stayed there until I was 10.
“Mum also took the school football team as well. She was always a part of my upbringing in football.
“We went and watched a lot of games, too, as she loves it as much as I do.
“She always encouraged me to kick a ball about in the back garden – except maybe when I was putting it into the neighbour’s garden!
“She was a centre back who played for Prestwick Girls and Scotland but faded out of the game after when she had my big brother.
“Mum comes to every game and then she goes to my house afterwards to wait for me to come home to talk about it!
“I get a good bit of feedback from her. Sometimes she is hard on me, but I think that’s a good thing.
“My dad played for Cumnock Juniors.”
The other players nominated for the Young Player of the Year award were also midfielders — Connor Barron of Aberdeen, Dundee’s Lyall Cameron and Lennon Miller from Motherwell.
Watson believes those rising stars can’t fail to be encouraged by the current success of Steve Clarke’s Scotland team.
He went on: “I’ve known Lennon for a year or so.
“I played against him when I was younger, growing up through the academies, so we’ve always known about each other.
“We started playing together with Scotland Under-19s in the past six or seven months. He’s a great boy and we get on well and he’s great to play with.
“There’s obviously great potential coming through the youth academies, especially the ones breaking through like me, Connor, Lennon and Lyall.
“There are loads of boys that have featured in first teams this season and that’s exciting to see.
“The Scotland midfield just now is so good and that’s a bit of an inspiration for us to go on and look at these players and try to meet their level.”
Watson is looking forward to watching the Euros this summer and you wouldn’t blame him for dreaming for playing on that stage one day.
“I’ll just watch it from the house or on holiday,” he said.
“It would be amazing to play in a tournament like that one day, so you never know.
“It’s always a dream to play for your country, even playing for the Under-19s was a brilliant experience, going away to different countries and coming up against the best players of your age all around the world.”
With parents who are immersed in football and an experienced manager like Derek McInnes, it’s no wonder that Watson is a star with his feet firmly on the ground.
He has given up time to do questionand-answer sessions with youngsters aiming to follow his path through the youth ranks at Killie.
Fame has not gone to his head and there’s every reason to believe it will stay that way
He said: “I mostly keep myself to myself to be honest, but every now and then I’ll maybe get stopped and someone will ask for a wee photo.
“It’s normally when I’m in Tesco doing my shopping!
“I stay in Kilmarnock so it’s a lot easier when the team is doing well!
“But, to be fair, all the fans have been amazing with me.
“I’ve never had a fan say a bad word about me. Every time I bump into one, they’re just full of compliments and always lovely with me.”