Osi Umenyiora

With his thick American accent, you could be forgiven for thinking Osi Umenyiora was a native but he was actually born in London before moving to Nigeria at the age of 7.

He passed through the American collegiate system after moving to Alabama and was drafted by the New York Giants in 2003, playing in the league for 10 glorious years.

During his stint in the Big Apple, Umenyiora played 97 matches and won two Super Bowl titles: XLII and XLVI – making him one of five British-born players to win a ring.

Umenyiora is the official NFL ambassador for 888sport and he can be seen alongside Jason Bell on the BBC’s NFL Show.

Lawrence Tynes

Following on from Osi, we have Lawrence Tynes. Tynes also played for the Giants in both Super Bowl triumphs, with Tynes taking on the important role of kicker.

Having enjoyed one of the best rookie seasons during his time with the Kansas City Chiefs, he switched to the Giants in 2007 and enjoyed six years in New York.

Tynes made 122 of 146 field goal attempts for the Giants, helping the team to two Super Bowl victories – famously stopping the New England Patriots in their pursuit of a perfect season.

The former Giants kicker will be forever remembered at MetLife Stadium and his on-field achievements are up there with the top British NFL players of all-time. 

Jay Ajayi

Like Osi, Jay Ajayi was born in London and he was also fortunate to win a Super Bowl ring with an NFC East team.

Playing as a running back for the Miami Dolphins from 2015 to 2017, Ajayi was traded to the Philadelphia Eagles and he was a huge hit at Lincoln Financial Field.

Ajayi helped the team reach Super Bowl LII and contributed to Philadelphia’s success with 57 rushing yards on that fateful February night in Minneapolis.

Unfortunately for Ajayi, he struggled with injuries after that and suffered a torn ACL in 2018. Still a free agent, Ajayi could yet make a surprise return to the NFL in the future.

Graham Gano

The third Scottish-born kicker to play in the NFL, Graham Gano has been a pillar of consistency throughout his time in the league.

He enjoyed a decent college career but signed for the Baltimore Ravens as an undrafted free agent in 2009. However, he is best known for his time with the Carolina Panthers.

Gano started 121 games in his eight year career, helping the Panthers reach Super Bowl 50 but the British star missed out on a ring after losing to the Denver Broncos.

Now playing for the New York Giants, Gano may not have a better chance to win the biggest prize in the sport – that is if you believe Super Bowl odds anyway.

Jack Crawford

Selected by the Oakland Raiders in the 2012 NFL Draft, Jack Crawford has been a reliable option at the defensive tackle position during his tenure in the league.

While he has played for a number of teams throughout his NFL career, Crawford has always managed to make a positive impact – recording 112 tackles and 15 sacks.

Now plying his trade for the Tennessee Titans, Crawford will be hoping to get his hands on a Super Bowl ring before he announces his retirement in the future.

Defensive players are often overlooked but Crawford deserves plaudits for his ability to perform consistently on the National Football League stage.

Consider Qualifications

The PFSA has an array of scouting qualifications available. They advise starting with the Level 1 Talent Identification in Football – these courses range from tutor-led to entirely online.

Obviously, the cost of these is not insignificant. Potential scouts can be forking out several hundred pounds for the higher level courses and it’s a major time commitment to get the qualification.

While a qualification is a good way to develop a foundational understanding, there’s no point doing all the qualifications if you are not 100% sure that scouting is the path for you.

The FA also offer some scouting courses. These can be a good way to get to know people in the industry, but it’s important to recognise that the qualifications alone will not land a job in scouting.

Pick Your Specialisation

A lot of scouts will change their focus depending on what the club needs or throughout their career. Scouting tends to be broken into two different areas – recruitment and tactics.

The stereotype of a scout is scouring the country for the next bright young talent or flying off to Spain to watch a potential signing, but tactical scouts are every bit as important.

Andre Villas-Boas started out as an opposition scout at Chelsea under Jose Mourinho, watching upcoming opponents and compiling every detail of their play. The aim is to find a tactical advantage and help your team prepare for the match.

Scouts do not have to get locked in to either recruitment or tactical scouting but leaning one way or the other can be helpful when starting out.

Build Contacts

Just like football agents and journalists, a network of contacts will help a scout. It will help to pick up information about a player, help to be made aware of a talent to watch, and it will always be useful to fall back on when looking for work.

When getting started as a scout, the PFSA can be a way to get to know established scouts. It’s a good way to pick up some tips and get an understanding of what is necessary to make it.

Networking is ever important in football, and that’s exaggerated in scouting. Scouts will, on occasion, share information. The more avenues to gather information, the better.

Building a relationship with other scouts, agents and maybe even specific players can only be beneficial.

Be Prepared To Work Hard

Long hours are inevitable in the world of football scouting. Michael Calvin’s award-winning book The Nowhere Men chronicled the grind of a scout, trailing matches far from the glamour of live betting, off the beaten track of elite football.

Scouting is more than a job. It is a way of life, a commitment to unfriendly hours, to insulting pay and chilly nights watching uninspiring football.

It’s a profession driven by the love of the game, and that pure love of football has to be there to succeed as a scout.

Appreciation and recognition can be hard to come by, as is clear in Calvin’s book. Scouts are often viewed as disposable by clubs, particularly when looking to cut costs, and their jobs will often disappear with a change of regime in the dugout or at board level.

Scouts must have a steeliness and an inner belief in their judgement. It won’t always be easy, or even just.

In what is a ferociously competitive business, every scout must throw themselves into the job and be happy to commit what many would deem an unhealthy portion of their life.

Publish Your Work

Communicating your work is a key part of the job. There’s no use picking a player out if you can’t explain what you saw, what impressed you and what you think they need to work on.

Scout reports can take many different forms – they are a skill to be practised, and this should be done constantly as you look to make a name for yourself.

Running a blog or getting a website to publish your analysis can be a great way to get exposure. It’s not only a means to hone your skills, but it can help to develop a reputation and an audience, and perhaps get spotted by a club.

The routine of getting reports to a standard so they can be published is a productive, too. It’s a means to keep standards high, and a way to prove to potential employers what you can do.

Applying for scouting positions is a lot easier if there’s a track record of your reports.

It’s not a necessity, but there’s a growing number of scouts and analysts who got their foot in the door through work published online. Anything that can get your insight noticed can help make the step from hobbyist to professional football scout.