Introduction

All professional and many semi-professional football clubs have a large team of scouts whose role it is to seek out new talent and invite them for trials at their club; the ultimate aim being to sign the most talented players.

City Scouts

Many scouts work on a full-time or part-time basis and are usually only linked to one professional club like Manchester City FC. They work across the United Kingdom and abroad.

 The scouts who work for Manchester City have all been appointed through the Club and are all highly-skilled and experienced in identifying talented young players. They have to meet strict rules set by the Premier League and are carefully managed by us.

Appropriate checks

They have all had their backgrounds checked, like teachers and sports coaches, through the Criminal Records Bureau (CRB). They also have to do a range of compulsory training courses to ensure that they meet all the relevant Premier League regulations and are up to date with current good practice.

All Manchester City FC scouts are re-appointed each season; they can be identified by the Clubs kit that they wear, twinned with an identity card which is renewed every season. In most cases, if they are there you will see them and know they are City scouts!

Young players spotted and watched by our scouts will always be approached, via the club and/or their parents, in accordance with Premier League rules and will never ask for any form of payment.

Bogus Scouts

The Club’s management hear regularly of scouts who claim to be from professional football clubs including Manchester City who simply are not. They should be easy to spot. Often they:

• ask you to pay them in return for promises of trials or extra training or to cover insurance or transport
• say they can give you extra training in order to get you a trial
• have scruffy or old or odd looking identification (but it may also look very convincing)
• the may have an official-looking letter
• wear old or scruffy club kit (although some may look very smart)
• approach players who probably are not good enough, but they also will approach the better players
• offer to take you to, or meet you at a trial
• approach through social networking (facebook, twitter etc)

Be Careful

There are lots of ways to be careful and stay safe:

• don’t assume they are a proper club scout just because they say they are
• ask for identification and check it closely
• look closely at any uniform but don’t assume that proper looking kit means a proper scout
• ask your club coach, teacher or someone you trust to check as well
• you can even ring Manchester City and check with someone in charge (see below)
• do not make any payment to them for any reason – a genuine approach will not involve any financial exchange
• do not go anywhere with them especially if no-one knows where you are or where you are going; do not get into a strangers car