Scott Minto Explained

Scott Minto
Fullname:Scott Christopher Minto[1]
Birth Date:6 August 1971[2]
Birth Place:Bromborough, England
Height:1.78m
Position:Left back
Youthyears1:–1988
Years1:1988–1994
Years2:1994–1997
Years3:1997–1999
Years4:1999–2003
Years5:2003–2006
Clubs5:Rotherham United
Caps1:180
Caps2:54
Caps3:31
Caps4:51
Caps5:52
Goals1:7
Goals2:4
Goals3:0
Goals4:0
Goals5:0
Totalcaps:368
Totalgoals:11
Nationalyears1:1990–1993
Nationalteam1:England U21
Nationalcaps1:6
Nationalgoals1:0

Scott Christopher Minto (born 6 August 1971) is an English former professional footballer and sports television pundit.

As a player he was as a left back who played in the Premier League for Chelsea and West Ham United and in Portugal for Benfica. He also played in the Football League for Charlton Athletic and Rotherham United and was capped six times by England U21.

Since retirement, Minto has worked as a pundit and occasional co-commentator, notably with Sky Sports and talkSPORT.

Playing career

Minto started his career with Charlton Athletic and made his debut as a 17-year-old in 1988. After over 220 appearances for the Addicks, he moved across London to sign for Chelsea in July 1994 for £875,000.

Minto made his debut for Chelsea in a 6–2 Cup Winners' Cup win against Czech side FK Viktoria Žižkov, and played in every round of the side's run to the semi-finals. His time at Chelsea was plagued by injuries, but he was nevertheless a regular member of the Chelsea defence when fit. In 1996–97, he was an important part of the side's run to the 1997 FA Cup Final, which they won, defeating Middlesbrough 2–0 in what proved to be his last game for the club. He scored five goals in 72 appearances for Chelsea, all of which came in his final season.

In June 1997, shortly after Chelsea's FA Cup win, Minto joined Benfica of Portugal on a free transfer. He remained in Lisbon for 18 months, making 31 appearances, before returning to England with West Ham United for £1,000,000 in January 1999.[3] [4]

His West Ham career got off to a poor start, losing 4–0 at home to Sheffield Wednesday,[5] but he quickly established himself in the side, as the club secured 5th place in the league – their highest ever Premier League finish. However, his time there was again plagued by injury problems and he was released by the club upon the expiry of his contract in June 2003. He played in 51 league games for West Ham, without scoring.

Minto then joined League One side Rotherham United, but once again injuries hindered his progress and he made just seven league appearances during the 2005–06 season. He announced his retirement from the game in July 2006.

Media career

Minto presented Revista de la Liga and live coverage of Spanish football on Sky Sports until 2015, when he started presenting live coverage of the English Football League as the deputy lead presenter behind Simon Thomas. When Thomas was promoted to present Premier League football on Saturday lunch times following the departure of Ed Chamberlin to ITV Racing, Minto became the lead English Football League presenter in August 2016. He regularly presents games on Friday evenings, Sunday lunch times and Monday nights, and anchors Sky's coverage of the end of season play-off games. Prior to his presenting work, Minto occasionally made appearances commenting on games from the studio for Soccer Saturday. Minto was replaced on Sky in 2020. He previously appeared on talkSPORT's Evening Kick-off show as a co-presenter. Other previous work as a pundit included working for BBC London 94.9's live football commentaries. Minto currently hosts Charlton TV Live, the official Charlton livestream service, on matchdays.

Personal life

In 2008, Minto graduated from Staffordshire University with a degree in Professional Sports Writing and Broadcasting.[6]

Career statistics

Source:

Appearances and goals by club, season and competition
ClubSeasonLeagueNational cupLeague cupOtherTotal
DivisionAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoals
Charlton Athletic1988–89First Division3000001040
1989–90First Division232100021263
1990–91Second Division431101110462
1991–92Second Division331103100372
1992–93First Division361102020411
1993–94First Division422602010512
Total1807100827120510
Chelsea1994–95Premier League190300060280
1995–96Premier League1000010110
1996–97Premier League2546021335
Total544903160725
Benfica1997–98Primeira Divisão2104000250
1998–99Primeira Divisão1001060170
Total3105060420
West Ham United1998–99Premier League1500000150
1999–2000Premier League180101050250
2000–01Premier League10000010
2001–02Premier League50001060
2002–03Premier League1201020150
Total510204050620
Rotherham United2003–04First Division3201020350
2004–05Championship1400020160
2005–06League One6000001070
Total520104010580
Career total3681127019325143915

Honours

Chelsea

1996–97

Individual

Notes and References

  1. Book: Hugman . Barry . The PFA Footballers' Who's Who 2005/2006 . Queen Anne Press . 2005 . 283 . 978-1-85291-662-6.
  2. Web site: Scott Minto. 11v11.com . AFS Enterprises . 4 June 2020.
  3. https://worldfootballindex.com/2020/05/scott-minto-on-chelsea-charlton-and-his-biggest-achievement-moving-to-benfica/ Scott Minto On Chelsea & Charlton And His Biggest Achievement: Moving To Benfica
  4. Web site: Scott Minto . Soccerbase . Centurycomm . 28 January 2010.
  5. Web site: Scott Minto. Welcome to the Wonderful World of West Ham United Statistics.
  6. Web site: Hats off to our super students . 6 December 2010 . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20100611125846/http://www.givemefootball.com/pfa/pfa-news/hats-off-to-our-super-students . 11 June 2010 .
  7. Book: Lynch . The Official P.F.A. Footballers Heroes . 150.