Scott Booth Embraces Aberdeen’s Professionalization “Project” as New Manager

Scott Booth, the newly appointed manager for Aberdeen, stated that the endeavor to transition the team from an amateur status to a fully professional one made his return to his former club “the decision I had to make”. The 52-year-old, who previously played at Pittodrie across two different periods, has relocated to the north east from his previous role as assistant head coach at Glasgow City. Booth expressed confidence that his six-year tenure leading Glasgow City during his initial period with them (2015-21) has adequately equipped him for his responsibilities at the Dons, a team currently positioned ninth in the SWPL, just one spot clear of the relegation zone. The 52-year-old former Scotland striker commented, “Obviously it was a massive pull to come back to Aberdeen.” He further explained, “The difficulty was I had just gone back to Glasgow City and they are a great club with great people and I felt a large degree of loyalty towards them.” Booth added, “But when I weighed everything up, it was the decision I felt like I had to make.” He elaborated, “I knew the facility here was good, I knew that the whole thing is a project for the women’s side – I have been through that with Glasgow City – going from amateur to hybrid to fully professional, so that was something I enjoyed.” Glasgow City is among a select group of teams in the SWPL that operate with a fully professional structure. For the remaining teams, including Aberdeen, which ultimately aims to achieve this status, reaching that level presents a significant challenge. Booth further stated, “You are up against clubs now that are fully professional, and some of them put a lot of financial backing into it.” He continued, “That is the difficult bit, where we are amateur with ambition to firstly go to almost a hybrid then go professional, but that time to get there you are up against sides that are already there and building on what they have.” Booth concluded, “So it is not easy but it is something you have to go through if you want to get there.” Booth, who expressed a desire to host more women’s matches at Pittodrie, anticipates leveraging the positive atmosphere currently surrounding the men’s team. He remarked, “It is like an all-time high at the moment on the men’s side, so I hope we can generate from that success and get the fans to come and support the women’s side.”