'THE QUARTERS' SPEAKS TO SCOTTY
And wwfc.com can now re-produce the article for those supporters who weren't able to make it to Adams Park.
SCOTTY'S DOUBLE CENTURY
Ben Campbell reviews a glittering goalscoring career
Saturday August 16th 2008 won't be a date that many will remember with great fondness, but it will be for Scott McGleish after the striker notched up his 200th career goal.
It came down to a penalty and only Chester City's goalkeeper John Danby stood in the way of the 34-year-old reaching another milestone in his illustrious career.
Was there ever any doubt? Wycombe's main man stepped up with aplomb to fire the penalty past Danby, and not only did the goal mean reaching another personal milestone for 'Scotty' but it also secured the Blues' first win of the 2008/09 campaign.
The goal has taken the former Barnet striker in to an elite group of goalscorers, alongside the likes of Alan Shearer, Ian Wright and Robbie Fowler who also have scored more than 200 career goals.
But such an accolade would have been a distance thought in 1993 when the now striker started out at Edgware Town at as a right-midfielder.
And it was only his dad, Jim McGleish, who Scott has hailed as the most influential person throughout his career, that persuaded Edgware Town boss Brian Rider to give his son a chance.
Scotty said: "I used to play up front for my dad's team on a Sunday and at the time Edgware were struggling for strikers. My dad told the boss to give me a try but even until November I was complaining about playing up front!"
Brian Rider must have been glad he kept with McGleish junior as a striker though, as he scored an incredible 41 goals in 47 games.
Scott looks back on his time at Edgware Town with great fondness and he feels his time there went a long way to creating the footballer we all know today.
He said: "If you are guaranteed to play in League football after I would recommend to play in non-league. It's such a growing up curve playing with men. I know it sounds bad but the drinking culture makes you grow up and you socialise with everyone. Playing there made me physically strong in the mind and more so than being an apprentice."
Brian Rider, who not only managed McGleish at Edgware but was also scouting for Charlton Athletic at the time, recommended Scott for a trial for the then Division 1 club, now Championship equivalent, and looking back Scotty has picked out a moment whilst on trial that cemented he view as a forward man.
"The turning point I think was when I out-jumped Sol Campbell and headed past Ian Walker to get my third goal in four games. I got signed after that and that was when I realised I was a striker."
Scott spent a season with the Addicks but found it difficult to break into the team with the likes of legendary strikers Kim Grant, Carl Leaburn and Garry Nelson at the club, and left to join Peterborough after scoring 13 goals in the reserves.
After limited opportunities at Posh Scott went on loan to Wycombe's rivals Colchester United where he helped guide the club into the playoffs. The start of the following season brought about another loan move as he joined Cambridge, and again the prolific forward man showed his credentials scoring seven in 10 games before returning to Posh after injury.
McGleish then followed Cambridge manager Tommy Taylor to Leyton Orient after leaving Posh, but after a short spell with the O's he was then sold to his hometown club Barnet for £80,000 in 1997.
Scott played with some well-known players at Barnet, including Sam Stockley, Darren Currie and former U18s manager Greg Heald.
He also played alongside Blues legend Sean Devine and Hull striker Marlon King, but it was another striker by the name of Ken Charlery that Scott has enjoyed playing with the most in his career.
He said: "We both could do both striker jobs. It was good to know that we could split the responsibilities. It was quality playing alongside him."
But despite being Barnet's main man, the early promise fizzled out and he suffered a fallout with the Chairman. However, in typical Scott McGleish fashion he bounced back after being left out the side for two months to score two goals in three games over the Xmas period. Barnet boss and former legendary striker himself, Tony Cottee, offered a new deal to Scott but he decided it was time to move on and joined Col U on a permanent basis for £15,000 in 2001.
Despite McGleish now firing in the goals for the Blues, Col U's rivals, he remembers the good times he spent at the club, including reaching the FA Cup 6th round and the Area Final of the LDV Vans Trophy.
He notched up 47 goals for Colchester United in his second spell for the club but despite leaving to join Northampton Town he still remains friends with the then coach and now manager Geraint Williams. The offer of a two-year deal at Sixfields swung Scotty's decision to leave Colchester and the age of 30, who could blame him?
Colin Calderwood was the man to bring McGleish to the club and despite Scotty being the other side of 30 when he joined he felt he was given a new lease of life with the Cobblers.
"It was where it all was kick started again goal wise. I scored more in those four years with them that I had in the previous 10 years."
He surpassed the amount of goals he netted at his previous most prolific club, Col U, by scoring an impressive 54 goals for the Cobblers including the winner against - guess who? - Chester City to seal promotion in 2005/06.
With Scotty having failed to score or secure promotion in five play-off campaigns throughout his career, it makes the promotion with the Cobblers even more special as he explains:
"I loved it. I got 24 goals that season and to score the winner to seal us promotion at Sixfields means a lot."
John Gorman replaced Calderwood at Northampton and the former Cobblers captain loved playing for Gorman, describing the boss as 'someone who believed in his ability.'
Although Scott was enjoying his time at Northampton, a turbulent time was around the corner when Gorman's resignation meant that Ian Sampson took over as Caretaker boss. Within two days he was stripped of his captaincy, pulled out of the team and placed on the transfer list.
The striker continued to battle on and was given a chance after the club's 3-0 defeat to Oldham, and he showed his class to bounce back and score a brace in a 2-1 win over Cheltenham the following week before scoring another six goals in the next four games.
Paul Lambert noticed the quality that Scott McGleish possessed and brought the 33-year-old to the Wanderers in the January of 2007 and the rest is history, as they say.
Scott broke his previous record of 24 goals in a season last year when he notched up 26 in League Two and the striker feels there's no reason why he can't do it again.
He said: "I like to think I can do it and as it always is my aim is to beat the previous year. I want to say thanks for all the support from my mum, dad, wife and the kids, because without them I wouldn't have been able to achieve this."
