Elliot Watt has accumulated a lot of games for a player who is 25 years old. Featuring prominently for most of the clubs he has played for, Watt has been consistent and enjoyed a relatively injury-free career to date.
Playing lots of games has been a long ambition of his, and it was something that started when he was just six years old. Even at that age, he was juggling playing for the Liverpool Academy as well as his local team.
“I was about five or six in the Liverpool Academy, but we were going down five times a week,” Elliot Watt explained.
“But my little brother had just been born, and he has autism. We were travelling all the time, and my parents had to look after him, so it was difficult to keep doing the constant travelling.
“We ended up leaving there and went to Blackburn Rovers, a place we knew well because my other brother had been there. It was only 15 minutes away from my house, and then I was 12 when I knew I was going to get released from there, so we just asked if we could leave early and went on trial at Preston North End and stayed there until I was 16.
“From there I went onto Wolves. I don’t know if it’s still the same now, but back then, until the age of nine or ten, when you signed a contract, you could play grassroots as well as academy. So the nights I wasn’t at Liverpool or Blackburn, I would play grassroots with my mates.
“My grassroots team was very good, and we had a lot of lads who were in academies. There were still a lot of guys who were in my Sunday team that still play now. There were a couple of guys who played at Preston with me; there’s one at Burton and one at Macclesfield, so we had some decent players.”
The time balancing academy and grassroots football was good for Watt. Learning the trade and getting a good balance in his life meant he was feeling confident by the time he moved to Wolves. It was here, under Nuno Espírito Santo, that he made his first-ever first-team appearance in 2018, starting an EFL Cup match against Sheffield Wednesday.
Although this was a terrific achievement, he still had hopes for more. And some wise words from his father ensured he was striving for the correct targets.
“I’d been asking to go out on loan for maybe a year or 18 months,” Watt said.
“But because I was in and around the first-team under Nuno, and he thought I was doing quite well, the club just kept knocking a loan move back. The main reason I wanted to go on loan was because my dad always said growing up that you’re not a professional football player until you’ve played 100 games, no matter what the level is.
“Even though they were bottom of League Two at the time, it didn’t make a difference for me when I got the opportunity to go to Carlisle United. It was just about getting experience, and it helped that I knew a couple of the lads in the team at the time.
“I went in there, but it was cut short due to Covid-19, so I only played about 14 games for them, but just the experience of going into a game and knowing you have to win was beneficial. We did well too; when I went in we were at the bottom, but we ended up staying up comfortably. That gave me the springboard for going forward.”
The pandemic brought a lot of uncertainty for a number of players. Being released or let go without any real knowledge of what was coming was daunting. Watt was in this group.
But he claims his club really looked after him, and as a result, he looks back on his time at Wolves with great fondness.
“I still had two years left on my deal at Wolves,” he stated.
“With Covid going on, and the fact the club were doing really well at that point and were even playing in Europe and stuff, the pathway was never going to take me to being a first-team player there. Scott Sellars, who was my coach and went on to be Head of the Academy, turned round one day and said that they were thinking of paying me up just so I could go out and play football.
“He said that they didn’t want me to bounce from loan to loan or get stuck in the system here when I could be out forging a career in the game. So they paid me the difference in wages, which was great, especially given the time it was during the pandemic when clubs could low-ball you and do you out of money. They were great and wished me well.
“In my mind I’d gone to Carlisle and done well, and there was chat about taking the next step to try and get a better loan move. The call did come as a surprise, but the way they handled things didn’t. As a club, I could speak higher of them. Coached by great people, it’s the club where I made my debut. For Nuno to give me that chance was unreal.
“I was training with the likes of João Moutinho and Rúben Neves, which was such a good experience. I’ve moulded my game around those guys. A lot of players can leave clubs and have a bad taste in their mouth, but I’ve got nothing but good things to say.
“Around that time, Wolves brought in a lot of Portuguese lads. They were good with us, but so was the British core of guys. Conor Coady, for example, just ran the club from the dressing room. I took a lot from him in terms of his leadership and how he speaks to players and how he is during games and training. He would put his arm around you and put that demand on you.
“Barry Douglas was another one. He’d come over and give you lots of information. The Portuguese lads would give you small bits of information, but around the place they were great. I lived just down the road from the training ground, and during pre-season, Nuno used to have you in in the morning to train; you could go home to have a nap and come back in to train in the afternoon.
“There were days when I was walking down to the training ground, and some of the Portuguese boys would chuck you in their car and take you down. So, there are times you’re getting in these Rolls Royce’s and you’re thinking, What the hell is going on? What am I doing here?”
As one door closes, another one opens. In 2020, Watt moved to Bradford City and his new home. And it was here that his link with Motherwell started.
“Stuart McCall is probably the best person I’ve met in football for man-management,” Watt emphasised.
“There were times when we lost a game because we weren’t great at that time, there was a lot going on at the club, and he would just lift the place on a Monday morning. His experience around players was second to none. He helped me learn a lot about the game, and I thoroughly enjoyed my time with him.
“It’s weird now because I’m looking at him, and he’s Preston’s assistant, which is the team I support. It’s weird, really. I still stay in touch with him now and again and couldn’t speak higher of him.
“I already knew a lot about Motherwell before coming here, but my agent spoke to him at length about the club. He’s the type of person that if I reached out to him, I wouldn’t get him off it for four hours due to him telling stories about Gazza and Rangers! But, especially for a young lad going in there, to my first new home in a professional environment, the way he was with me gave me so much confidence.
“That first season, I think I played every single game!”
By 2022, Watt had played over 100 professional games, 96 of those coming for Bradford over the space of two seasons. Joining Salford after Bradford, the trend of staying fit and being available continued, with Watt only missing a handful of games.
This was something important to him. His dad’s advice about getting 100 professional games, but also his older brother’s experience in football being cut short, had a role to play.
“My brother had to retire early due to injuries,” the 25-year-old added.
“Before I signed at Motherwell, I was asking for some advice from him. The thing he always says is when you grow up, you have dreams about playing football at a certain level, but when you’re dead young, you just want to play. I found this at St Johnstone: when you find yourself not playing but you think you should be, those are the hardest moments.
“To go somewhere where you feel valued and play lots of games—that was the biggest thing for me. So, I always wanted to get as many minutes from a young age.”
After a short stint in Scotland with St Johnstone last season, Watt had his eye on another move north of the border.
“I kind of knew my days were numbered at Burton,” he mentioned.
“So I knew I’d be leaving, so we went to St Johnstone to see more about the Scottish game and test myself. But it was also to put myself in the shop window for other Scottish clubs to see me. I was going into games knowing I’d be leaving Burton.
“When I came on against Motherwell and scored, my agent was on the phone because it was the first game I’d played in ages. Straightaway, I was telling him about the things that stuck out to me about Motherwell. The pitch, the fans, and the stadium are all immense. I wanted to see if that was an option.
“We had conversations at the start of the summer to see if something was possible. At that point, there was a change in manager. But I had a good conversation with Nick [Daws], and then it was a case of sitting and waiting for two weeks.
“Once the manager got appointed, it was a really quick process. We were keen for weeks, so it was great to see things go smoothly.”
Watt has made an impressive start at Motherwell. Featuring in all four of the Premier Sports Cup group-stage matches and also starting against Hertha BSC, he has been integral in Jens Berthel Askou’s new system.
Although the style of football may be different to some supporters, it’s not alien to Watt due to his previous experience.
“It may be different to Motherwell supporters, but at every club I’ve been at, this has been the style,” he said.
“Because of what my strengths are, being on the ball and trying to dictate the game, I’ve always played in teams that try this style. Coming through the age groups at Wolves, and this was something I mentioned to the gaffer before I signed, I was playing in positions similar to what he wants us to be in.
“I’ve had that upbringing at Wolves, where I’ve learnt that style of play. Stuart McCall wanted to play football, and at Salford I was playing under Neil Wood, who was the Under 23 coach at Manchester United, so he had similar beliefs to the gaffer. Possession-based football and trying to dominate games.
“The responsibility has been on me to get teams going and ticking at a lot of my teams, so the transition here has been seamless because I’ve been used to it. Obviously, I’m comfortable playing and being on the ball near or in my own box, but my mum is petrified! The last few games, I’ve asked her if she’s been scared at times, and she says she can hardly watch.
“But against Hertha, she said it wasn’t too bad because she’s seen it a few times now and she’s got more confidence. The reason the style is so good is if there’s pressure on you and you can play through it, you’ve only got a couple of defenders to beat to get a chance on goal.”
The style may cause a few scares and have a few worried, but Watt believes the progress made from the FC Twente friendly to now is stark, and that he can see plenty of good in the performances.
“I felt the confidence from the first day I came in,” Watt added.
“My first days were in the Netherlands, so it was tough sessions and tough days, but when we were doing the sessions, you could see the style being adopted by the manager, and everyone was just buying into it. It was just about the repetition of doing it and it becoming second nature.
“That first game was tough; the lads found it difficult due to the conditions. The longer time has gone on and the more games we’ve played, we’ve improved tenfold. It’s just about adding new players and making sure they get up to speed, and hopefully we get a good start to the season.
“The Hertha game was a good test because we’ve played teams in the lower leagues who just sat in, and the onus was on us to break them down, so it was good to play in a game where it was a team who wanted to dominate and had to defend deep. We feel prepared and ready for the season and look forward to the challenge.”
