Those who are passionate about football will love the idea of being able to share their passion for the sport which they love with other people. Indeed, scouting allows you to discover new talents while travelling around the world and following your dreams. But how can you become a soccer scout?

If your dream is to become a professional scout, it is important that you keep in mind that this is only possible if you know some key players within the club for which you work. This means that getting access into training sessions on a permanent basis requires working for years as an amateur scout or contact agent/scout before reaching any professional level.

There are also soccer training courses in fields that include goalkeeping and fitness. There are even coaching classes for players, but why not just send out your own trainee? As someone who has trained as a scout with the former Nottingham Forest manager Steve McClaren, this is something I have considered. The key reason for becoming a football scout rather than simply sending one of your staff to watch matches – or even doing it yourself – is that you will see things from a different viewpoint. You will be better equipped to understand what you’re looking at on the pitch because you know how teams come together and why they play certain systems, while all your pointers would be based on trying to stop them.

If you want to spot good players in other positions you have to have excellent analytical skills.

What skills do soccer scouts need?

To be a professional soccer scout you need to possess some specific skills sets that can help you find and keep talent. These include communication, networking, analytical as well as relationship management. Scouters who possess these skillsets tend to have more success finding players than those without them.

Some of the core skill-sets which make up communication include listening, speaking clearly, understanding what is being said and writing clearly. All these come together to and coaches / managers / clubs. 

Another key skill set that a scout needs is analytical ability; being able learn about talent from different angles not limited to just watching games or practices but also by using data such as match reports , videos, online performance statistics etc.

A top-class football scout can sometimes make more than the manager of a Premier League team. For example, Tottenham Hotspur’s chief scout Ian Broomfield netting £420,000 plus bonuses in 2011/12.

The role of professional football scouts is to find and discover talent for their club (and in some case other clubs). It is also a job that you can combine with another one if you’re not able to devote much time. Scouts work for any level from local teams up to international level and sometimes even at the national team level. You may be asked to travel around the world looking for talents or alternatively scouting local leagues close to your home address.