Neil James Watt (born 16 September 1962) is a Scottish
football
Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...
player and
manager
Management (or managing) is the administration of organizations, whether businesses, nonprofit organizations, or a government bodies through business administration, nonprofit management, or the political science sub-field of public administra ...
Stranraer
Stranraer ( , in Scotland also ; ), also known as The Toon or The Cleyhole, is a town in Dumfries and Galloway, Scotland, on Loch Ryan and the northern side of the isthmus joining the Rhins of Galloway to the mainland. Stranraer is Dumfries ...
. He then played for and managed a number of Scottish football clubs, before returning to the senior game as manager of
Stranraer
Stranraer ( , in Scotland also ; ), also known as The Toon or The Cleyhole, is a town in Dumfries and Galloway, Scotland, on Loch Ryan and the northern side of the isthmus joining the Rhins of Galloway to the mainland. Stranraer is Dumfries ...
in 2003.
Watt requested his contract be terminated at
Celtic
Celtic, Celtics or Keltic may refer to:
Language and ethnicity
*pertaining to Celts, a collection of Indo-European peoples in Europe and Anatolia
**Celts (modern)
*Celtic languages
**Proto-Celtic language
*Celtic music
*Celtic nations
Sports Foot ...
citing a wish to play regular first team football and went on to make over 300 senior appearances in the
Scottish Football League
The Scottish Football League (SFL) is a defunct league featuring professional and semi-professional football clubs mostly from Scotland.One club, Berwick Rangers, is based in the town of Berwick-upon-Tweed, which is located approximately 4&nbs ...
. He then went on to play for a number of Scottish junior clubs, most successfully
Maryhill
Maryhill () is an area in the north-west of Glasgow in Scotland. A former independent burgh and the heart of an eponymous local authority ward, its territory is bisected by Maryhill Road, part of the A81 road which runs for a distance of ro ...
where he later became manager, before returning to the game as manager of
Stranraer
Stranraer ( , in Scotland also ; ), also known as The Toon or The Cleyhole, is a town in Dumfries and Galloway, Scotland, on Loch Ryan and the northern side of the isthmus joining the Rhins of Galloway to the mainland. Stranraer is Dumfries ...
, Ayr United and Clyde.
Watt scored on his senior debut aged 17 and continued to play professional football on a part time basis for 10 years while forging a business career in property. He then moved to Junior football having further success winning various leagues and cups along the way. He played and scored in British football's highest scoring game in over 120 years, Stirling Albion v Selkirk -
Scottish Cup
The Scottish Football Association Challenge Cup,2003–04 Scottish Third Division championship. He then guided them to a second successive promotion, as runners-up in the 2004–05 Scottish Second Division. Watt had discussions with various full-time clubs, most notably
Dundee
Dundee (; ; or , ) is the List of towns and cities in Scotland by population, fourth-largest city in Scotland. The mid-year population estimate for the locality was . It lies within the eastern central Lowlands on the north bank of the Firt ...
but he turned down several opportunities due to his other business interest. Watt left Stranraer at the end of season 2005–06, when the club was relegated back to the Second Division. Watt was keen to promote young talent and gave opportunities to various players who moved onto full-time clubs. He left Stranraer in 2006 when the part-time club was relegated from the Championship, losing a play-off final with
Partick Thistle F.C.
Partick Thistle Football Club are a professional football club from Glasgow, Scotland and currently plays in the . Despite their name, the club are based at Firhill Stadium in the Maryhill area of the city, and have not played in Partick sinc ...
After a short period out of football, Watt was appointed manager of Ayr United. He resigned from that post in October 2007, for reasons that were not explained. In his time there he helped the club secure their First Division status.
Watt was recognised by the Scottish
football
Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...
in 2003/04 and 2004/05 as their Divisional Manager of the Year. He was named Manager of the Month on several occasions.
Achievements
SFL Manager of the Month - 9 occasions
SFL Manager of the Year - 2003/2004 and 2004/2005
3rd Division Championship - 2003/2004
2nd Division promoted - 2004/2005
Watt continued to have a periphery involvement in professional football, advising and mentoring at different levels.
In 2009 Watt was appointed to the Board of Clyde, as Director of Football. At the time Clyde had severe financial problems, famously referred to by Sir Alex Ferguson as a "basket case". Watt saw this as a challenge to rescue a famous club in decline and after 4 successful years on the board, he resigned with the club on a more stable footing. During that time, he twice took temporary charge of the first team as its caretaker manager.
Watt has built a successful business career in residential property management. He has served on a variety of professional groups offering his advice and support on many industry matters. Scottish Government has sought his advice on related matters as an acknowledged expert in his field.
He has owned various racehorses in partnership with long-time friend David Moyes, current manager of Everton FC.