Scott Ruscoe (born 15 December 1977) is a Welsh former professional

footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby le ...

and

manager Management (or managing) is the administration of an organization, whether it is a business, a nonprofit organization, or a government body. It is the art and science of managing resources of the business. Management includes the activities o ...

who is now a Player Development Phase

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at club

Port Vale Port Vale Football Club are a professional football club based in Burslem, Stoke-on-Trent, England, which compete in . Vale are the only English Football League club not to be named after a place; their name being a reference to the valley o ...

. A central

midfielder A midfielder is an outfield position in association football. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in that case known as defensive midfielders. As central midfielders often go across boundarie ...

, he was capped by the Wales semi-pro team. A former youth team player with

Stoke City Stoke City Football Club is a professional football club based in Stoke-on-Trent, Staffordshire, England, which competes in the . Founded as Stoke Ramblers in 1863, it changed its name to Stoke in 1878 and then to Stoke City in 1925 after Stoke ...

and

, he made his first team debut at

League of Wales The Cymru Premier, known as the JD Cymru Premier for sponsorship reasons, is the national football league of Wales. It has both professional and semi-professional status clubs and is at the top of the Welsh football league system. Prior to 200 ...

side Newtown in 1997. He spent three years with the club before joining

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club Chester City in June 2000. He returned to the League of Wales with TNS in January 2002, and would go on to spend the rest of his career there. During this time the club won the league championship eight times, the

Welsh Cup The FAW Welsh Cup ( cy, Cwpan Cymdeithas Pêl-droed Cymru), currently known as the JD Welsh Cup for sponsorship reasons, is a knock-out football competition contested annually by teams in the Welsh football league system. It is considered the most ...

four times, the

Welsh League Cup The Cymru Premier League Cup, currently known as the Nathaniel MG Cup for sponsorship reasons, is a cup competition in Welsh football organised by the Cymru Premier. The competition was established in 1992 and is considered to be the second-mos ...

six times, and the FAW Premier Cup once. He was inducted into the Welsh Premier League league Hall of Fame in November 2015. He was appointed manager of The New Saints in May 2017. He secured the Welsh Premier League and Welsh League Cup titles in the 2017–18 season and the league title and the Welsh Cup in the 2018–19 season. He was sacked in March 2021.

Playing career

Newtown

Ruscoe started his career with two years at

, and then a year at

, before he joined

side Newtown in 1997. He scored seven goals from 34 appearances in the 1997–98 season as the "Robins" finished as runners-up behind champions

Barry Town Barry Town United Football Club ( cy, Clwb Pêl Droed Tref Y Barri) is a semi-professional association football team based in Barry, Wales. They are known for representing Wales in Europe as winners of the Cymru Premier and Welsh Cup during ...

. He then scored four goals from 31 league games in 1998–99 as the

Latham Park Latham Park is a multi-purpose stadium in Newtown, Wales. It is currently used for football matches and is the home ground of Newtown F.C. The stadium holds 5,000 people and is named after former Wales international footballer George Latham. ...

club dropped to sixth-position. He scored six goals in 33 games in 1999–2000 as Newtown posted an eighth-place finish. Rustles performances caught the eye of Chester City who signed him on a two year

contract A contract is a legally enforceable agreement between two or more parties that creates, defines, and governs mutual rights and obligations between them. A contract typically involves the transfer of goods, services, money, or a promise to tran ...

Chester City

On 23 June 2000, Ruscoe signed a two-year contract with

club Chester City. He scores his first goal for the "Seals" on 28 November, coming off the bench to claim the winning goal in

extra time Overtime or extra time is an additional period of play specified under the rules of a sport to bring a game to a decision and avoid declaring the match a tie or draw where the scores are the same. In some sports, this extra period is played onl ...

of an

FA Cup The Football Association Challenge Cup, more commonly known as the FA Cup, is an annual knockout football competition in men's domestic English football. First played during the 1871–72 season, it is the oldest national football competi ...

first round victory over

Third Division In sport, the Third Division, also called Division 3, Division Three, or Division III, is often the third-highest division of a league, and will often have promotion and relegation with divisions above and below. Association football *Belgian Thir ...

side

Plymouth Argyle Plymouth Argyle Football Club is a professional football club based in the city of Plymouth, Devon, England. As of the 2021–22 season, the team are competing in League One, the third tier of English football. They have played at Home Park, ...

at Home Park. He played a total of 37 league and cup games across the 2000–01 campaign, as the "Blues" posed an eighth-place finish under the stewardship of

Graham Barrow Graham Barrow (born 13 June 1954) is an English former footballer who has since become a professional manager in the English game. He is currently working for Exeter City as a Tactical Insights Coach for former Wigan Athletic manager Gary Caldw ...

. However he lost his first team place at the Deva Stadium after new

Gordon Hill was sacked early in the 2001–02 season.

TNS

On 29 January 2002, Ruscoe joined TNS on a free transfer, signing an 18-month contract. He scored three goals in 15 league games in the second half of the 2001–02 season as TNS finished as runners-up to Barry Town. He missed just two league games in the 2002–03 season, and scored nine goals in his 32 appearances, though TNS again finished as runners-up to Barry Town. He scored three goals in 26 matches in 2003–04 as TNS finished again in second place, just one point behind champions Rhyl. After three successive second-place finishes, he secured a league winners medal in 2004–05 after scoring three times in 31 games. The club retained their title with an 18-point margin in 2005–06, with Ruscoe claiming three goals from 30 league matches. A third consecutive title followed in 2006–07, Ruscoe claiming four goals from 29 matches. He achieved a career best ten goals from 33 league appearances in 2007–08, however TNS finished as runners-up to

Llanelli Llanelli ("St Elli's Parish"; ) is a market town and the largest community in Carmarthenshire and the preserved county of Dyfed, Wales. It is located on the Loughor estuary north-west of Swansea and south-east of the county town, Carmarthen. ...

. They then dropped to third-place in 2008–09, with Ruscoe scoring five goals from 32 games. He played in the

2009 File:2009 Events Collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: The vertical stabilizer of Air France Flight 447 is pulled out from the Atlantic Ocean; Barack Obama becomes the first African American to become President of the United States; 2009 Iran ...

final of the

, as TNS beat

Bangor City Bangor City Football Club ( cy, Clwb Pêl-droed Dinas Bangor) are an inactive Welsh football club from the City of Bangor, Gwynedd. They started the 2021–22 season in the Cymru North the second level of the Welsh football league system, but ...

2–0 at

. He scored eight goals from 32 games in 2009–10 as TNS claimed the fourth league title of his spell at the club. They dropped to second-place in

2010–11 1 (one, unit, unity) is a number representing a single or the only entity. 1 is also a numerical digit and represents a single unit of counting or measurement. For example, a line segment of ''unit length'' is a line segment of length 1. I ...

, behind champions

, despite Ruscoe contributing five goals from 32 league appearances. He scored the winning goal in the last minute of extra time in the 2011 Welsh League Cup final, a 4–3 victory over Llanelli at

Park Avenue Park Avenue is a wide New York City boulevard which carries north and southbound traffic in the boroughs of Manhattan and the Bronx. For most of the road's length in Manhattan, it runs parallel to Madison Avenue to the west and Lexington Avenu ...

. He won a fifth league title in 2011–12, scoring twice from 22 games. A sixth league title followed in

2012–13 1 (one, unit, unity) is a number representing a single or the only entity. 1 is also a numerical digit and represents a single unit of counting or measurement. For example, a line segment of ''unit length'' is a line segment of length 1. I ...

, though he played just 14 league games, scoring once. He failed to make a first team appearance in 2013–14, played just twice in 2014–15, before retiring after failing to make a league appearance in the 2015–16 campaign. During his time at the club the "Saints" won the league championship eight times, the

four times, the Welsh League Cup six times, and the FAW Premier Cup once. He also holds the league record for the most European appearances – with 30 games in total, and was named as Clubman of the Year by the Football Association of Wales in 2014. He was inducted into the Welsh Premier League league Hall of Fame in November 2015.

International career

Ruscoe won three caps for the Wales semi-pro team.

Style of play

Ruscoe was a central

and a

dead ball Dead ball is a term in many ball sports in which the ball is deemed temporarily not playable, and no movement may be made with it or the players from their respective positions of significance. Depending on the sport, this event may be quite rou ...

specialist.

Managerial career

The New Saints

On 30 May 2017, Ruscoe was appointed interim manager of The New Saints following manager Craig Harrison's departure to

Hartlepool United Hartlepool United Football Club is a professional association football club based in Hartlepool, County Durham, England. The team competes in League Two, the fourth tier of the English football league system. They were founded in 1908 as Hartle ...

. He led the club to victory over Gibraltar champions

Europa Europa may refer to: Places * Europe * Europa (Roman province), a province within the Diocese of Thrace * Europa (Seville Metro), Seville, Spain; a station on the Seville Metro * Europa City, Paris, France; a planned development * Europa Cliff ...

in the first round of qualifying for the

UEFA Champions League The UEFA Champions League (abbreviated as UCL, or sometimes, UEFA CL) is an annual club football competition organised by the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) and contested by top-division European clubs, deciding the competit ...

, and despite losing 7–1 in the following round to Croatian champions

Rijeka Rijeka ( , , ; also known as Fiume hu, Fiume, it, Fiume ; local Chakavian: ''Reka''; german: Sankt Veit am Flaum; sl, Reka) is the principal seaport and the third-largest city in Croatia (after Zagreb and Split). It is located in Primor ...

, he was named as the club's permanent manager on 31 July. On 20 January 2018, he secured his first silverware as manager, as Saints won the Welsh League Cup final with a 1–0 victory over

Cardiff Metropolitan University , image_name = Shield of Cardiff Metropolitan University.svg , image_size = 150px , motto = cy, Gorau Meddiant Gwybodaeth , mottoeng = The most valuable possession is knowledge , established = 2011 – Car ...

. He went on to lead the club to the Welsh Premier League title at the end of the 2017–18 season, as the Saints finished 14 points clear of second-place Bangor City. He was also named as WPL Manager of the Month for September and January. Saints narrowly lost 5–4 on

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to Macedonian champions

KF Shkëndija Klubi i Futbollit Shkëndija () commonly known as Shkëndija, is a football club based in Tetovo, North Macedonia. Their home stadium is Ecolog Arena and they currently play in the Macedonian First League. In the 2010–11 season of the Macedo ...

in the first round of qualification for the UEFA Champions League. They defeated Gibraltarian side Lincoln Red Imps in the second round of Europa League qualification, before being beaten 5–1 on aggregate by Danish club Midtjylland. They went on to win the 2018–19 Welsh Premier League by a 12-point margin over Connah's Quay Nomads. Defeated in the Welsh League Cup semi-finals, they went on to lift the Welsh Cup with a 3–0 victory over Connah's Quay Nomads. They ended the 2019–20 campaign as runners-up after finishing behind Connah's Quay Nomads on points per game; the season had been curtailed early due to the COVID-19 pandemic in Wales. The club broke their transfer record to sign

Adam Roscrow Adam Roscrow (born 17 February 1995) is a Welsh semi-professional footballer who plays for Bala Town, on loan from Cymru Premier club The New Saints, as a striker. Club career Roscrow played youth football for Swansea City, before joining Llant ...

from

AFC Wimbledon AFC Wimbledon is an English professional Association football, football club, based in London Borough of Merton, Merton, London, that plays in the EFL League Two, after being relegated from the EFL League One following the 2021–22 EFL Leagu ...

in January 2021. Ruscoe was sacked on 7 March 2021, despite TNS being narrowly ahead of Connah's Quay at the top of the

2020–21 The dash is a punctuation mark consisting of a long horizontal line. It is similar in appearance to the hyphen but is longer and sometimes higher from the baseline. The most common versions are the endash , generally longer than the hyphen b ...

league table.

Coaching

Ruscoe began

coach Coach may refer to: Guidance/instruction * Coach (sport), a director of athletes' training and activities * Coaching, the practice of guiding an individual through a process ** Acting coach, a teacher who trains performers Transportation * Co ...

ing the under-16s at Port Vale in April 2022.

Career statistics

Honours

Player

TNS * Welsh Premier League (9): 2004–05, 2005–06, 2006–07, 2009–10, 2011–12,

, 2013–14, 2014–15, 2016–17 *

(4):

2005 File:2005 Events Collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: Hurricane Katrina in the Gulf of Mexico; the Funeral of Pope John Paul II is held in Vatican City; "Me at the zoo", the first video ever to be uploaded to YouTube; Eris was discovered in ...

2012 File:2012 Events Collage V3.png, From left, clockwise: The passenger cruise ship Costa Concordia lies capsized after the Costa Concordia disaster; Damage to Casino Pier in Seaside Heights, New Jersey as a result of Hurricane Sandy; People gather ...

2014 File:2014 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Stocking up supplies and personal protective equipment (PPE) for the Western African Ebola virus epidemic; Citizens examining the ruins after the Chibok schoolgirls kidnapping; Bundles of wat ...

2015 File:2015 Events Collage new.png, From top left, clockwise: Civil service in remembrance of November 2015 Paris attacks; Germanwings Flight 9525 was purposely crashed into the French Alps; the rubble of residences in Kathmandu following the Apri ...

(3):

2011 File:2011 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: a protester partaking in Occupy Wall Street heralds the beginning of the Occupy movement; protests against Libyan dictator Muammar Gaddafi, who was killed that October; a young man celebrate ...

; runner-up:

2013 File:2013 Events Collage V2.png, From left, clockwise: Edward Snowden becomes internationally famous for leaking classified NSA wiretapping information; Typhoon Haiyan kills over 6,000 in the Philippines and Southeast Asia; The Dhaka garment fact ...

Manager

Individual * Welsh Premier League Manager of the Month (2): September 2017 & January 2018 TNS * Welsh Premier League (2): 2017–18, 2018–19 *

2018 File:2018 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2018 Winter Olympics opening ceremony in PyeongChang, South Korea; Protests erupt following the Assassination of Jamal Khashoggi; March for Our Lives protests take place across the United ...

(2):

2019 File:2019 collage v1.png, From top left, clockwise: Hong Kong protests turn to widespread riots and civil disobedience; House of Representatives votes to adopt articles of impeachment against Donald Trump; CRISPR gene editing first used to experim ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ruscoe, Scott 1977 births Living people Sportspeople from Shrewsbury Welsh men's footballers Wales men's semi-pro international footballers Men's association football midfielders Stoke City F.C. players Port Vale F.C. players Newtown A.F.C. players Chester City F.C. players The New Saints F.C. players Cymru Premier players National League (English football) players Welsh football managers The New Saints F.C. managers Cymru Premier managers Association football coaches Port Vale F.C. non-playing staff