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Tony Watt’s formative football years had been unremarkable and largely unconventional. He spent five years with Dunbeth Boys Club, where he played from the age of eight, and around three seasons with amateurs, Whifflet Athletic. It was while with the latter that his prolific goalscoring prompted trials with Saint Mirren and Queen’s Park.
Both clubs rejected the striker, with the Buddies’ head of youth brandishing him “too lazy”. Unperturbed, a 15-year-old Watt responded to an advert in his local paper, which invited youngsters along to Airdrie United for a trial.
Airdrie’s youth team coach, Jimmy Boyle, identified a raw talent in Tony, whose strength, instinctive finishing, and immense self-belief elevated him way beyond any of the other 30 applicants on show. Watt scored twice during the bounce match and was immediately called up to Airdrie’s under-17 side. Three months later, the free-scoring Watt was promoted to the under-19 squad and, when Boyle replaced Kenny Black as Airdrie’s first team manager, he made young Tony his second signing during the pre-season of 2010-11.
Schoolteachers at Saint Andrews High in Coatbridge had laughed when Tony Watt rhapsodised about his aspirations to follow in the footsteps of idols Didier Drogba and Henrik Larsson but, by the age of 16, he was making his first-team debut for Airdrie United against Cove Rangers in a pre-season friendly. He scored twice.
His competitive debut came soon after and Watt’s bonafide scoring account was opened just 10 minutes after coming on as a sub against East Fife in Airdrie’s opening league match of the season at Bayview. Before Tony scored his second league goal at Glebe Park he was already being tracked by English giants Liverpool.
This rough diamond was invited to Melwood by Anfield youth bosses for a trial in September 2010 and Jimmy Boyle pushed the arrangement through for the good of his prodigious talent. Watt was combining his two days training at Airdrie with an apprenticeship in a North Lanarkshire council office and had to seek permission from bosses to attend the three-day trial. Faced with the dilemma of chasing his dreams over a pen-pushing career, Tony made the journey south and was involved in a youth match against Wolves before returning to his parent club.
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