Scott Robertson (born 7 April 1985) is a Scottish football coach and former player who currently serves as a coach at Dundee. Robertson played as a midfielder for Dundee, Peterhead, Dundee United, Blackpool, Hibernian, Romanian club Botosani, Raith Rovers, Brechin City and Forfar Athletic, and was also formerly the assistant manager of Forfar. He also represented Scotland twice in full international matches.
Club career Dundee Robertson began his career with Dundee and progressed through the ranks of the club’s youth system. He appeared once as an unused substitute bench during the 2003–04 season with the Dens. Robertson made his senior debut while on loan at Peterhead, spending the second part of the 2003–04 season at Balmoor. He made his professional football debut (and for the club), starting the whole game, in a 2–0 win against Stirling Albion on 7 February 2004. Robertson then scored his first goal for Peterhead, in a 1–1 draw against Stranraer on 27 March 2004. This was followed up by scoring two more goals, coming against Albion Rovers and East Stirlingshire. At the end of the 2003–04 season, he made fifteen appearances and scoring three times in all competitions.
At the start of the 2004–05 season, Robertson returned to Peterhead on loan, resulting in him spending all of 2004 with the Scottish Third Division side. He went on to make ten appearances and scoring once for the club before recalled by his parent club in January. Shortly after returning to Dens Park, Robertson made his Dundee debut, coming on as a 70th-minute substitute, in a 2–0 loss against Hibernian on 9 January 2005. However, Dundee were relegated from the Scottish Premier League on the last game of the season following a 1–1 draw against Livingston. At the end of the 2004–05 season, he went on to make nine appearances in all competitions for Dundee.
Ahead of the 2005–06 season, Robertson’s performances attracted interest from Craig Levein at Leicester City, but he was stayed put at Dundee. Robertson then scored his first goal for the club against Airdrieonians in the second round of the Scottish League Cup and went on to win on penalties following a 1–1 draw. Following this, he quickly became a first team regular at Dundee in the First Division throughout the 2005–06 season. On 3 February 2006, Robertson signed a new deal to keep him at the club until 2008. A month later, on 4 March 2006, he scored his second goal of the season, in a 4–2 win against Hamilton Academical. At the end of the 2005–06 season, Robertson went on to make forty–four appearances and scoring two times in all competitions.
In the 2006–07 season, Robertson continued to maintain his starting place in the first team. On 2 January 2007, he scored his first goal of the season, in a 2–0 win against Livingston. A month later, on 3 February 2007, Robertson scored his second goal of the season, in a 3–0 win against Airdrieonians. However, he suffered an injury that saw him out for the rest of the season. At the end of the 2006–07 season, Robertson made thirty–three appearances and scoring two goals in all competitions.
In the opening game of the 2007–08 season, Robertson scored twice on his return from his injury, in a 2–0 win against Livingston. Following this, he continued to maintain his starting place in the first team. On 28 August 2007, Robertson scored his second goal of the season, in a match against Livingston in the second round of the Scottish League Cup and helped Dundee win 6–5 on penalties to advance to the next round. He later scored three more goals by the end of 2007, including another against Livingston. His performance led the club to open talks with Robertson over a new contract. On 12 February 2008, he scored his sixth goal of the season, in a 2–1 win against Motherwell in the fifth round of the Scottish Cup. However, in a match against St Johnstone, on 1 March 2008, Robertson suffered an injury and was substituted in the 52nd minute, as Dundee won 3–2. After the match, he was out for a month. Robertson returned on 12 April 2008 from his injury, coming on as a 75th-minute substitute, scoring the third goal of the game, in a 3–0 win against Stirling Albion. At the end of the 2007–08 season, he made thirty–four appearances and scoring seven goals in all competitions.
Dundee United
After rejecting a new contract in April 2008, and with his contract close to expiry, Robertson signed for Dundee's rivals Dundee United on 3 June 2008, with Craig Levein – then in charge at United – getting the player he had tried to sign three years previously. The 23-year-old joined the Tannadice club under freedom of contract and agreed a three-year deal. Dundee openly criticised Dundee United about the way they pursued Robertson, stating that the Tangerines had been "disrespectful" towards their Dee rivals.
He made his debut for the club, starting the whole game, in a 3–1 loss against Hamilton Academical in the opening game of the season. A month later, on 23 September 2008, Robertson scored his first goal, netting in the League Cup victory over Airdrieonians. Four days later, on 27 September 2008, Robertson scored his first league goal, netting the third in a 3–0 win over Hearts. Since joining Dundee United, he became a first team regular and had played every minute of United's matches that season. Robertson was also praised for his performance that saw him named Man of the Match three times for the Tanagerines. On 28 October 2008, he scored the only goal of the game, in a 1–0 win against Dunfermline Athletic in the quarter–finals of the Scottish League Cup. A week later, on 4 November 2008, Robertson scored his fourth goal for the Tangerines, in a 3–3 draw against Rangers. A month later, on 27 December 2008, he scored the only goal of the game, in a 1–0 win against Falkirk. After the match, Robertson said his aim was to help Dundee United qualify for the Europe next season. In January, however, an osteitis pubis diagnosis during a match against Motherwell ruled him out for the remaining few months of the season.br> After his recovery, Robertson revealed that he credited surgeon David Lloyd for saving his career and revealed it was the hardest moment of his career. Robertson returned on 7 May 2009 from his injury, coming on as a 71st-minute substitute, in a 1–1 draw against Aberdeen. At the end of the 2008–09 season, he made twenty–six appearances and scoring five goals in all competitions.
At the start of the 2009–10 season, Robertson started in the first four league games of the season. However, in a match against Celtic, on 12 September 2009, he was sent off for a second bookable offence in the 1–1 draw. After serving a one match suspension, Robertson returned to the starting line–up, in a 1–1 draw against St Johnstone on 26 September 2009. However, his return was short–lived when he suffered an injury while on international duty with Scotland. During the same month, his former club, Dundee director, Calum Melville, publicly stated he was planning to bid £500,000 for Robertson in the January transfer window. Dundee United, however, were not impressed and threatened to haul him in front of the SFA over these comments. Craig Levein, the United manager, criticised the Dundee director by suggesting he needs tutored in the workings of football. In response, Dundee manager Jocky Scott was also reluctant to sign Robertson, especially not in the near future. However, he, once again, suffered an injury by straining his abductor muscle and was out for a month. On 5 December 2009, Robertson made his return from his injury, coming on as a 53rd-minute substitute, in a 3–2 win against St Mirren. However, his return was short–lived for the third time in the 2009–10 season when he suffered an Inguinal Hernia, which ruled him out for the remaining few months of the season and described 2009 as his worst year. Expecting to return in the 2010–11 pre–season, he made his return to training after being out for four months. On 18 April 2010, Robertson returned to the first team, coming on as a 81st-minute substitute, in a 3–2 win against Motherwell. in the Scottish Cup final, he came on as a 74th-minute substitute, in a 3–0 win against Ross County, picking up his first winners medal. After the match, Robertson talked about winning the final and said "It's been a long 18 months and while the Cup Final doesn't make up for all the frustration and pain that I went through, it helps quite a bit. And I'm proud to have played a part in this win and somehow got a winner's medal that I never dreamed could have come my way two months ago.". At the end of the 2009–10 season, he made sixteen appearances in all competitions. Following this, Robertson signed a 12-month contract extension, that will expire in 2012.
At the start of the 2010–11 season, Robertson said about his return: "Coming back into the team has been a bit strange because I feel like the new boy. He played in both legs of the UEFA Europa League play–off round against Greek side AEK Athens, as Dundee United loss 2–1 on aggregate and was eliminated from the tournament. Robertson alternated between the substitute bench and the starting line–up at the club. However, in a match against Kilmarnock, on 22 January 2011, he received a red card for a second bookable offence, in a 1–1 draw. After serving a one match suspension, Robertson returned to the starting line–up, in a 3–0 win against Hibernian on 30 January 2011. Following this, he said his aim was to score goals for the Tangerines in the 2010–11 season. Robertson also captained a number of matches for the Tangerines. On 19 March 2011, Robertson set up the only goal of the game for Danny Swanson, in a 1–0 win against Inverness Caledonian Thistle. At the end of the 2010–11 season, he went on to make forty–two appearances in all competitions.
Ahead of the 2011–12 season, Robertson suffered an ankle injury limped out of a pre-season friendly with Forfar Athletic. But he soon recovered in late–July and made his return from his injury, coming on as a 76th-minute substitute, in a 1–0 win against Hearts on 31 July 2011. Since returning from his injury, Robertson continued to alternate between the substitute bench and starting eleven. After missed one match due to a knock, he returned to the starting line–up, in a 3–3 draw against Hibernian on 24 September 2011. In mid-October, Manager Peter Houston began negotiating a new deal with Robertson and many other players. On 19 November 2011, he scored his first goal in three years, in a 1–0 win over Hearts. Two months later, on 7 January 2012, in the fourth round of the Scottish Cup, Robertson scored and provided an assist for Gary Mackay-Steven in a 6–2 win over Airdrie United. A month later, on 21 February 2012, he scored his third goal of the season, in a 4–0 win against Kilmarnock. Two weeks later, on 5 March 2012, Robertson scored his fourth goal of the season, in a 3–0 win against Inverness Caledonian Thistle. Three weeks later, on 31 March 2012, he scored his fifth goal of the season, in a 3–0 win against Dunfermline Athletic. On 21 April 2012, Robertson scored his sixth goal of the season, in a 2–0 win against St Johnstone. On 6 May 2012, he scored the winning goal, in a 1–0 win against champions, Celtic. At the end of the 2011–12 season, Robertson made forty–one appearances and scoring seven times in all competitions.
With his contract the end of the 2011–12 season, Robertson said he hinted about staying at Dundee United. But many clubs in England including Birmingham City, Brentford, Blackpool and Rangers were interested in signing Robertson.
Blackpool On 27 July 2012, Robertson signed a two-year contract with an option for a further year with Blackpool. Upon signing for the club, Robertson said he would like to be as successful at Blackpool as Charlie Adam had been in his spell there.