| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Scott Christopher Minto[1] | ||
| Date of birth | (1971-08-06)6 August 1971 (age 53)[2] | ||
| Place of birth | Bromborough, England | ||
| Height | 1.78 m (5 ft 10 in) | ||
| Position(s) | Left back | ||
| Youth career | |||
| –1988 | Charlton Athletic | ||
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
| 1988–1994 | Charlton Athletic | 180 | (7) |
| 1994–1997 | Chelsea | 54 | (4) |
| 1997–1999 | Benfica | 31 | (0) |
| 1999–2003 | West Ham United | 51 | (0) |
| 2003–2006 | Rotherham United | 52 | (0) |
| Total | 368 | (11) | |
| International career | |||
| 1990–1993 | England U21 | 6 | (0) |
| *Club domestic league appearances and goals | |||
Scott Christopher Minto (born 6 August 1971) is an English former professionalfootballer and sports television pundit.
As a player he was as a left back who played in thePremier League forChelsea andWest Ham United and inPortugal forBenfica. He also played in theFootball League forCharlton Athletic andRotherham United and was capped six times byEngland U21.
Since retirement, Minto has worked as a pundit and occasional co-commentator, notably withSky Sports andtalkSPORT.
Minto started his career withCharlton Athletic and made his debut as a 17-year-old in 1988. After over 220 appearances for the Addicks, he moved acrossLondon to sign forChelsea in July 1994 for£875,000.
Minto made his debut for Chelsea in a 6–2Cup Winners' Cup win againstCzech sideFK Viktoria Žižkov, and played in every round of the side's run to the semi-finals. His time at Chelsea was plagued by injuries, but he was nevertheless a regular member of the Chelsea defence when fit. In1996–97, he was an important part of the side's run to the1997 FA Cup Final, which they won, defeatingMiddlesbrough 2–0 in what proved to be his last game for the club. He scored five goals in 72 appearances for Chelsea, all of which came in his final season.
In June 1997, shortly after Chelsea'sFA Cup win, Minto joinedBenfica of Portugal on a free transfer. He remained inLisbon for 18 months, making 31 appearances, before returning to England withWest Ham United for £1,000,000 in January 1999.[3][4]
His West Ham career got off to a poor start, losing 4–0 at home toSheffield Wednesday,[5] but he quickly established himself in the side, as the club secured 5th place in the league – their highest everPremier League finish. However, his time there was again plagued by injury problems and he was released by the club upon the expiry of his contract in June 2003. He played in 51 league games for West Ham, without scoring.
Minto then joinedLeague One sideRotherham United, but once again injuries hindered his progress and he made just seven league appearances during the2005–06 season. He announced his retirement from the game in July 2006.
Minto presentedRevista de la Liga and live coverage of Spanish football onSky Sports until 2015, when he started presenting live coverage of theEnglish Football League as the deputy lead presenter behindSimon Thomas. When Thomas was promoted to present Premier League football on Saturday lunch times following the departure ofEd Chamberlin toITV Racing, Minto became the lead English Football League presenter in August 2016. He regularly presents games on Friday evenings, Sunday lunch times and Monday nights, and anchors Sky's coverage of the end of season play-off games. Prior to his presenting work, Minto occasionally made appearances commenting on games from the studio forSoccer Saturday. Minto was replaced on Sky in 2020. He previously appeared ontalkSPORT'sEvening Kick-off show as a co-presenter. Other previous work as a pundit included working forBBC London 94.9's live football commentaries. Minto currently hosts Charlton TV Live, the official Charlton livestream service, on matchdays.
In 2008, Minto graduated fromUniversity of Staffordshire with a degree in Professional Sports Writing and Broadcasting.[6]
| Club | Season | League | National cup[a] | League cup[b] | Other | Total | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Division | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | ||
| Charlton Athletic | 1988–89 | First Division | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1[c] | 0 | 4 | 0 |
| 1989–90 | First Division | 23 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2[c] | 1 | 26 | 3 | |
| 1990–91 | Second Division | 43 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 1[c] | 0 | 46 | 2 | |
| 1991–92 | Second Division | 33 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 37 | 2 | |
| 1992–93 | First Division | 36 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 2[d] | 0 | 41 | 1 | |
| 1993–94 | First Division | 42 | 2 | 6 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 1[d] | 0 | 51 | 2 | |
| Total | 180 | 7 | 10 | 0 | 8 | 2 | 7 | 1 | 205 | 10 | ||
| Chelsea | 1994–95 | Premier League | 19 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 6[e] | 0 | 28 | 0 |
| 1995–96 | Premier League | 10 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | — | 11 | 0 | ||
| 1996–97 | Premier League | 25 | 4 | 6 | 0 | 2 | 1 | — | 33 | 5 | ||
| Total | 54 | 4 | 9 | 0 | 3 | 1 | 6 | 0 | 72 | 5 | ||
| Benfica | 1997–98 | Primeira Divisão | 21 | 0 | 4 | 0 | — | 0 | 0 | 25 | 0 | |
| 1998–99 | Primeira Divisão | 10 | 0 | 1 | 0 | — | 6[f] | 0 | 17 | 0 | ||
| Total | 31 | 0 | 5 | 0 | — | 6 | 0 | 42 | 0 | |||
| West Ham United | 1998–99 | Premier League | 15 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | 15 | 0 | |
| 1999–2000 | Premier League | 18 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 5[g] | 0 | 25 | 0 | |
| 2000–01 | Premier League | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | 1 | 0 | ||
| 2001–02 | Premier League | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | — | 6 | 0 | ||
| 2002–03 | Premier League | 12 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 0 | — | 15 | 0 | ||
| Total | 51 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 5 | 0 | 62 | 0 | ||
| Rotherham United | 2003–04 | First Division | 32 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 0 | — | 35 | 0 | |
| 2004–05 | Championship | 14 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | — | 16 | 0 | ||
| 2005–06 | League One | 6 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1[h] | 0 | 7 | 0 | |
| Total | 52 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 58 | 0 | ||
| Career total | 368 | 11 | 27 | 0 | 19 | 3 | 25 | 1 | 439 | 15 | ||
Chelsea
Individual
