Where Are They Now?                                   Profiles of ex-Luton players

Scott Oakes

[Click HERE to return to the Where Are They Now? index]

Height: 5ft, 11in. Weight: 11st, 4lb. Born: Leicester, 05.08.1972. Nationality: English. International Honours: England U-21, 1 cap v Brazil.

Scott signed professional forms with his hometown club, Leicester City, in May 1990, and made four appearances under David Pleat at Filbert Street, 2 of those as a substitute.  However, when Pleat left the club and re-joined former club Luton Town, Scott was a player that he wanted to join him at Kenilworth Road.  Unfortunately, Leicester weren't prepared to part with Scott, so Pleat used some cunning tactics to get his man.....

He knew from his time at Filbert Street that Leicester were very interested in signing midfielder Steve Thompson from Bolton Wanderers.  However, Leicester simply couldn't afford to sign Thompson, so Pleat went out and bought him for Luton for £180,000 in August 1991.  After just 5 league appearances at Kenilworth Road, Pleat offered Thompson to Leicester in exchange for Scott and another young player, Des Linton.  Leicester were so keen on Thompson that they accepted Pleat's offer and reluctantly parted with Scott and Des.  Oakes and Linton signed for Luton on October 22nd 1991, with Thompson signing for Leicester on the same day.

Oakes celebrates another goal.

Scott made an immediate impact at the club, with the side struggling at the wrong end of the table in the old First Division.  He bagged 2 goals in 21 appearances for the Hatters in the 1991-92 season, his first with the club.  As a skillful, pacy, attacking midfielder with an eye for goal, he was quickly recognised as a threat to opposition defences and was regarded as one of the most highly rated youngsters in the country.  He also earned his first England U-21 cap as a substitute against Brazil.

Having experienced relegation with the Hatters, he still shone as a First Division player, scoring 5 goals in 44 appearances in the 1992-93 season.  In the 1993-94 season he was on the score sheet 8 times in 36 matches as he began to become a huge favourite with the supporters.  1994-95 was undoubtedly his best season for the club as he finished the campaign as the top goal scorer with 9 goals in 43 appearances.  It was a particularly memorable season for Scott as he scored in the televised 2-0 FA Cup victory over Premiership giants Newcastle United.  He then bagged a sensational hat-trick in the thrilling 3-2 Quarter-Final win over Premiership West Ham United to put the Hatters through to the Semi-Final, where they were beaten 2-0 by Chelsea at Wembley.  He was the subject of much transfer speculation and was rumoured to have attracted a £3 million bid from big-spending Blackburn Rovers.

However, he stayed with the Hatters for another season, but was injured in the 1996-97 pre-season with damaged muscle fibres, and the season never really took off for him.  A calf muscle injury in October, and back muscle damage in February, merely added to his problems, and the campaign finished with relegation and being booed off of the pitch in the last home game, a sad situation for a player whose skill as a winger and scorer of spectacular goals had made him the fans' favourite.  With Town up against it for the whole season, apart from fleeting moments of magic, he suffered as the side fell into disarray.

As a result of this unsavory treatment by the Hatters fans, Scott refused to sign another contract with the club and approached former manager David Pleat at Sheffield Wednesday for a trial.  After impressing Pleat during the pre-season trial he was sold to Sheffield Wednesday on August 1st 1996 for £425,000 where he was re-united with former boss David Pleat for the third time in his career.  Moving from a side relegated to Division Two back to a Premiership club was always going to be a tough assignment and so it proved.  Although having just a few starts in a Sheffield Wednesday side that did well in the league in the 1996-97 season, when he did play he was impressive, skilful and constructive in midfield, and showed himself to have a good shot.  He opened his scoring account for the club in a 1-1 draw at Sunderland and having settled back into top flight football it looked as though Scott could still have a glittering career.

However, the 1997-98 season was extremely disappointing for Scott.  He was on Sheffield Wednesday's substitute bench on a total of 16 occasions, but came onto the field of play just 6 times and never once started a game.  He always showed great composure on the ball when he played, but it was evident he needed a proper run in the side to bring the best out of him.  Unfortunately, Scott never forced his way into the Sheffield Wednesday side in the next two seasons.  In fact, he made just one substitute appearance in the 1998-99 season in a 4-0 defeat at Middlesbrough.  He failed to even feature in the 1999-00 campaign and had become something of a ghost figure at Hillsborough.

He was released on a free transfer at the end of his contract and was looking for a new club.  He had a trial with First Division Burnley, and, if he had signed, he would have become the fourth ex-Hatter to join the Turf Moor club after Steve Davis, Mitchell Thomas and Phil Gray.

Scott eventually signed for Division Two side Cambridge United in October 2000, and after 18 League appearances for The U's, he joined Leyton Orient on a free transfer in July 2001.  He endured a brief stay here, too, as he made 11 League appearances before being released and making the move into Non-League football with St. Albans City.

He did well with the Non-League club, as had been expected with the abundance of talent he possessed - certainly at this level anyway.  His performances earned him a move to Irish side Shelbourne, where he made 6 League appearances, scoring 1 goal, before he returned to St. Albans City and then moved on to UCL Premier Division side Stotfold (who also had ex-Hatters Phil Gray and Graeme Tomlinson in their squad at the time) in August 2004 after a total of 76 appearances and 6 goals during his time at Clarence Park.

He soon called time on his playing career and, after trying his hand at painting and decorating, he became a courier driver for 'Expro Couriers', a company owned by his former teammate Des Linton, who signed alongside Scott for Luton Town some 15 years previously in the switch from Leicester City.  He joined another ex-Hatter, striker Phil Gray, who also worked as a courier driver for the company.  He combined this role by playing for Luton's neighbours Barton Rovers, appearing alongside former teammate Tony Thorpe.

Profile By:  James Garley