James Forrest (footballer, born 1991)

James Forrest (born 7 July 1991) is a Scottish professional footballer who plays as a winger for Scottish Premiership club Celtic and the Scotland national team.

Forrest joined Celtic's youth academy in 2003 and made his first team debut in the 2009–10 season.

As a young player he was widely regarded as one of the brightest talents in the Scottish game.

Forrest had always excelled at Celtic, with a match program from 2004 singling him out for exceptional performances in the under-13 squad.

On 30 August 2009, Forrest signed a four-year contract with Celtic.

Their Head of Youth development, Chris McCart, hailed him as one of the best players in Celtic's U19 squad.

He won Scottish Youth Cup with the club in 2009–10, beating Rangers 2–0 at Hampden Park.

He made his first team debut for Celtic on 1 May 2010, coming on as a late substitute against Motherwell.

He scored the third of Celtic's goals in a 4–0 win.

He made his first European appearance for Celtic in a Champions League qualifying game against Braga in July 2010.

A few days later he won the man of the match award for his performance in the Emirates Cup game with Olympique Lyonnais.

He continued this fine form into the league campaign, scoring against St Mirren in a 4–0 victory.

Forrest played in both legs of Celtic's Europa League qualifier against Utrecht.

Forrest was named the SPL Young Player of the Month for August 2010 In the following month Forrest opened the scoring against Hearts.

In November 2011, the Scottish Football Association's performance director, Mark Wotte, described him as being "the light in the darkness" of Scottish football.

He has progressed to become a key player in a successful era for Celtic, winning nine consecutive league championships.

Forrest played at every youth level for Scotland, winning 13 caps for the under-19 team, scoring two goals, and four caps for the under-21 team.

He made his senior international debut on 29 May 2011 against the Republic of Ireland.

He made his Old Firm debut in a 2–0 win at Ibrox in January 2011.

He received the first red card of his career in the following match against Hamilton.

He would score against Hearts, before being rewarded for his form with a new five-year deal on 28 January 2011.

Forrest collected his first winner's medal on 21 May 2011 when he came on a late second-half substitute for Kris Commons in Celtic's 3–0 Scottish Cup Final win over Motherwell.

He finished the season with 3 goals and 1 assist after 25 appearances.

In August 2011, Scott Brown said that Forrest was the best player to come out of the Celtic youth academy since Aiden McGeady.

Forrest scored his first goal of the season in a 5–1 victory against Dundee United and his performances in the month of September, including two goals in a 4–0 victory against Motherwell and another goal against Inverness Caledonian Thistle, saw him win SPL Young Player of the Month.

In Celtic's Scottish League Cup quarter-final tie with Hibernian on 26 October, Forrest was credited with a match-winning performance.

Celtic went in at the break 1–0 down but Forrest was instrumental in reigniting the tie after half-time, with two early goals.

On 31 October 2011, Premier League club Tottenham Hotspur's chief scout Ian Broomfield was reported to have watched Forrest in action.

Tottenham manager Harry Redknapp later confirmed this was true and that he believed Forrest to be a good player.

However, he also said that at that stage he had not considered making a bid for Forrest.

He was part of the Scotland squad at UEFA Euro 2020.

Forrest was born in Prestwick, South Ayrshire and attended Prestwick Academy.

He had the prospect of a professional tennis career when he was younger.

He was consistently approached by Prestwick Tennis Club to play for them, but he refused as he wanted to pursue his career in football.

He was described by coaches at the club as being a naturally talented player, who could just "pick up a racquet and play".

His younger brother, Alan Forrest, plays football for Heart of Midlothian.

Forrest played for South Ayr Boys Club, and consistently shone at every level.

He was scouted by Celtic's talent spotter for Ayrshire, Jim Began, at the age of 11.

Several other clubs such as Kilmarnock, Ayr United and Rangers were also interested in him.

He signed youth terms with Celtic at the age of 13 and then joined Celtic's coaching school in Hamilton, which his coach Martin Millar credits with helping his development.