Wardrop played for the likes of Dumbarton and Airdrie before focussing on mentoring elite level talent
04:00, 07 Sep 2025
(Image: UGC)
Sam Wardrop knew he’d never share a pitch with footballing royalty like Harry Kane, Nathan Collins and Jacob Murphy during his playing career.
Just breaking through in the Scottish Premiership at Celtic and Dundee United was tough enough.
Despite emerging as a promising talent at Parkhead and riding the crest of a wave as a goalscoring captain in an Old Firm Youth Cup Final, the full-back quickly found himself disillusioned with the game after a move to Tannadice didn’t work out.
That’s when, arriving at a footballing crossroads, Wardrop took the courageous decision to stop focusing on his own career and instead use his experiences to help others.
Fair to say it’s proved to be the best decision of the 27-year-old’s working life. Two trips to Munich to work directly with England legend Kane, and similar sessions with Newcastle winger Murphy and Brentford defender Collins, are testament to that.
Wardrop has established his own football programme to help players at all different stages of their journey.
Not just through coaching though. Equally important to the Glaswegian is mentoring and providing support to younger players facing the same difficulties and dilemmas he did at a key stage of his career.
Wardrop has teamed up with agent David Moss, the former head of scouting at Celtic, to provide an extra level of player care to the stormy world facing young hopefuls.
That’s on top of his own programme that has flourished thanks to a social media presence with hundreds of thousands of followers across Instagram, TikTok and X – thanks in no small part to the videos he has produced with the likes of Kane & Co.
The former Scotland Under-19 international told MailSport : “I love playing football but the lifestyle that goes with the game probably wasn’t fulfilling me.
“What I find more fulfilling is mentoring, coaching and the social media side.
“Some of the players I’ve worked with, I would never have got anywhere near them on a football pitch.
“Guys like Jacob down at Newcastle, Nathan over in Ireland and Harry in Munich.
“I’ve a close partnership with a player analysis company on social media who wanted me to work with those three players in a coaching and presenting role.
“I’ve actually been over twice to work with Harry. Each shoot was a dive into their training but also their thinking too.
“We broke down the drills that keep these guys sharp, the data that pushes them and the work off-pitch that sets them apart.
“The work with Harry was based round him as a striker and me as a defender – it’s essentially creating coaching videos to educate viewers on how do you defend or how do you attack?
“I definitely wasn’t telling Kane how to shoot! But I feel like I can put all these experiences into working with top young players through this link-up with Moss. I’ve taken a 360-degree approach. When I’m talking to families and players, I never look at one thing, you have to look at everything.”
Wardrop’s interest in the welfare side of the game was born out of his own toils as a young player trying to make his way in the game.
Celtic captain Sam Wardrop celebrates with the SFA Youth Cup in 2017
Celtic captain Sam Wardrop celebrates with the SFA Youth Cup in 2017(Image: SNS Group)
After a glimpse into the elite workings of Celtic under Brendan Rodgers in his first spell as manager, a move to Tannadice at 20 years old was supposed to be the gateway to regular top-team action.
But a serious anterior cruciate ligament injury, followed by a change of manager and falling out of favour at United, left Wardrop with questions ringing round his head that he never felt got answered.
He said: “The mentoring thing started from a place of pain for me. I felt as though I wasn’t completely supported growing up as a player.
“From an agent perspective, when I was really young an agent came to my parents’ house in a blacked-out Range Rover and spent 30 minutes chatting.
“After that we never saw him again. For me, that’s not the best way to manage young players. So I’m trying to educate them, make them feel more empowered and motivate them so that they feel supported.
“From a playing perspective, when I went from Celtic to Dundee United I went straight into a first-team environment.
“Two or three things happened, which are common in professional football.
“I had a bad injury, I had a manager who didn’t like me and I also relocated, albeit to Dundee – it’s not far from Glasgow, right?
“But you’re still away from your base. Those three things are big things that happen to a lot of young footballers.
“I didn’t feel as though I had anyone to turn to.
“I had good family and friends, but there wasn’t someone in the football space that could say: ‘Listen, these things happen – do this and that and you’ll come out the other side okay and you’ll be able to kick on’.
“From a team environment, the club is a business with a lot of players to deal with so you might not always get that individual support.
“What’s needed is impartial support, someone not attached to your family or your club as both will be biased.
“You need someone who is not attached to either of those to give completely impartial advice, both on the pitch and off the pitch. Things change fast in football.
“You have very low lows and very high highs – navigating that between the ages of 16 to 21 is difficult.
“Those that are well supported with a good team around them are able to navigate it but those are the ones you will probably find become established as first-team players and kick on.
“If players are confident, they’re happier. And when you have happy people, you get better players.
“So I’m looking at everything from a performance perspective to lifestyle.
“I’ve sat down with families and players and worked through personal development plans.
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“It could be pitch-based stuff, it could be nutrition-based stuff, it could be gym-based stuff – what are they doing off the pitch to keep them occupied and stimulated?
“David and I are very aligned in our approach. He is willing to do this side for his players when not all agents are.
“Because he’s been a head scout at Celtic he has an unbelievable international connection. If you pair that with what I’m offering players, then it’s a unique and powerful combination that I hope can really help young players.”