Stateside chance for teenage player Watt

A Shetland-born footballer has been given the opportunity of a lifetime with the offer of a football scholarship in the United States.

Joe Watt, 17, who now lives in South London but lived here until he was six, has attracted interest from colleges in Ohio, West Virginia and North Carolina and is currently trying to choose which one has the most to offer before flying out to start a new lifestyle later this year.

Joe said he had inherited his love of football from his father, former Spurs and Shetland striker George Watt, and that his dream was to try and make it as a professional footballer. “Going out there gives me the chance to carry on training, go to university there, be part of the soccer team and train six times a week, go to lessons after the training,” he said.

At the moment he is playing for semi-professional academy team Dartford FC but, on a visit to see family in Shetland last summer, he turned out for Unst in a few games.