Former coaches praise rising Scots star in World Cup dream

GROWTH: Dalry-born Gannon-Doak aiming for automatic World Cup spot (Credit: AFC Bournemouth)

Despite Scotland falling short in Athens, Ben Gannon-Doak scored his first international goal and has the chance to make more history.

The Ayrshire-born winger got off the mark for Steve’s Clarke men, who went down 3-2 to Greece on Saturday, with a consolation strike but has the chance to roar his country to automatic qualification for the World Cup for the first time since 1998.

Originally from Dalry, the Bournemouth winger started his pro-youth journey with Ayr United Football Academy before going onto feature for Celtic and Jurgen Klopp’s Liverpool. He is now settling in on England’s south coast following his £25 million transfer in the recent summer window from Anfield.

One former coach of the 20-year-old, Billy Alexander, recalls his time in the Ayr youth ranks and believes he has been worthy of his upward trajectory in the game.

He said: “I first had the opportunity to coach Ben with the under-10s, and again with the under-11s before Celtic came in and signed him. Even at that age, he was incredibly coachable, full of natural ability and had a real hunger to improve.

“He scored plenty of goals during his time here, but he also created just as many. The confident player you see today, running at defenders and using his pace, is exactly who he was back then.”

Alexander admitted that he was not quite up-to-date with Gannon-Doak’s progress, until he made an appearance in Scotland’s biggest fixture in 2022.

He said: “I didn’t hear much about his progress again until he made an appearance for Celtic against Rangers at just 16 years old. From that moment,  it’s been brilliant to watch him flourish – first at Liverpool’s academy, then breaking into their first team, and even playing in Europe.

“It was fantastic to see him score his first goal against Greece.”

Another former coach, Raymond Pattison, chimes with Alexander’s assessment of Gannon-Doak’s growth to become a “matchwinner”.

He added: “He was a constant threat to the opposition and a natural striker and goal scorer playing against players a year or more older than himself.

“It’s been great to follow his great progress from Celtic to Liverpool, and now Bournemouth. A player that gets supporters off their seats and long may that continue.”

Gannon-Doak and Scotland will have the chance to progress to next year’s World Cup in the United States, without the need of a playoff, with a win in the final Group C game against Denmark tonight.

His first appearance on the international scene was with Scotland under-21s where he scored within minutes of being substituted on against Northern Ireland in September 2022.

The winger would then become part of Clarke’s provisional squad in Euro 2024 in Germany where the Scots were ultimately knocked out in the group phase.