Preston North End promotion winner and Scunthorpe United figure joins 12th club at 35

Preston North End promotion winner Scott Laird has joined his latest club of his career.

Currently at Barnstaple Town, he has signed dual-registration terms with National League North outfit Gloucester City. Gloucester can hope that a player with over 350 appearances can help them in their current predicament as they try and preserve their league status.

Taunton-born Laird has been working as a player-assistant manager at National League South outfit Weston-super-Mare. He helped them win promotion by winning the Southern League Premier title last season, but departed in the summer having taken up a full-time role at a local school in the Somerset area.

Commenting on his move to his new club, Laird said: “Cookey the manager and Mecca who I’ve known for a long time, When they asked if I wanted to come out in the final push to keep them up, I couldn’t say no to that. 

“When time allows with my job and that I hope I can give everything I can to help Gloucester stay up.” 

Laird’s new club are fighting for their lives in English football’s sixth tier. The Tigers are second from bottom and eight points adrift of safety with 10 games remaining in their current campaign. He scored a hat-trick in his first game, netting three of the four goals in the 4-0 win over Roman Glass St George in the semi-final of the Gloucestershire Senior Cup. 

He called Deepdale home from 2012 to 2015 having reunited with manager Graham Westley. He played 108 games in total for the Lilywhites, and was part of the side that won promotion to the Championship via the play-offs in 2015.

The other clubs in his career include Scunthorpe United, Walsall and Forest Green Rovers. It was at Stevenage where he played most of his football, registering 127 appearances for the Boro, helping them go from the National League to League One.