Stenhousemuir winger Joshua Watt is establishing himself in the first team squad of the Warriors and, after an 18 month spell where he has been involved with six sides, he is glad to be getting the chance to settle down and play football.
The 20-year-old spent 11 years at Motherwell that included loan spells at Airdrie and Raith Rovers before leaving Fir Park last season. He headed north to Iceland last summer before coming back to Ochilview.
He is now starring for Scott Booth’s side after a loan spell at East Stirling got him playing again with Watt saying: “It has been a strange time and this time last year I was with Raith Rovers and I know a lot of the boys that won the Ramsdens Cup on Sunday. It is brilliant for them, good guys like Jason Thomson, Dougie Hill, Joe Cardle, Grant Anderson and Greig Spence all deserved something from the game and I was really pleased for them.”
“I also know Fraser Mullen well as I played a lot against him when I was growing up with Motherwell and he was doing the same at Hibs.”
Watt was a long term Fir Park player however he never got the chance to play in the first team as he explained: “I was with Motherwell from the age of 9 until I was 20. I trained with the first team in my last season but I never made an appearance for them so I went to Airdrie on loan for 3 months.”
“When I was there I scored a great goal for them in a Scottish Cup replay at Stark’s Park. I think they got me the move to Raith.”
The time at the Excelsior was to prove useful with Watt saying: “I really enjoyed my time at Airdrie even though they were struggling in the First Division. I made my debut in a game we lost 7-0 to Partick Thistle at Firhill and that was some baptism.”
“However the following week we beat Dumbarton 3-2 and I scored a goal and set up the winner. It was a week of extremes. I played in 13 games for Airdrie and it was my first real taste of football at a senior level and the standard in the First Division was great.”
Watt went back to the top flight club however again he never got the opportunity to make the breakthrough and that led to his move to Fife.
“I went back to Motherwell and then went out on loan again to Raith Rovers and played 6 games for them,” said Watt before adding: “I got a start in a Fife Derby against Dunfermline which was exciting and then played against Airdrie ironically and Dumbarton but then I picked up a knock.”
“When I was injured Dunfermline went into Administration and Raith picked up Joe Cardle and by the time I was fit again Joe had got established in the team. I cannot really complain as he is a more than decent player.”
Watt added: “I was released by Motherwell at the end of last season and popped off on holiday. When I came back I got the chance to go and play in Iceland with Íþróttabandalag Akraness. It was a bit of a left field move and it was also a massive one for me as I was only 19 and I would be out there on my own.”
“I signed for a year but I had a get out clause after 8 weeks and in the end I was glad it was there. I enjoyed the culture and whilst the guys all speak English they spoke Icelandic to each other in the dressing room and that took a bit of getting used to.”
“The players were all good with me and the Danish and Swedish boys that were there, however the team was struggling.”
Watt recognised some faces as he explained: “I played against Iain Williamson who used to be at Raith and Danny Racchi who was at Kilmarnock. There were lots of British players there and overall it was a great experience at a good standard and I also learnt how to use a washing machine.”
“However after a good start it was obvious that the team was going down. The manager was not playing me as often as I would have liked and that is when the 8 week period that had been written into my contract proved to be very useful.”
“I decided not to stay and to be fair I left them on good terms. It was the right decision as they went down and the manager was sacked. I did not want to be in the middle of all that.”
Watt came home and was quickly in demand as he explained: “I came back and got the chance to join Annan so went down and trained with them. I was thinking that I would get the chance to join them when my former Motherwell team-mate Nicky Devlin got in touch to ask if I would be interested in joining him at Stenhousemuir.”
“I told him I would be and he spoke to Kevin McGoldrick, who was the assistant manager at the time, and I went in on trial. After a couple of weeks I signed until the end of the season.”
Club number six however was soon in place with Watt explaining: “However I never played much for Kevin or the manager Martyn Corrigan so I took the chance to join East Stirling on loan to get some game time. I started in 3 games and came on as a substitute in 2.”
“That enabled me to get match sharp and by the time I went back to Stenhousemuir both Martyn and Kevin had left.”
The change in management appears to have benefitted Watt who added: “Brown ‘Bomber’ Ferguson was in charge before Scott Booth was appointed and he got me involved in the first team. I was a substitute at Ibrox in the game that was drawn 3-3 and that was a great experience. I was happy to leave the late penalty equaliser to Sean Higgins all the same.”
“We did well under Bomber and have continued that under the new manager. We defeated Brechin 4-1 just before he came in and I played in that game. I did not start in Scott’s first game as he went with a pretty tight approach at Dunfermline and it worked as we got a point.”
“Just after that there was a reserve game against East Fife that the manager was at and I played well that night. He put me back into the team and I have not been out of it since.”
The Warriors under Ferguson and Booth have put together an 11 game unbeaten run that has taken them to the fringes of a top four place with Watt saying: “We are hoping for the play-offs and so it was disappointing not to get the full 3 points from Arbroath last Saturday but we are still striving for promotion.”
“We need to keep on winning between now and the end of the season. If we can win at East Fife this weekend and other results go our way we will have a bit of momentum behind us before facing Rangers at Ochilview a week on Saturday.”
As well as getting regular football, Watt is benefitting in other ways as he explained: “I am feeling settled now and it was good that not only did I know Nicky here, I knew Eddie Malone from Raith Rovers and I have become good friends with Sean Dickson who travels through with Nicky and I.”
“Mind you I have just discovered that our goalkeeper Chris Smith lives round the corner from me so I might have a new travelling partner soon.”
“My objective is get a deal for next season and hopefully I can do that over the next 5 weeks. I was not too bothered a few months ago however being involved every week has made me change my mind. Hopefully we can get that sorted and I can go out and just concentrate on playing well and enjoying my football.”
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