James Forrest

James Forrest (born 7 July 1991) is a Scottish professional footballer who plays as a winger for Scottish Premiership club Celtic and the Scotland national team. Forrest joined Celtic's youth academy in 2003 and made his first team debut in the 2009–10 season. As a young player he was widely regarded as one of the brightest talents in the Scottish game. In November 2011, the Scottish Football Association's performance director, Mark Wotte, described him as being "the light in the darkness" of Scottish football. He has progressed to become a key player in a successful era for Celtic, winning twelve league championships. Forrest played at every youth level for Scotland, winning 13 caps for the under-19 team, scoring two goals, and four caps for the under-21 team. He made his senior international debut on 29 May 2011 against the Republic of Ireland. He was part of the Scotland squad at UEFA Euro 2020. Forrest was born in Prestwick, South Ayrshire and attended Prestwick Academy. He had the prospect of a professional tennis career when he was younger. He was consistently approached by Prestwick Tennis Club to play for them, but he refused as he wanted to pursue his career in football. He was described by coaches at the club as being a naturally talented player, who could just "pick up a racquet and play". His younger brother, Alan Forrest, plays for Heart of Midlothian; their sister Lisa is also a footballer. Forrest has been capped for Scotland at under-16 and under-19 level. He made his Scotland under 19 debut on 20 October 2008 in a European Championship qualifier against Azerbaijan. Following his fine club form at the start of the 2010–11 season, Forrest was called into the Scotland U21 side. On 7 September, he came off the bench for Scotland U21s and assisted in the 89th minute for Chris Maguire to score the winning goal against Austria. On 17 May 2011, Forrest was selected in Craig Levein's Scotland senior team to face Wales and the Republic of Ireland in the Nations Cup. He made his full international debut on 29 May 2011 in the match against the Republic of Ireland. Forrest then came on as a substitute in Scotland's 2–1 win over Denmark on 10 August. On 22 December 2011, it was revealed that Forrest had been invited to the Great Britain team for the 2012 Summer Olympics, but did not make the final cut for the Games. On 17 November 2018, Forrest scored his first two goals for Scotland in their 4–0 away victory over Albania in the UEFA Nations League. Three days later, he netted a treble as Scotland beat Israel 3–2 to qualify for the UEFA Euro 2020 qualifying play-offs. He became the first Celtic player to score a hat-trick for Scotland since Jimmy Quinn did so in 1908, and the first Scotland player to score at least two goals in consecutive matches since Denis Law in 1963. He was awarded as the 2018–19 International Player of the Year by the SFWA. Forrest was part of the Scotland squad at UEFA Euro 2020. On 14 June 2021, he made his only appearance in the tournament as a substitute in Scotland's opening game 2–0 defeat to the Czech Republic at Hampden Park. He did not feature for Scotland over the next few years, but a run of form for Celtic in spring 2024 led to a recall for the UEFA Euro 2024 provisional squad.