New love sprung from Scott Laird’s Walsall loans

Scott Laird had one-and-a-half seasons with Walsall – first in the 2016/17 campaign, before returning in January 2019 for the back end of the 2018/19 season.

After falling out of favour with fellow League One club Scunthorpe, left-back Laird joined Jon Whitney’s side on loan in August 2016 until January, but it was later extended until the end of the season.

“I knew about the club having played against them, but I’d never been into the offices or home changing room, so it was great to go in and finally explore the stadium,” Laird told the Express & Star. “I love football and football grounds so it was nice to be welcomed to a really nice, family club.

“Everybody was so friendly after games and everybody knew each other, which was a really nice thing.”

After losing in the play-offs in the season before Laird’s arrival, this campaign ended with a 14th place finish – but Laird believes it could and should have been more.

“It was a mid-table finish, but we could have gone up,” he said. “We weren’t far off the play-offs by Christmas and then a few bad results curtailed the season and it petered out.

“I was willing to stay and that didn’t come to fruition, for whatever reason. I still don’t know myself.

“I really wanted to stay and wish I could have, and if they’d kept that squad together and added one or two more I really feel we could have made a challenge for promotion the following season.

“The one regret I have from that time is that I couldn’t have stayed and we couldn’t have kept that squad together for the following season – we were on to something.”

Following that campaign, where Laird built a strong relationship with the Walsall fans, he eventually moved permanently to Forest Green Rovers.

He featured regularly for them in 2017/18 before losing his place in the 2018/19 season, only playing once for them between August and January.

At this time, Walsall were struggling in League One and Laird arrived in the January transfer window to bolster the defence. However, he only made seven appearances for the club before the end of the season.

“I really feel that I could have helped,” he added. “The last three games of the season, where I played three in a row, we only conceded one goal.

“I was left of a back three and I thought I did really well – maybe if I was given that chance earlier on, we could have put a run together to save us.

“On the flip side, I’ve gone into management myself and I understand how hard it is to make those decisions, especially in times when the club is struggling down the bottom.

“We had meetings and I openly said to the lads, ‘how are you guys in this situation?’.

“Maybe they lacked a bit of confidence and spark.

“Losing (Erhun) Oztumer was a massive thing because he could change a game in an instance. Success comes with that.

“We didn’t score enough goals – it’s not just the striker’s job, it’s the whole team.

“It’s a real shame because the squad was easily good enough to be in League One, but maybe in the long run it might be a good thing to restart and start from a clean slate.

“It didn’t work out in the end, which I’m really gutted about, but again I loved my time at the club.

“There’s not many clubs you go to and you get along with virtually everybody in the squad, that was the case at Walsall.

“It’s testament to the recruitment there. They brought in really good human beings and we had a good squad that first season I was there. I was so thankful that they gave me four or five months to get that love back again and enjoy my football – I loved every second.”

Despite leaving the club with fond memories, Laird’s last game was the day Walsall suffered relegation to League Two.

Going into the final game of the season away at Shrewsbury, the Saddlers needed a win and for other results to go their way, but they drew 0-0.

“I was gutted. I’m not afraid to admit that I shed a few tears because that club means a lot to me,” Laird said. “I stood and watched the fans for a few minutes and I felt so sorry for them – I wish I could have done more.

“Could I have done more in training to get into the team? I don’t know, but I wish I could have played more games to try and help.”

Although his time with the club ended on a sour note, Laird is still remembered fondly by the Walsall faithful.

It is not often that you see a loan player become so popular, but the defender believes supporters could see his commitment.

“The relationship with the fans was really good,” Laird added. “I loved playing for Walsall and I think that’s the biggest thing for fans.

“If you can get a loan player that wants to be there and wants the club to do well, doing everything he can while at the club, that’s what fans want to see.

“I think they could see that within myself, I wanted to win football matches and I wanted to win for Walsall.

“I loved my time at the club – I gave my heart and soul to Walsall while I was there. The fans embraced that and I think that’s why we got along so well.”