Scott Spencer

Squad number	�
Position	Striker
Joined	12 May 2006
Joined from	Oldham Athletic
Signed by	David Moyes
Transfer fee	£220k rising to £650k
Debut	Not yet...
Contract duration	3 years;
Contract expires	June 2009
Left Everton	Released; June 2009
Born	Oldham
Date of birth	1 January 1989
Height	6ft 0in (182 cm)
Nickname(s)
Honours	England U-19

STRENGTHS

Indeterminate

WEAKNESSES

Numerous

Soccerbase Datafile

When Scott Spencer signed for Everton,  it represented the successful conclusion to a pursuit for a player whom David Moyes regarded as one of the most promising forwards of his age bracket in the country.

Everton's scouts tracked the 17-year-old throughout the 2005-06 season and, while Oldham Athletic turned down a number of bids from Moyes for their striking prodigy, they eventually accepted the Blues' advances — an 11th-hour bid by Tottenham Hotspur came too late to alter negotiations — and allowed Spencer to complete a "dream move" to Goodison in May 2006. 

Spencer signed a 3-year deal — his first professional contract — and while neither club revealed the fee, it is thought to involve a £220k down payment with a further £430k dependent on future success.

Spencer hit 29 goals for the Oldham youth team in his first year as a trainee but only made a handful of appearances for the reserves.  He never played at first-team level.  Oldham manager Ronnie Moore was sad to lose the budding starlet but described him as follows:

"He is quick and he has a good eye for a goal, there's no doubt about that. Over 20 yards — and especially the first five — he is lightning quick and when he gets a chance he finishes it.

"The good thing about him is that he is effective with his back to goal and he is effective if you want to lift it over the top. He has decent feet so he will come short and he can get on the end of things over the top too, but for me he is at his best when he is playing on defenders' shoulders.  He never gives defenders a minute's peace.

"We gave him a couple of run-outs in the reserves last season and he handled the step up well.  He is not the biggest and his heading is not brilliant. He is more of a second striker than anything else, but he is clever and he has a trick or two, and I'm sure he will do well at Everton."

Spencer did not feature in the list of senior squad numbers for 2006-07, confirming a role in the Everton Academy and Reserves teams for a full season. And by  the start of the 2007-08 season, he was still a Reserve player who looked increasingly unlikely of making the step up to the first team. Indeed, word in our mailbag was that the was nowhere near the standard expected when he was signed for what now looks like a ridiculously large waste of money.

In November 2007, he spent a week on trial at Yeovil, and in January 2008 he was allowed to go back for a full month on loan while they took a good long look at him... and passed. He spent another month out on loan at Macclesfield Town in the Spring of 2008, making just three sub appearances before returning to Everton. 

Season 2008-09 and Spencer was the invisible man.  Despite it being the season for young talent to step up... at least to the subs bench, he never even came close to the first team squad, and made only a handful of appearances for the Reserves, scoring one goal.  

Another one "for the future" who never really looked likely to pan out despite the ridiculous hype and exchange of significant monies when signed. He never got to make a senior appearance in an Everton shirt and was released by by the club in June 2009.