As profession paths go, Scott Arfield’s mid-thirties detour to the USA was not the everyday route for one in every of his contemporaries to take.
After arising by way of the Falkirk youth ranks, the midfielder established himself in The Bairns’ first staff earlier than shifting south of the border to signal for Huddersfield in 2010, the place he would shortly grow to be an everyday and a part of the facet that received the League One playoffs.
Subsequent up was a five-year spell at Burnley , the place he would go on to play Premier League soccer, earlier than he returned to Scotland with Rangers in 2018.
Arfield opens up on his MLS transfer
Scott Arfield made 193 appearances for Burnley
Arfield turned out 233 instances for Rangers, scoring 43 targets and claiming Scottish Premiership and Scottish Cup winners’ medals in 2021 and 2022 respectively, earlier than his contract expired in 2023.
Then got here one thing of a curveball as he joined Main League Soccer facet Charlotte FC on a free switch, with Arfield admitting to FourFourTwo that there was a major distinction between the MLS and the British leagues he was used to.
Arfield labored with former Aston Villa boss Dean Smith at Charlotte FC
“I don’t imply this to be disrespectful, however I missed the ‘life-and-death’ depth of the sport in Europe,” he tells us. “Particularly having come straight from one of many world’s greatest golf equipment. Sarcastically, it’s most likely probably the most my spouse and youngsters have ever loved my soccer. It was an excellent expertise and I met some nice folks, however I used to be prepared to flee.”
Former Aston Villa and Norwich Metropolis boss Dean Smith would arrive at Charlotte six months after Arfield and the pair quickly struck up a superb relationship.
“We’d usually snigger like hell about a few of the completely different phrases for stuff,” he provides. “Dean would ask them why a full-back was referred to as an ‘outside-back’. It sounds trivial, and we had been in America, so it’s solely proper that we revered their tradition and quirks, nevertheless it was amusing. Now I’m not there, Dean’s possibly gone all-in with the lingo.”
However maybe the most important draw for gamers heading over to the MLS is the chance to share a pitch with Lionel Messi , with Charlotte defeating an Inter Miami facet that includes the Argentinian icon 1-0 in October 2023.
Arfield went up in opposition to Lionel Messi in 2023 (Picture credit score: Getty Pictures)
“His acceleration is only a joke. I can solely think about how robust it might have been 10 years in the past. As for Sergio Busquets, he will need to have 4 eyes. He sees all the pieces .
“It was so troublesome to play in opposition to them, by no means thoughts in 50-degree warmth with blond hair. I used to be burning up!”
