Ace Gus grateful to Castle & co

By Matt Badcock

It was only four years ago Gus Scott-Morriss was asking himself if he’d be good enough for Step 2 – now the Southend United full-back is dreaming of the EFL.

The 28-year-old has taken the scenic route to Wembley this afternoon.

Nurtured at Royston Town by then-boss Steve Castle, he came through into senior football at Garden Walk, winning promotion from Southern League Central in 2017 with the Crows.

Post-covid saw the chance to move up to National League South with Hemel Hempstead.

Fast-forward four years and he’s a mainstay of the Southend side and one of Non-League‘s top performers.

Throw in a remarkable 17 goals from his marauding right-back position and it’s been quite a season for the England C international.

“Stevie Castle saved my football career,” Scott-Morriss told The NLP. “I wanted to quit when I was 16. If it wasn’t for the college programme he had to guide me through to men’s football then I wouldn’t be here today. I know that for a fact.

“I got a text off him before and after the game (against Forest Green), it was outstanding. He’s obviously going to be there Sunday.

“I’ve been lucky enough to have a lot of good people – managers, senior pros – who have really helped me out and given me the best chance to be where I am today. I am so thankful for all those people.

“It’s only four years ago I was thinking, ‘Do I leave Royston to go to Hemel?’. I didn’t know if I was good enough for Conference South football.

Cherish

“It just shows how quickly football can change. I am very thankful for the journey I’ve had. It probably makes me cherish these moments even more.”

The one at the end of their semifinal comeback at Forest Green Rovers was particularly special as Scott-Morriss fired in the shoot-outwinning penalty.

Mobbed by fans on the pitch, the outpouring of emotion at booking their Wembley trip only served to hammer home what this means to the Shrimpers.

“I realised that when the penalty went in,” Scott-Morriss said. “That 20 minutes after where you could see the joy in people’s faces, you realise what that meant to so many people.

“Obviously you see it on social media as well. You think, actually, that penalty had a hell of a lot of pressure on it in the end!

“But it’s great. Everyone is pulling in the right direction. I’ve said before, for a lot of time since I’ve been at this club not everybody has been pulling in the right direction.

“There’s been a lot going on off the field and stuff like that. This year everyone wants to do well. The owners are here, the fans are here, the players are here. It’s all good.”

Scott-Morriss says their play-off wins against Rochdale and Forest Green epitomise the character they boast – and encapsulate their season as a whole.

“It feels like two seasons in one,” Scott-Morriss said. “A real low point at the start of the year where we couldn’t get anything going. We were down near the bottom half and we couldn’t piece together results.

“All of a sudden, come the new year, we’ve been a really good outfit. We’ve been on that roll where it’s probably been a bit unnoticed how good the run was to actually get in the play-offs. We nearly gave ourselves too much to do but we snuck in there!

“It took time for players to gel into the team. It’s a team that has been together for two-and-a-half years who knew each other inside out. Then, all of a sudden, we had a batch of five or six new players and it took that little bit of time. Once we gelled, we’ve really shown the progression we have.”

Scott-Morriss admits it still hasn’t sunk in they will take to Wembley’s hallowed turf. But he knows there is a tough match with Oldham ahead.

IMPACT: Gus Scott-Morriss

“Yes, we’re at Wembley but we’re there to do a job,” he added. “We haven’t come this far to peter out and not put in a good performance.”