James Forrest

Early career

Forrest played for South Ayr Boys Club, and consistently shone at every level. He was scouted by Celtic's talent spotter for Ayrshire, Jim Began, at the age of 11. Several other clubs such as Kilmarnock, Ayr United and Rangers were also interested in him. He signed youth terms with Celtic at the age of 13 and then joined Celtic's coaching school in Hamilton, which his coach Martin Millar credits with helping his development.

Celtic

2009–10

Forrest had always excelled at Celtic, with a match program from 2004 singling him out for exceptional performances in the under-13 squad. He made his first team debut for Celtic on 1 May 2010, coming on as a late substitute against Motherwell. He scored the third of Celtic's goals in a 4–0 win. He won the Scottish Youth Cup with the club in 2009–10, beating rivals Rangers 2–0 at Hampden Park.

2010–11

He made his first European appearance for Celtic in a Champions League qualifying game against Braga in July 2010. A few days later he won the man of the match award for his performance in the Emirates Cup game with Olympique Lyonnais. He continued this fine form into the league campaign, scoring against St Mirren in a 4–0 victory. Forrest played in both legs of Celtic's Europa League qualifier against Utrecht. Forrest was named the SPL Young Player of the Month for August 2010 In the following month Forrest opened the scoring against Hearts. He made his Old Firm debut in a 2–0 win at…

Forrest was capped for Scotland at under-16 and under-19 level. He made his debut for the under-19s 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…

Although Forrest's favoured position is on the right wing, he can also play on the left or as a striker. Forrest is noted for his pace and ball control, with an emphasis on dribbling. His former manager, Neil Lennon, observed that during his first few seasons at Celtic, Forrest developed the distance of his runs from 15–20 yards to 30–40 yards. He is considered a capable finisher and, although predominantly right-footed, is able to use his left foot when required. He has been described by commentators as a high-energy player with strong fitness levels, noted for his work rate and willingness to press throughout a match. Former Rangers winger and Scotland under-21 teammate Gregg Wylde described him as a player who takes on responsibility during matches. Former Celtic player Bertie Auld compared him to Jimmy Johnstone, and described him as being the kind of player who "puts bums on seats" and then has the technical ability to "lift bums off the seats once the game starts".

Forrest 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 Dundee; their sister Lisa is also a professional footballer for Glasgow City FC.