Rashawn Scott's Road Back: Chelsea, Reading... and Reborn at Dagenham

Rashawn Scott's Road Back: Chelsea, Reading... and Reborn at Dagenham

22-year-old Rashawn Scott has had a turbulent career path up to now.

From rejection at Chelsea to a professional contract at Reading that eventually led to nowhere, a failed trial later has left him moving around National League South.

How will the midfielder bounce back at his new club that has received great investment?

Cobham

Scott's career started promisingly, as part of Chelsea's famous Cobham setup.

The academy has a reputation for producing some of England's finest footballers, such as Mason Mount, Jamal Musiala, Tammy Abraham, John Terry and of course captain Reece James having started their paths in West London.

However, others such as Eddie Nketiah, Declan Rice, Michael Olise and Patrick van Aanholt have failed to make the grade.

Scott, perhaps unsurprisingly given the number of players at Cobham plus the notoriously limited chances given to academy products at the Blues, joined the names of the latter list.

Reading

Following his release, he joined Reading's academy in 2021.

For their Premier League 2 side in the 2021/22 season, Scott made 16 appearances and bagged four goals.

He was also promoted to the senior team for the final two matches of the campaign, remaining as an unused substitute against West Bromwich Albion and then played 16 minutes of the final game against Luton Town to mark his professional debut.

Our focus this week is on Saturday's debutant @RashawnScott11! 1️⃣

Check out his stats after coming off the bench at Luton below 🔂

Delivered by 👉 @Omniaoutsource pic.twitter.com/bpkWIr2E26

— Reading FC (@ReadingFC) May 10, 2022

Scott signed a new professional contract in preparation for the 2022/23 season, but this turned out to be anything but fruitful for him as he didn't play a single minute of first-team football for the club - returning to the development side.

Happy to have signed a new deal with @ReadingFC ❤️🫶🏾 pic.twitter.com/sGtkjNyGIF

— Rashawn Rivaldo Scott (@RashawnScott11) June 24, 2022

This led to him being let go at the end of his year-long deal that he signed.

Derby Trial

After leaving the South at 19-years-old, he was given a lifeline with a trial for Derby County's under-21 team.

Coming on in the 59th minute in a 3-1 win over Mansfield Town of League Two, Scott created one big chance that should have been scored by Adebayo Fapetu.

Unfortunately, this wasn't enough to satisfy the Rams' management and he was never offered a contract at the club.

Downhill Struggle

The attacker made only a single appearance for Ebbsfleet United in the National League, coming in March 2024 but never featured again for them - signalling almost a year away from the pitch.

He signed a one-year contract with Bishop's Stortford all the way down in the Southern League Premier Division, a whopping five divisions lower than when he made his professional debut just two-and-a-half years prior.

But, Scott started to gain consistent minutes for the first time since his Reading development days, appearing on 35 occasions across the season and scoring 7 times for Stortford as they placed in 15th, establishing himself as one of the club's best players.

Deservedly, Stortford opted to extend his contract as the original one-year deal came to a close.

Rash Returns!

Winger Rashawn Scott is back in blue for the 2025/26 campaign!

Rash netted 7 goals in 35 appearances for the Blues last year including that memorable long range strike against Hereford in the FA Cup.

Welcome back @RashawnScott11 #allezlesbleus pic.twitter.com/ndOq1ZeO1l

— Bishop's Stortford FC (@BSFCTheBlues) June 20, 2025

Dag & Red Rebirth?

However, his new contract didn't last long, as his performances in the Southern League Premier stood out enough for Dagenham & Redbridge of National League South to pick him up.

Whilst this may not seem that significant given that the club have been recently relegated and were in League Two not that long ago, they have recently been acquired by a consortium of wealthy and 'prominent Qatari private investors', who now have a 100% stake.

“a consortium of prominent Qatari private investors” appear to have bought, er, Dagenham & Redbridge https://t.co/Y6CnSkdVHf

— Adam Crafton (@AdamCrafton_) July 12, 2025

The biggest name brought in so far under the new ownership has by far been Andy Carroll, a former Liverpool, West Ham and Newcastle striker that appeared for England at Euro 2012.

Scott played every pre-season match for Dag & Red and scored a goal in a behind-closed-doors friendly.

His competitive debut came on the weekend, as the team opened their National League South account but lost 2-0 at home to former club Ebbsfleet United - with the 22-year-old coming on as a substitute.

Despite the opening day setback, Dag & Red remain as the bookies' second-favourites to win the league, behind Torquay United.

As for Scott, its fair to say he captured the attention of the supporters with his second-half cameo, leading to supporters calling for him to start for the team as shown below.

Not the start we wanted. Bad mistakes costing us again. Haven't we learnt anything from last season? Need to be better. Scott came on and was good. Some good play but most of it needs to be better.

— Dan Newton (@DanNewtz) August 9, 2025

Petition to have Rashawn Scott start every game?

— Ben Suter (@BenSuter) August 9, 2025

Clearly, Scott has the ability to play in the professional leagues based on his time at Reading's development centre that led to him being shown faith to step up into the Championship for a game.

Also, his versatility, being able to play either as a winger or as an attacking midfielder, gives the team options that are only positive for him plus his close-control dribbling style means he excels in 1v1 duels.

Should Dag & Red bounce back from the loss and earn promotion back to the National League at the first time of asking, the Qatari owners can start to properly invest in the squad that could see a Wrexham-like charge happen up through the footballing pyramid, which would see Scott return to professional football after over 4 years away.