- Match context and player details, always
- Ratings by area: technical, tactical, physical, mental and positional
- Three specific strengths and three weaknesses
- A single recommendation: sign, keep watching or discard
What a template is for
A scouting report is not an essay: it is a document someone else has to read in two minutes and compare with others. If every scout writes their own way, the director ends up reading texts that cannot be put side by side. The template is what makes reports comparable.
The sections that cannot be missing
1. Match context
Date, competition, opponent, result, minutes played and the position they played. Without context a rating means nothing: a 7 against the leaders is not the same as against the bottom side, nor as a holding midfielder versus a number 8.
2. Player details
Name, date of birth, club, main and secondary positions, stronger foot, height and contract situation if known.
3. Rating by area
Splitting the rating into areas forces you to look at the whole player and not just what stands out most:
| Area | What to look at |
|---|---|
| Technical | First touch, passing, ball carrying, striking, dribbling. |
| Tactical | Positioning, reading the game, movement, defensive support. |
| Physical | Pace, stamina, strength in duels, aerial ability. |
| Mental | Decision making, character, reaction to mistakes, leadership. |
| Position-specific | What defines the role: a goalkeeper is not assessed like a winger. |
4. Strengths and weaknesses
Three of each at most, and specific. "Good passer" does not help; "breaks lines with low passes into midfield" does.
5. Potential and fit
What ceiling they have and whether they fit the club's style of play. It is the section the director uses most to decide.
6. Recommendation
A single, clear one: sign, keep watching or discard. A report without a recommendation forces someone else to interpret it.
Which rating scale to use
The most common is 1 to 10, but what matters is not the maximum but that the whole department understands the same thing by each rating. It helps to write down what each band means, for example:
- 9 and 10: clearly above the level of the club's competition.
- 7 and 8: a starter for the club's team.
- 5 and 6: a squad player or with doubts.
- Below 5: below the level being sought.
Even with a written scale, every scout will have their own tendency. That is why it helps to measure how far each one is from the average: this is what we call scout calibration.
Example report
Fictitious player, for illustration. Attacking midfielder, 23, left-footed. Watched as a starter, 90 minutes, against a top-half side.
Technical 8: very clean, well-directed first touch, always turns towards goal.
Tactical 8: finds space between the lines and pins the centre-backs with his runs.
Physical 6: struggles to repeat efforts in the last 20 minutes.
Mental 7: keeps asking for the ball even after a mistake.
Strengths: final pass, reading space, left-footed striking.
Weaknesses: tracking back, aerial duels.
Recommendation: keep watching, see him against a high-pressing opponent.
From paper to something you can use
A Word template helps, but reports stay scattered: they do not add up to an average, they do not appear on the player's profile and they do not alert anyone. In SquadOffice the scout types or dictates their notes and AI puts them into this same structure, by area and with suggested ratings. See how AI scouting reports work.
Scouts dictate in the stands, AI writes the report.
See how it works