Thomas "Tam" Scobbie (born 31 March 1988) is a Scottish retired professional footballer who is currently the manager of East of Scotland Premier Division club Camelon Juniors.
In his playing career, Scobbie played for Falkirk, St Johnstone, Dundee United, Partick Thistle, Brechin City, and Kelty Hearts, before retiring at Berwick Rangers as a player/coach. Early in his career, Scobbie was also a regular squad member for the Scotland under-21 national team.
After retiring as a player, Tam was appointed manager of former club Berwick Rangers after Stuart Malcolm left for Arbroath in late October 2023. He left the club by mutual consent in early 2025.
Personal life Growing up in Westquarter, Falkirk, Scobbie played most of his football as a boy with Grangemouth Boys Club, whilst attending Graeme High School. An intelligent student, he mixed his studies well with football but left in fourth-year to pursue a career in the game. At age twelve, Scobbie joined Falkirk's academy team becoming the youngest player to sign a schoolboy form for the club.
After playing in the 2009 Scottish Cup final, Scobbie revealed that his grandfather died prior to the final. He has an older sister, Savanna.
Club career Falkirk Having progressed through the Falkirk's youth system, Scobbie made his debut for the Bairns, coming on as an 81st-minute substitute, in a 1–0 loss against Hamilton Academical on 30 April 2005 with Falkirk having already won the league title and promotion to the Scottish Premier League. He had to wait for a year to make his top-flight football debut, starting the whole game, in a 2–0 win against Dundee United on 29 April 2006. He made two more appearances later in the 2005–06 season.
Scobbie made his first appearance of the 2006–07 season, starting the whole game, in a 2–1 win against Dundee United in the opening game of the season. He found himself alternating between the starting line–up and substitute bench throughout the season under John Hughes, who gave him his professional football debut. Scobbie commented about getting more playing time, saying: "I've had a fantastic start to the season, coming in at 18 years old and playing for my home team in almost every game." However, in a match against Motherwell on 10 February 2007, his poor pass led to Scott McDonald scoring an equaliser, as Falkirk went on to lose 2–1. After the match, manager Hughes defended his performance. In a follow–up match against Rangers, his performance did not improve when Scobbie received a red card for the first time in his career after he was caught in a late tackle with Chris Burke, as the Bairns went on to lose 2–1. After the match, manager Hughes thought Scobbie's tackle that led to a red card was "very soft". Following a two match suspension, he returned from suspension, coming on as a late substitute, in a 2–0 win against St Mirren on 31 March 2007. On 28 April 2007, Scobbie made amends from his mistakes two months ago against Motherwell when he scored his first goal for the club, in a 3–3 draw. At the end of the 2006–07 season, he went on to make twenty–three appearances and scoring once in all competitions.
In the opening game of the 2007–08 season, Scobbie made a good start for Falkirk when he provided an assist for Michael Higdon, in a 4–0 win against Gretna. However, in a match against Hearts on 6 October 2007, Scobbie was criticised during the match that saw the club lose 4–2 and was dropped for one match. But he regained his first team place and made improvements for the Bairns as the season progressed. As a result, on 26 February 2008, Scobbie signed a five-year contract with the club, keeping him until 2013. He helped Falkirk keep four consecutive clean sheets between 1 March 2008 and 29 March 2008. In a match against Hearts on 5 May 2008, Scobbie made amends from his mistakes earlier in the season when he scored his first goal for the club and then provided an assist for Carl Finnigan, in a 2–1 win. At the end of the 2007–08 season, Scobbie made thirty–five appearances and scoring once in all competitions.
However, at the start of the 2008–09 season, Scobbie was diagnosed with a pelvic injury that saw him out for two months. After returning to training, he appeared as an unused substitute, as Falkirk went on to lose 2–1 against Inverness Caledonian Thistle on 30 August 2008. In a follow–up match against Hearts, Scobbie returned to the starting line–up, in a 2–1 win. His return led to manager John Hughes commenting that his progression could see him being captain and could be a manager. However, his return was short–lived when he suffered an injury that kept him out for two months. On 27 December 2008, Scobbie made his return from injury, coming on as a 70th-minute substitute, in a 1–0 loss against Dundee United. However, his return was short lived once again when he suffered a hernia injury that kept him out for a month. Scobbie made his return from injury, starting the whole game, and helped Falkirk keep a clean sheet, in a 0–0 draw against Hibernian on 26 February 2009. In a follow–up match against Dundee United, he was at fault for giving away a penalty, which saw the opposition score the only goal of the season. Following his return from injury, he regained his first team place for the rest of the season. On 26 April 2009, Scobbie scored in a 2–0 win against Dunfermline Athletic in the Scottish Cup semi-final to help the Bairns reach the final. After the match, he said reaching the final was the moment that he never forget. A week later on 2 May 2009, Scobbie scored again, in a 2–1 win against Motherwell. In the final, Scobbie started the match, but was unable to help Falkirk overcome the deficit, as the club went on to lose 1–0 to Rangers in the 2009 Scottish Cup Final. Following the loss, Scobbie said the defeat left him "heartbroken". At the end of the 2008–09 season, he went on to make twenty–seven appearances and scoring once in all competitions.
Ahead of the 2009–10 season, Scobbie was among three players to be linked a move away from Falkirk, as he was keen to sit down with the club's board to discuss the fresh terms. Scobbie made his European debut for the Bairns in the second round qualifying round of the UEFA Europa League against FC Vaduz of Liechtenstein, but Falkirk lose 2–1 in a two-legged tie. The start of the 2009–10 season also saw him adjusting without manager, John Hughes, who left for Hibernian. However, in October, he sustained a recurrence of his pelvic problems, which caused him to be pulled out of Scotland's Under-21 squad. Scobbie revealed he had taken 12 injections and unsuccessfully had a hernia operations twice. In late January, he fully recovered from injuries. Scobbie returned on 13 February 2010 from his injury, starting the whole game, in a 3–2 loss against Hearts. Following his return from injury, he regained his first team place for the rest of the season. However, Scobbie was unable to help the club survive relegation on the last game of the season and was relegated to Division One. At the end of the 2009–10 season, he went on to make twenty–three appearances in all competitions.
At the start of the 2010–11 season, with many key players left Falkirk, Scobbie stayed at the Barins, reflecting: "There was talk of some financial difficulties and the club having to move some players on. I had a few options to leave, but I didn't want to leave on those terms, I didn't want to be remembered for leaving after we got relegated." He continued to be a first team regular for Falkirk throughout the season. On 15 February 2011, Scobbie scored his first goal of the season, in a 1–1 draw against Dunfermline Athletic. However, he failed to help the Bairns promoted back to the Scottish Premier League. At the end of the 2010–11 season, Scobbie went on to make thirty-six appearances and scoring once in all competitions. Following this, he was linked a move return Scottish Premier League, with the clubs like Kilmarnock and St Mirren interested in signing him.
The start of the 2011–12 season saw Scobbie set up the winning goal for Kallum Higginbotham, in a 2–1 win against Partick Thistle. He also found role reversed by guiding a new generation of Falkirk's young talent to break into the first team, such as, Murray Wallace, Jay Fulton, Craig Sibbald, Rhys Bennett and Stephen Kingsley. However, Scobbie suffered an injury and was substituted in the 58th minute, as Falkirk drew 2–2 on 22 October 2011. But he returned to the starting line–up, in a 3–1 loss against Ross County on 12 November 2011. Following this, Scobbie regained his first team place for the rest of the season. In the Scottish Challenge Cup final against Hamilton Academical, he started in the final and helped the Bairns win to win the Challenge Cup, earning his first trophy in his professional football career. In May 2012, Scobbie announced he is to leave the club this summer and said that his departure was "inevitable". After missing two matches due to an injury, Scobbie returned to the starting line–up against Ayr United in the last game of the season and scored the opening goal from the penalty, as Falkirk won 3–2, in what turned out to be his last appearance for the Bairns. At the end of the 2011–12 season, he went on to make forty–one appearances and scoring once in all competitions.
St Johnstone Scobbie left Falkirk under freedom of contract in May 2012 and returned to the Scottish top–flight football by signing a two-year contract with St Johnstone. Upon joining the Saints, he said: "I'm glad to get the opportunity to come here. The manager didn't have to do a sales pitch on the club. Obviously European football was a major factor but Saints had a very good season and they have a good reputation in the game. Hopefully we can kick on next season."
However at the start of the 2012–13 season, he appeared as an unused substitute in both legs of the UEFA Europa League second qualifying round against Turkish side Eskişehirspor, as the club went on to lose 4–1 on aggregate and was eliminated in the tournament. Scobbie made his debut for the club, starting the whole game, in a 2–1 loss against Aberdeen on 18 August 2012. However, Scobbie was unable to regain his first team place at St Johnstone, due to facing competitions from Dave Mackay and Callum Davidson. Despite this, he did make number of appearances in the first team, due to St Johnstone's injury crisis. After dropped from the starting eleven for two matches by late–March, Scobbie made his return to the starting line–up, in a 1–1 draw against Dundee United on 1 April 2013. He was featured in the remaining six matches of the season and contributed to the Saints' third place finish and qualification to Europe again after beating Motherwell 2–0. During that moment, Scobbie began playing more in the centre–back position under the management of Steve Lomas. At the end of the 2012–13 season, he made twenty–one appearances in all competitions.