James Forrest (born 7 July 1991) is a Scottish professional footballer who plays as a winger for Scottish Premiership club Celtic and the Scotland national team.
Forrest joined Celtic's youth academy in 2003 and made his first team debut in the 2009–10 season. A one-club man, he has been a linchpin in a successful era for Celtic, and is the most decorated player in the club's history, having won 28 trophies.
Forrest played at every youth level for Scotland, winning 13 caps for the under-19 team, scoring two goals, and four caps for the under-21 team. He made his senior international debut on 29 May 2011 against the Republic of Ireland. He was part of the Scotland squads at UEFA Euro 2020 and UEFA Euro 2024.
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Early life
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.
Club career
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
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.
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 Ibrox in January 2011. He received the first red card of his career in the following match against Hamilton. He scored against Hearts, before being rewarded for his form with a new five-year deal on 28 January 2011. Forrest collected his first winner's medal on 21 May 2011 when he came on a late second-half substitute for Kris Commons in Celtic's 3–0 Scottish Cup Final win over Motherwell. He finished the season with 3 goals and 1 assist after 25 appearances.
In August 2011, Scott Brown said that Forrest was the best player to come out of the Celtic youth academy since Aiden McGeady. Forrest scored his first goal of the season in a 5–1 victory against Dundee United and his performances in the month of September, including two goals in a 4–0 victory against Motherwell and another goal against Inverness Caledonian Thistle, saw him win SPL Young Player of the Month. In Celtic's Scottish League Cup quarter-final tie with Hibernian on 26 October, Forrest was credited with a match-winning performance. Celtic went in at the break 1–0 down but Forrest was instrumental in reigniting the tie after half-time, with two early goals.
In November 2011, the Scottish Football Association's Dutch performance director Mark Wotte said that he saw Forrest as being "the light in the darkness" of Scottish football. He said that if more players like Forrest are produced then the Scotland team will be able to match the performance of countries like Uruguay, who got to the 2010 World Cup semi-final and at the time were fourth in the FIFA World Rankings despite having a population smaller than Scotland's.
International career
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 Scotland squad at UEFA Euro 2020. He made his only appearance in the tournament as a substitute in Scotland's opening game 2–0 defeat to the Czech Republic at Hampden Park on 14 June 2021.
He did not feature for Scotland over the next few years, but a run of form for Celtic in spring 2024 led to a recall for the UEFA Euro 2024 squad. However, he did not play a moment of any of the three group stage games, as Scotland finished bottom.
Style of play
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".
Career statistics
Club
As of match played 20 September 2026
International
As of match played 3 June 2024
Scores and results list Scotland's goal tally first, score column indicates score after each Forrest goal.
Honours
Celtic
Scottish Premier League/Scottish Premiership (14): 2011–12, 2012–13, 2013–14, 2014–15, 2015–16, 2016–17, 2017–18, 2018–19, 2019–20, 2021–22, 2022–23, 2023–24, 2024–25, 2025–26
Scottish Cup (8): 2010–11, 2012–13, 2016–17, 2017–18, 2018–19, 2022–23, 2023–24, 2025–26
Scottish League Cup (6): 2014–15, 2016–17, 2017–18, 2018–19, 2019–20, 2024–25
Individual
SFWA Footballer of the Year: 2018–19
PFA Scotland Players' Player of the Year: 2018–19
SFWA Young Player of the Year: 2011–12
PFA Scotland Young Player of the Year: 2011–12
PFA Scotland Team of the Year: 2011–12, 2017–18, 2018–19
Scottish Premiership Player of the Year: 2018–19
Scottish Premiership Player of the Month: October 2018
Scottish Premier League Young Player of the Month: August 2010, September 2011, November 2011
Most assists in the Scottish Premiership: 2019–20
SFWA International Player of the Year: 2018–19
Celtic Young Player of the Year: 2010–11, 2011–12
Scotland Goal of the Year: 2018