Fraser Hornby scored another double for Darmstadt yesterday. The ex-Aberdeen loanee seems to have finally found his level, delivering last season and this in the Bundesliga 2nd division. Is the Scotland under-21 record goalscorer doing enough to merit a full Scotland cap, in time for the World Cup?
| Name | Fraser Hornby |
| Age | 26 |
| Club | Darmstadt |
| Club’s division | German 2nd tier |
| Club’s division Opta ranking | 77.3 (20th globally) |
| Goals this season | 13 |
| Assists this season | 8 |
| Minutes per goal/assist this season | 105 |
| SMNT caps | 0 |
| Age group caps | 31 |
| Age group goals | 12 |
Fraser Hornby early career
Hornby seemed a full internationalist prospect, when he joined Everton as a teenager from Northampton Town. At 6 foot 5 tall, he is one of the few footballers who look down at other giant Scots centre-forwards, Kieron Bowie, Lyndon Dykes, George Hirst, Oli McBurnie & Ross Stewart. Hornby left the Goodison Park side though, with only 82 mins of 1st team experience, gained in a Europa League 3-0 win away to Cypriot club, Apollon.
His most notable contributions at this stage, were his age group international appearances. He scored for the under-21s drawing 1-1 v Togo at the 2018 Toulon tournament. He played in all 5 Scotland games at that tournament, including the 1-0 win v host nation, France; Oli Burke was the scorer. The Billy Gilmour inspired Scots finished top of their group to reach the semis. Hornby converted his spot-kick in the penalty shootout that was needed to decide the 3rd place play-off. The Scots though lost that shootout v Turkiye to finish 4th.
After that tournament, he scored a hat-trick v Andorra and both goals in an excellent 2-1 win away v Netherlands. A goal v Czechia and another hat-trick, this time v San Marino, set a new goalscoring record of 10 for Scotland under-21s. Encouraging signs for Hornby in the under-21s, have though yet to materialise into a 1st team cap for him. Under-21 teammates to have since gained full caps include from the Toulon squad, Gilmour, Tony Ralston, Greg Taylor, Ryan Porteous & Oli Burke.
Fraser Hornby at Aberdeen
Hornby then embarked on a series of loan and non-loan moves taking him to Kortrijk in Belgium, Reims in France and then to Scotland. His Winter transfer window move in 2021 to Aberdeen seemed a good one for both parties. However, boss Derek McInnes departed the club ‘by mutual consent’ in March, paying the price for what was deemed as failing to meet expectations. The Dons finished 4th in the league with much credit going to goal-scoring midfielder, Lewis Ferguson.
Both are firmly in contention for selection for the squad for the forthcoming World Cup. Few eyebrows were raised when Hornby moved on after 11 injury disrupted appearances in his 1/2 season loan at Pittodrie. There was no indication of the fan-favourite Hornby would become at a future club.
While Hornby is yet to receive a call up to the full Scotland squad, his ex-Dons teammates Ferguson and Ross McCrorie, both made the squad for the recent international break.
Oostende upswing
Then came the move that started to turn Hornby’s career on a personal level into upswing. Hornby joined another Belgian outfit, then top tier Oostende. Hornby that season played in 21 league games, notching 8 goals and 2 assists in his 1619 minutes of match time. That was despite playing in a struggling team that ended the season relegated. That was enough for a club in Germany’s 2nd tier to take a punt on the stratospheric centre-forward.
Getting established at Darmstadt
Fraser Hornby for the 2023-24 season joined SV Darmstadt 98, located in the greater Frankfurt metropolitan area. His debut season there was a near write-off due to injury; no goals nor assists from 8 games. Darmstadt were relegated at the end of a 1 season stay in the German top flight.
His 2024-25 season though was much better. He opened his goalscoring account in Germany with a September strike in the thrilling game at Schalke in front of 61,000 fans. 3-0 down, Hornby pulled a goal back from the penalty spot to trigger a spectacular comeback for his side. They went on to win 5-3.
His 1st goal from open play in German football was a month later v Köln in another high scoring win. Hornby opened the scoring with a right foot shot. He added a 2nd before halftime, this time with his left. He assisted Isac Lidberg on the counter attack for the 3rd. Managing his minutes given his injury record, he subbed off after 61 mins and an excellent day’s work. His teammates finished the job to win 5-1.
He hit further doubles that season, v Kaiserslautern (5-1 win), Hannover & Regensburg (both 3-1 wins). He ended the season with 12 goals from 1932 minutes in 28 appearances in the Bundesliga 2nd tier. 2 assists meant he averaged a goal or assist every 138 minutes. 3 of his goals were penalties.
His form was one of the more encouraging signs for Darmstadt in an underwhelming season for them. They finished 12th in an 18 team division. Interestingly though for what was to follow, was Hornby’s position in 2 of the last 4 games. Instead of Hornby’s usual CF role, boss Florian Kohfeldt experimented playing Hornby in other areas of the attack.
Fraser Hornby this season
2025/26 has the indications of being Hornby’s best to date. Darmstadt have been competitive, never being lower than 7th in the division. They briefly hit top spot in late September, lasting a couple of weeks, and again in mid-February. Since late Feb though, it’s gone downhill for them. With only 1 win and 3 draws from their last 8 games, they’ve dropped down to 5th. With 3 games to go, the 6 point gap to the 3rd place finish for a promotion play-off looks unlikely. This though is still progress compared to last year. All the more so for Hornby considering his numbers this season.
| League games | 25 |
| League minutes | 2034 |
| League goals | 11 (including 2 penalties) |
| League minutes per goal | 185 |
| Assists | 8 |
| League minutes per goal/assist | 107 |
| League minutes per goal/assist excluding pens | 120 |
2 goals in 2 cup games added to his league goals and assists, mean Hornby this season averages a goal or assist every 105 minutes. Excluding penalties and cup goals, his minutes per goal/assist is 120. His assists increase is commendable, both for Hornby and Kohfeldt. Kohfeldt has built on his experimentation of last year, by often playing Hornby as a supporting rather than centre-forward.
Further, he has been described as the key player in the Darmstadt team. His form led to reports in the transfer window, of a possible move to top tier Werder Bremen. Injury wise this season, he has been out of the squad for 6 of his side’s 31 league games to date.
How strong is the Bundesliga 2nd tier?
As per the latest Opta update on Friday (Opta don’t update the ranking at weekends), the German 2nd tier is rated at 77.3. That is 20th globally. Below is a table for comparison of divisions in which other forwards are in contention for the Scotland World Cup squad. Divisions are listed by nation and position in the football pyramid of that nation.
| Division | Opta rating | Global ranking |
| German 1st | 86.1 | 2nd |
| Italian 1st | 85.3 | 4th |
| English 2nd | 80.2 | 9th |
| German 2nd | 77.3 | 20th |
| Swedish 1st | 76.6 | 26th |
| Scots 1st | 74.8 | 39th |
Does Fraser Hornby merit a Scotland call up?
Encouraging as it is to see Hornby improve, Steve Clarke notoriously sticks with players incumbent in his squad. Barring a dramatic turn for the worse in global events, only injury seems likely to deny Che Adams and Lyndon Dykes the 1st 2 seats for forwards on the summer plane to USA. Lawrence Shankland and Tommy Conway (2 Middlesbrough goals yesterday = 4 in his last 5 games), have squad incumbency in their favour.
It’s tough to imagine Steve Clarke calling up Fraser Hornby who while playing well, doesn’t appear a stand out in form compared to e.g., Ross Stewart, McBurnie and even Robbie Ure. Kevin Nisbet has pressed his case for a call up with goals since January. And since mentioning Hornby who plays in Germany, another contender is Oli Burke in the German top tier; unprolific with occasional moments of brilliance.
Darmstadt have only 3 games left this season for Hornby to make an impression. Next season could be different for his Scotland prospects though, if he can maintain or even improve form. Steve Clarke is yet to be offered a contract from the SFA for beyond the World Cup. If Scotland don’t get out of their World Cup group with Haiti, Morocco and Brazil, Clarke is likely receiving his P45. A new Scotland boss will deprive many of the current players (e.g., Adams & Dykes), of the credit in the bank they currently have with Steve Clarke. That prospectively opens up more squad places to the likes of Fraser Hornby.
