Robbie Ure spent his weekend doing something few Scottish strikers ever experience. The 22-year-old played the full 90 minutes for Sevilla against Barcelona, an afternoon spent being marked by Pau Cubarsi and sharing a pitch with Rodri and Lamine Yamal. It is a measure of how far the forward has travelled that he is now operating in that company — and why a first Scotland cap may not be far away.
Ure is uncapped but hopeful of making his debut on Saturday, when Scotland travel to Slovenia in the Nations League. He is part of a refreshed attacking group in the squad, with Lyndon Dykes and George Hirst both absent, and injury having ruled out Che Adams, Lawrence Shankland and Ross Stewart. All five were part of the World Cup squad in the United States during the summer. Into that space have come Ure, James Wilson of Hearts, Kieron Bowie of Sassuolo and Oli McBurnie of Hull, whose most recent of his 16 international appearances came five years ago.
Few routes to the national team have been as winding as Ure’s. Just over three years ago he left Rangers as a teenager, his only senior involvement having amounted to a minute against St Mirren in November 2022 and another minute against Hibs in May 2023. From Glasgow he moved to Anderlecht, then to IK Sirius in Sweden, and now to Sevilla, who paid £5.5m for him plus a further £2.5m in add-ons.
Ure describes himself as a Rangers boy, one who got away, and he is candid about why he had to leave. “All I’d ever known was Rangers,” he said. “Going in every single day since I was probably eight years old but it was something that I felt I had to do. I felt like I wasn’t good enough to play for Rangers at the time, which is normal for many 18-year-olds. It was nothing that affected my confidence. I would have loved to have stayed but I knew myself that I wasn’t going to play, which I accepted.” He added that at a club like Rangers it is difficult for any 18-year-old to break through, and that he needed a change of scenery and a fresh start at a level that suited him at the time — something Anderlecht provided.
Belgium was the first step, but Sweden is where his career truly began to accelerate. In 2025-26 he scored 11 goals in 30 games, a modest return compared with what followed: between April and July this year he played 14 games for IK Sirius and scored 15 goals, including four in a single match against Mjallby.
“I was scoring near enough every game, so that was probably the happiest I’ve been,” Ure said. “Every week I was scoring and we were top of the league. I was improving and that interest in me was getting bigger and bigger. At a young age it’s really important you’re playing. I was playing 90 minutes every week, getting trust from the manager and from the club. I was given time as well.” Of the four-goal game, his first hat-trick, he recalled: “I felt like every time I shot it was going to be a goal. I’ve not had a feeling like that before in football. It was pretty special.”
The step up in Spain has been brutally instructive. Sevilla lost the Barcelona game 3-1 and Ure has yet to score for his new club, but in seven appearances he has already faced 12 members of Spain’s World Cup-winning squad. “The first half, we were good,” he said of the Barcelona match. “But as the game goes on, they wear you down. Raphinha at the moment. I mean… I really enjoyed it. But against these players, you give them one chance and most of the time it’s a goal. For me, it was a really good experience. I’m only going to get better as a result of it.”
Ure’s story has also made him a poster boy for the Scottish FA’s campaign to persuade clubs to give young players more of a chance. He is clear about the lesson he draws from his own path. “Everyone’s different,” he said. “You have to give players patience and give them time to develop but the way to do that is, of course, playing minutes at a level where you can develop at. I couldn’t find that level in Scotland, so I had to look elsewhere and I’m happy that I did that.”
With a run of four games in quick succession ahead, Ure now appears set for both a first cap and a first chance to show what that demanding education in Spain has made of him.