 Sutton in 2019 | |||
| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Christopher Roy Sutton[1] | ||
| Date of birth | (1973-03-10)10 March 1973 (age 52) | ||
| Place of birth | Nottingham, England | ||
| Height | 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m)[2] | ||
| Position | Striker | ||
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
| 1991–1994 | Norwich City | 102 | (35) |
| 1994–1999 | Blackburn Rovers | 130 | (47) |
| 1999–2000 | Chelsea | 28 | (1) |
| 2000–2006 | Celtic | 130 | (63) |
| 2006 | Birmingham City | 10 | (1) |
| 2006–2007 | Aston Villa | 8 | (1) |
| 2012 | Wroxham | 1 | (0) |
| Total | 409 | (148) | |
| International career | |||
| 1992–1994 | England U21 | 13 | (1) |
| 1994 | England B | 2 | (0) |
| 1997 | England | 1 | (0) |
| Managerial career | |||
| 2009–2010 | Lincoln City | ||
| * Club domestic league appearances and goals | |||
Christopher Roy Sutton (born 10 March 1973) is an English former professionalfootball player andmanager. He later became a pundit, commentator and presenter of football coverage on television and radio.
Sutton played from 1991 to 2007 forNorwich City,Blackburn Rovers,Chelsea,Celtic,Birmingham City andAston Villa. Sutton scored over 150 career goals in over 400 league appearances spanning 16 years in theEnglish andScottish Premier Leagues. Initially a defender, while at Norwich, he successfully moved to playing as astriker. He won the Premier League in 1995 with Blackburn Rovers and wascapped once byEngland. He was also known as one of the foremost exponents of the glancing header, scoring many goals with this technique, which made him particularly effective from set-pieces.
In September 2009, Sutton was appointed manager ofLincoln City, but he resigned for personal reasons twelve months later. In 2012, he came out of retirement briefly and featured for non-leagueWroxham.[3]
Chris Sutton was born on 10 March 1973 inNottingham,East Midlands, England, the son ofMike Sutton, formerly a footballer withNorwich City.[4] His younger brotherJohn also became a footballer, and has played for a number of clubs in both England and Scotland.[5] As a child, he moved with his family fromEast Leake in Nottinghamshire toHorsford in Norfolk.[6]
Sutton started his career as a professional footballer atNorwich City, initially as a centre-half before being converted into astriker by managerDave Stringer. He made his debut on 4 May 1991 in a 1–0 home win overQueens Park Rangers in theFirst Division.[7]
In Stringer's final season as manager,1991–92, when Norwich reached theFA Cup semi-finals, Sutton gradually broke into the first team. He made 21 league appearances that season, scoring twice.[7]
Sutton found success in his new position as Norwich spent most of the first season of the newFA Premier League, in1992–93, as league leaders, before eventually slipping to third place under new managerMike Walker. Sutton featured in 38 Premier League games that season, scoring eight goals, which made him the club's second-highest scorer behindMark Robins.[7]
In the autumn of 1993, Sutton was part of the side that eliminatedBayern Munich from theUEFA Cup, while he scored 25 Premier League goals in the 1993/94 season. After manager Walker went toEverton, in January 1994, and succeeded by assistantJohn Deehan, Norwich slipped out of the top five and finished in the 12th position. At that time, Sutton was being linked with other clubs, including Blackburn Rovers,Arsenal[8] andManchester United.[9]
Sutton became the most expensive player in English football in July 1994, when he was transferred from Norwich City toBlackburn Rovers for £5 million.[10]In his first season atEwood Park, he developed a partnership (known as 'SAS') withAlan Shearer and scored 15 Premier League goals, helping Blackburn Rovers to secure their first top flight league title since 1914.[11]
A succession of injuries, combined with a loss of form, saw Sutton making only 13 Premier League appearances during the1995–96 season and failing to score a single league goal. Shearer's regular strike partner that season becameMike Newell, but, at the end of the season, both Shearer and Newell departed from the club, leaving Sutton andKevin Gallacher as Blackburn's only major strikers.
Sutton regained his form over the next three seasons, achieving joint highest goalscoring place in the Premier League in 1997–98, by scoring 18 times.[7][12]
Sutton was involved in a controversial moment towards the end of the1996–97 season in a league game againstArsenal at Highbury. Late in the game, withThe Gunners leading by a single goal, the ball was kicked out of play by Arsenal to allow an injured teammate to receive treatment. Under the unwritten sportsmanship rule, Arsenal would expect the ball to be returned to them unhindered. Sutton chased the ball instead of allowing it to be thrown back to Arsenal and won a corner from his efforts, from which Blackburn scored. At the end of the season, Arsenal missed out on a lucrative place in theChampions League toNewcastle United ongoal difference. Following the incident, Blackburn's interim managerTony Parkes described Sutton as "a boy who was sometimes a bit dizzy ... a bit silly",[13] stating "It was against the spirit of the game and he should not have done it".[14]
Sutton refused to apologise for his action.[4]
Although, in 1997/98, Sutton's 18 goals helped Blackburn finish sixth in the League and qualify for theUEFA Cup, he managed just 17 league games and three goals the following season,1998–99, as they wererelegated four years after being crowned champions.
Sutton was sold toChelsea for £10 million after Blackburn's relegation.[15][16] His time atStamford Bridge proved an unhappy one, as he struggled both to live up to the price tag and to adapt to Chelsea's style of play, scoring just one league goal; in the 5–0 win against Manchester United[17] in 28 appearances, and 3 goals in total, the other 2 coming from one goal againstSkonto Riga in a Champions League qualifier,[18][19] and one against Hull City in the FA Cup.[20] He failed to even make the bench for the club'sFA Cup Final win againstAston Villa. In July 2000, he was sold toScottish Premier League sideCeltic for £6 million.[21]
Sutton regained his goal-scoring form at Celtic. He scored the winner on his league debut in a 2–1 win againstDundee United in July 2000,[22] but was then sent off in his second appearance againstMotherwell.[23] Sutton endeared himself to Celtic fans four weeks later in his firstOld Firm match againstRangers – scoring the first and last goals in a dramatic 6–2 victory for Celtic.[24] Sutton went on to form a prolific partnership with SwedeHenrik Larsson.
Sutton's goals helped Celtic win three SPL titles, threeScottish Cups and oneScottish League Cup, as well as reaching theUEFA Cup final. Many of Sutton's most "memorable goals" for Celtic were scored in European competition: AgainstAjax away in 2001,[25] Juventus at Celtic Park the same year,[26] away against Blackburn Rovers, and againstVfB Stuttgart during the team's UEFA Cup run to the final in Seville in 2003,[27][28] and the volley from close range againstBarcelona at Celtic Park in 2004.[29]
Sutton holds the record for the quickest goal ever in anOld Firm clash, scored atIbrox in 2002, hitting the net inside of 18 seconds.[30]
Sutton's nature came to the fore again at the end of the2002–03 season when he accusedDunfermline Athletic of "lying down", in order for Celtic to lose the title.[31] He failed to apologise[32] and was charged with "bringing the game into disrepute." He received for the non-apology statement a one-match ban to add to the four-match suspension he was serving for abusing match officials on the same day.[33]
Sutton's best season at Celtic was arguably the 2003–04 season, when he scored 19 SPL goals.[34] and was votedSPFA Player of the Year.[35] As the 2003–04 season drew to a conclusion, he struck theinjury-time winner against Rangers at Celtic Park, giving his side a clean sweep of victories against their rivals that season (four league wins and one Scottish Cup win).[36]
In Sutton's five and a half years at Celtic, Sutton showed versatility on many occasions. Although primarily a striker, he was often deployed in central midfield to allow Welsh strikerJohn Hartson to play up front alongside Larsson. On occasion, Sutton was fielded in his original position of centre-half, notably against Rangers in a league game on 4 October 2003, which Celtic won 1–0.[37]
AsGordon Strachan took up the reins of managing Celtic in 2005–06, his appearances for Celtic became more sporadic. Sutton departed from Celtic on afree transfer in January 2006.
Sutton joined Premier League clubBirmingham City in January 2006,[38] but injuries restricted him to just eleven appearances and one goal, scored in thederby defeat toAston Villa in mid-April.[39][40] One of a number of players on high wages subjected to criticism by club ownerDavid Sullivan, Sutton was released at the end of the season following Birmingham's relegation to theChampionship.[41][42]
In October 2006, Sutton signed until the end of the2006–07 season withBirmingham City's arch rivalsAston Villa, managed by former Celtic bossMartin O'Neill.[43] He scored his first goal for the club with the winner againstEverton in November 2006.[44]
However, in a game againstManchester United in December 2006, he sufferedblurred vision and, despite visiting several specialists, did not recover. O'Neill said, "Chris has got a genuine concern. No-one can give him any guarantees about what might be the consequences if he got cracked on the head again. Whatever eyesight Chris has now, he would obviously want to keep, so he must bear that in mind when deciding his whole future and career."[45] On 5 July 2007, after an eye injury, Sutton retired from football.[46]
Six years after the reckoning in the Man United game, in October 2012, and his 2007 retirement, Sutton made a surprise appearance in theIsthmian League Division One North squad ofWroxham, coming on in the 63rd minute of the Yachtsmen's home game inTrafford Park againstTilbury, as a substitute. His goalkeeper son Oliver had already substituted the Wroxham goalkeeper, when the latter got injured in the first half.[3][47] The home side lost the game 2-3.
Sutton's form for Blackburn won him anEngland cap on 15 November 1997, when he came on in the 79th minute againstCameroon, although he was left out of theWorld Cup squad after a fall-out with national managerGlenn Hoddle. Having been relegated to theEngland B team Sutton refused to play, and Hoddle never selected Sutton for an England squad again.[48]
Sutton was interviewed in January 2009 byInverness Caledonian Thistle for the post of manager, but was unsuccessful.[49] On 28 September 2009, Sutton was appointed manager ofLeague Two sideLincoln City, succeedingPeter Jackson who was dismissed earlier in the month. Despite having no managerial experience, Sutton was preferred to more than 70 other applicants.Caretaker managerSimon Clark would take charge of the following day's game, with Sutton and assistantIan Pearce to take over the day after.[50][51]
Sutton's first game as manager came atSincil Bank againstAldershot Town on 3 October 2009.[52] Lincoln were victorious through a second halfSergio Torres goal to give Sutton a winning start in management. Sutton took Lincoln to theFA Cup third round for the first time since 1999, but lost 4–0 toPremier League outfitBolton Wanderers. Football League survival was confirmed on 24 April 2010 when Sutton guided the Imps to a 1–0 victory over promotion-chasing Bury atSincil Bank, with two games remaining.[53] Sutton left his post as Lincoln manager on 29 September due to family reasons.[54]
Sutton acted as a main co-commentator, including on all ofCeltic FC'sUEFA Champions League games, alongside eitherRob MacLean or Rory Hamilton forTNT Sports, leaving in 2023 to joinSky Sports, again working as pundit and co-commentator for the channels Scottish football coverage. He also works as a pundit and co-commentator forBBC Radio 5 Live andBBC Sport. He also presents606 forBBC Radio 5 Live, currently alongsideRobbie Savage. In January 2015, Sutton attracted criticism for saying that Celtic'sScottish League Cup semi-final against Rangers would be "so one-sided" that Celtic "could win it blindfolded".[55]
Sutton is married with six children.[56]
After retiring from football, Sutton remained an athlete, playing cricket for Norwich Cricket Club in the EAPL.[57]
In February 2022, Sutton andMicah Richards spoke aboutmental health issues in their playing days.[58]
| Club | Season | League | National cup[a] | League cup[b] | Europe | Other | Total | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Division | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | ||
| Norwich City | 1990–91[59] | First Division | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | |
| 1991–92[59] | First Division | 21 | 2 | 6 | 3 | 2 | 0 | — | 0 | 0 | 29 | 5 | ||
| 1992–93[59] | Premier League | 38 | 8 | 2 | 0 | 3 | 2 | — | — | 43 | 10 | |||
| 1993–94[59] | Premier League | 41 | 25 | 2 | 2 | 4 | 1 | 6[c] | 0 | — | 53 | 28 | ||
| Total | 102 | 35 | 10 | 5 | 9 | 3 | 6 | 0 | — | 127 | 43 | |||
| Blackburn Rovers | 1994–95[59] | Premier League | 40 | 15 | 2 | 2 | 4 | 3 | 2[c] | 1 | — | 48 | 21 | |
| 1995–96[59] | Premier League | 13 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 1 | 6[d] | 0 | 1 | 0 | 23 | 1 | |
| 1996–97[60] | Premier League | 25 | 11 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | — | 29 | 12 | ||
| 1997–98[61] | Premier League | 35 | 18 | 4 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | — | 41 | 21 | ||
| 1998–99[62] | Premier League | 17 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 1[c] | 0 | — | 20 | 4 | ||
| Total | 130 | 47 | 9 | 4 | 12 | 7 | 9 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 161 | 59 | ||
| Chelsea | 1999–2000[63] | Premier League | 28 | 1 | 4 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 7[d] | 1 | — | 39 | 3 | |
| Celtic | 2000–01[64] | Scottish Premier League | 24 | 11 | 4 | 0 | 3 | 2 | 4[c] | 1 | — | 35 | 14 | |
| 2001–02[65] | Scottish Premier League | 18 | 4 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 8[e] | 3 | — | 30 | 7 | ||
| 2002–03[66] | Scottish Premier League | 28 | 15 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 12[f] | 4 | — | 43 | 19 | ||
| 2003–04[67] | Scottish Premier League | 25 | 19 | 4 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 14[g] | 7 | — | 44 | 28 | ||
| 2004–05[68] | Scottish Premier League | 27 | 12 | 5 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 1 | — | 37 | 16 | ||
| 2005–06[39] | Scottish Premier League | 8 | 2 | — | 1 | 0 | 1[d] | 0 | — | 10 | 2 | |||
| Total | 130 | 63 | 16 | 5 | 9 | 2 | 44 | 16 | — | 199 | 86 | |||
| Birmingham City | 2005–06[39] | Premier League | 10 | 1 | 1 | 0 | — | — | — | 11 | 1 | |||
| Aston Villa | 2006–07[69] | Premier League | 8 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | — | — | 9 | 1 | ||
| Career total | 408 | 148 | 40 | 15 | 31 | 12 | 66 | 18 | 1 | 0 | 546 | 193 | ||
| Team | From | To | Record | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| P | W | D | L | Win % | |||||
| Lincoln City[70] | 30 September 2009[71] | 29 September 2010 | 50 | 14 | 13 | 23 | 028.00 | ||
| Total | 50 | 14 | 13 | 23 | 028.00 | ||||
Blackburn Rovers
Celtic
England U21
Individual
| International | |
|---|---|
| National | |