| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Paul Whitehead Sturrock[1] | ||
| Date of birth | (1956-10-10)10 October 1956 (age 69) | ||
| Place of birth | Ellon, Scotland | ||
| Position | Striker | ||
| Youth career | |||
| Grandtully Vale | |||
| 1972–1973 | Vale of Atholl | ||
| 1973–1974 | Bankfoot Athletic | ||
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
| 1974–1989 | Dundee United | 385 | (109) |
| International career | |||
| 1977–1982 | Scotland under-21 | 9 | (0) |
| 1981–1987 | Scotland | 20 | (3) |
| Managerial career | |||
| 1993–1998 | St Johnstone | ||
| 1998–2000 | Dundee United | ||
| 2000–2004 | Plymouth Argyle | ||
| 2004 | Southampton | ||
| 2004–2006 | Sheffield Wednesday | ||
| 2006–2007 | Swindon Town | ||
| 2007–2009 | Plymouth Argyle | ||
| 2010–2013 | Southend United | ||
| 2015 | Yeovil Town | ||
| * Club domestic league appearances and goals | |||
Paul Whitehead Sturrock (born 10 October 1956) is a Scottish formerfootball coach and former player.
As a player, Sturrock spent his entire senior career with Dundee United, making more than five hundred appearances between 1974 and 1989. He won theScottish Football League title with United in1982–83 and theScottish League Cup twice, in1979 and1980. He was named theSFWA Footballer of the Year in 1982. At international level, Sturrock played twenty times forScotland and appeared at the1982 and1986 World Cups.
Sturrock's managerial career began withSt Johnstone in 1993, where he went on to win theScottish First Division title in1996–97 before returning to Dundee United as manager. Since 2000, Sturrock has worked as a manager in English football, initially withPlymouth Argyle where he helped the club to win two promotions before moving on to a brief spell withSouthampton. He has subsequently also managedSheffield Wednesday,Swindon Town andSouthend United as well as returning to Plymouth for a second spell. He becameYeovil Town manager in April 2015, but left the club eight months later. According to an analysis by theFinancial Times he was among the country's best ever managers, even though he has mostly managed clubs at Championship level and below.[2]
He is known by fans asLuggy[3] (from theScots language wordlugs, Eng:ears). Sturrock announced in July 2008 that he was suffering from a mild form ofParkinson's disease.[4] His son,Blair, was also a professional footballer.
Sturrock was born inEllon, Aberdeenshire, and grew up inPitlochry,Perthshire, where he was educated at the local primary and secondary schools and played for amateur side Grandtully Vale. In 1972, he joinedVale of Atholl of the Perthshire Amateur First Division (where he returned as coach in his latter days with Dundee United), and in the 1972–73 season he scored approximately 100 goals. He then moved on toBankfoot Athletic, and in the 1973–74 season he scored 53 goals as they finished 2nd in the Scottish Junior FA First Division. He had trials with Morton and St Johnstone, but was signed forDundee United by then managerJim McLean on 1 July 1974.
Sturrock made his debut in theEuropean Cup Winners' Cup match vJuil Petrosani of Romania on 18 September 1974 and his league debut on 28 December 1974 as a substitute againstMotherwell.
In his first season atTannadice he made nine League appearances and came on from the substitutes' bench for three more and in the process he scored six goals. His first goal for Dundee United was one of two he scored in a 2–2 draw withRangers at Tannadice on 5 April 1975. Dundee United finished fourth in the League that year. In the following season, he made 18 League appearances, eight as sub, and scored three times. He was also played as a substitute in two of the threeScottish Cup ties and was on from the start in five out of six League Cup games and scored once. He also started in three of the fourUEFA Cup games netting one in that competition, too.
1976–77 not only saw Dundee United consolidate their Premier League position but throughout the campaign Sturrock was an ever-present, playing in all 36 League games and scoring 15 times. Adding that total to one each in the Scottish Cup and League Cup he was top scorer at the Club that year. He played in United's onlyScottish Cup tie, a 4–1 defeat at St Mirren. He also appeared four times plus once as sub out of the six League Cup ties. In a short-livedAnglo Scottish Cup campaign he was brought on as sub in one leg of the tie against Aberdeen.
In1982–83, Dundee United won the Scottish League Championship, losing only four League games during the season. Sturrock contributed to this success with eight goals in his 28 appearances. He also set upRalph Milne for his fourth-minute opener against Dundee in the final League game. The Scottish Cup that year had been yet another early exit at the hands ofSt Mirren. Sturrock scored seven in the nine games he turned out in on the way to a League Cup quarter-final exit. He also played in seven of the eight games and scored once in a UEFA Cup run that ended with an exit inPrague.
His playing career came to an end in 1989, with his final goal for United occurring on 8 April 1989 in a 2-1 victory against local rivalsDundee.[5] Over the course of his playing career from 1974 to 1989, he made 385 league appearances for the club and scored 109 goals. When considering all competitions, he amassed a total of 171 goals in 576 games, which places him as the second-highest goal scorer in Dundee United's history. Following his playing career, Sturrock remained at Tannadice for the next five years in a coaching role. After twenty years of continuous service, he eventually departed the club in 1993.
In addition, Sturrock finished runner-up toAlan Rough for theScottish Writers' award in 1981.[6]
Sturrock made his first appearance for theScotland under-21 team on 12 October 1976, in a goalless draw withCzechoslovakia. Four months later, he scored in a 3–2 win againstWales under-21s on 9 February 1977.
Sturrock made his full international debut forScotland againstWales on 16 May 1981, and on 8 November 1981, he scored his first goal for Scotland in the 2–1 World Cup qualifier defeat againstPortugal inLisbon. Sturrock won 20caps for his country, scoring three goals. He was a non-playing member of the Scotland squad for the1982 World Cup finals in Spain and appeared twice in Mexico in1986.
In a 2012 study by Stefan Szymanski, economics professor at theUniversity of Michigan, Sturrock was rated as one of the best managers in English football.[2]
In 1993, Sturrock became the manager ofPremier Division teamSt Johnstone. The team were relegated to theFirst Division at the end of the1993–94 season. It took a while for Sturrock to improve the club's fortunes, as they lost 4–0 toStenhousemuir in the1994–95 Scottish Cup, and he then collapsed in the dugout atTannadice while managing St Johnstone against Dundee United during the1995–96 season.[7] While he was recovering in hospital from the collapse, Sturrock was called by his former international managerAlex Ferguson.[7] Ferguson warned Sturrock that he was "trying to make bad players into good players" and to just get rid of the "bad pros" in his squad.[7] Sturrock guided Saints to promotion back to the Premier Division in1996–97,[7] winning theFirst Division by 20 points. In their first season back in the Premier Division, St Johnstone finished in fifth place in1997–98.
In September 1998 Sturrock was appointed manager at Dundee United. He made a bright start to his time as manager at Tannadice, where he was feted by the fans for his excellent spell as a player. His United team failed to recover from the sale of top scorerBilly Dodds in December 1999, when they were lying third in the table. The team scored few goals following Dodds's departure, and Sturrock resigned after two games of the2000–01 season.[8]
In October 2000 Sturrock joinedPlymouth Argyle, a club which had reached the lowest ebb in its history, struggling in the EnglishFootball League Third Division.[3] A shake-up at boardroom level took place, Sturrock began to build his own squad. The following season, he guided them to the Third Division title breaking numerous records in the process, including a club and league points total of 102. In October 2003, Sturrock had successfully taken Argyle back to the top of theFootball League Second Division and left when Plymouth had just 12 games to play in what would prove to be another season when they would finish as divisional champions and return to theFootball League Championship, formerly known as theFirst Division. As a result of his success atHome Park he was named as the manager of Argyle's Team of the Century in aBBC Devon poll.[9]
Sturrock was named as the successor toGordon Strachan as manager ofSouthampton on 4 March 2004. On 23 August 2004, it was announced that Sturrock was leaving the club 'by mutual consent', after a disappointing run of form and rumours of player unrest and boardroom dissatisfaction with his management.[10]
Sturrock was then appointed byLeague One clubSheffield Wednesday languishing in 14th place on 23 September 2004, and he guided the club to the League One play-offs. After beatingBrentford in the semi-final with an aggregate score of 3–1, Sturrock took Wednesday to the play-offfinal at theMillennium Stadium and beatHartlepool United 4–2 after extra-time, winning promotion to theChampionship. Despite numerous injuries to key players he helped Wednesday to finish 10 points clear of relegation in their first season back in The Championship.
A slow start to the2006–07 season sparked rumours that Wednesday were about to sack Sturrock, but this speculation looked to be false when he agreed a new four-year contract on 14 September. But he was sacked on the evening of 19 October,[11] just five weeks and three games after agreeing this new deal. The new contract was agreed while the club were at the bottom of the League, while he was sacked when they were fourth from bottom.
In late October 2006,Swindon Town allowed their management team ofDennis Wise andGustavo Poyet to joinLeeds United. Swindon pounced at the opportunity to acquire the services of Sturrock and on 7 November 2006 Sturrock was confirmed as manager withKevin Summerfield andJohn Blackley following him from Wednesday.[12] Sturrock's first season in charge at Swindon was a success, achieving promotion fromLeague Two toLeague One.
Swindon made a decent start to the 2007–08 season, maintaining their position in the top half of the league table after the first 8 games.
On 27 November 2007, Sturrock resigned his post as Swindon Town manager after just over a year with the club to rejoin previous clubPlymouth Argyle. Sturrock also brought back to the club assistantsKevin Summerfield andJohn Blackley, who were previously with him during his first successful spell as manager.[13] Sturrock then proceeded to take the club to its highest league position in 20 years: tenth in theChampionship.[14] However, the team subsequently struggled and finished five points and one place outside the Championship relegation zone in the2008–09 season.[14] On 10 December 2009, Sturrock was removed as Plymouth Argyle manager and put into a business support role by chairman Sir Roy Gardner.[14] On 22 April 2010, the Plymouth board confirmed that Sturrock had left his role within the club to pursue other managerial opportunities. Following Sturrock's departure, it emerged that the board had mis-managed the finances of the club and Argyle enteredadministration.[15]
On 5 July 2010, Sturrock was confirmed as manager ofLeague TwoSouthend United. FormerSalisbury City managerTommy Widdrington was named as Sturrock's assistant manager[16] while one of Sturrock's former players atPlymouth Argyle andSheffield Wednesday, who served as captain at the latter,Graham Coughlan was soon appointed as a player-coach.
Sturrock faced the tough task of rebuilding the Southend side with only five first team players available for selection at one stage of pre-season, with onlyAnthony Grant,Matt Paterson andScott Spencer surviving. He soon appointed new signingCraig Easton, who he had previously managed atSwindon Town, as captain while another player from one of Sturrock's old clubs,Chris Barker, was later appointed as vice-captain, having initially been signed on loan, and then permanently on deadline day.[17] It was not an easy task for Sturrock as his assistant,Tommy Widdrington left for "footballing reasons" on Wednesday 15 December 2010.[18] After a mid table finish in his first season, he enjoyed more success during the 2011–12 season where Southend ledLeague Two for most of the campaign. Sturrock was named Manager of the Month for September 2011 by the Football League.[19]
Sturrock was sacked as manager of Southend United on 24 March 2013[20] although it was agreed that he could lead out the players inthe final of theFootball League Trophy to be held atWembley on 7 April.[21] Sturrock declined the offer.
After a brief spell as an advisor toConference Premier sideTorquay United, he departed just four days after taking the job,[22] after being appointed manager ofFootball League One sideYeovil Town on 9 April 2015, with the club all but relegated.[23]
Following a poor start to the season, Yeovil announced on 1 December 2015 that they had parted company with Sturrock.[24]
Following his retirement from professional management, Sturrock returned to live in the South West of England. He remained involved in local football, being given an advisory role at non-League clubPlymouth Parkway.[25] He also writes a regular column for local newspaper, thePlymouth Evening Herald.[26]
On 8 March 2018, Sturrock renewed his involvement with Dundee United when he was appointed as the club's chiefscout in England.[27] Later in March, Sturrock was added to the United coaching staff.[28] He left United during the 2018–19 season.[29]
| Club | Season | League | Scottish Cup | League Cup | Europe | Total | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Division | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | ||
| Dundee United | 1974–75 | Division One | 12 | 6 | – | – | 1 | 0 | 13 | 6 | ||
| 1975–76 | Premier Division | 17 | 3 | 2 | 0 | – | 5 | 1 | 27 | 5 | ||
| 1976–77 | 36 | 15 | 1 | 1 | 5 | 1 | – | 42 | 17 | |||
| 1977–78 | 33 | 3 | 4 | 1 | 8 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 47 | 8 | ||
| 1978–79 | 33 | 6 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 38 | 7 | ||
| 1979–80 | 33 | 4 | 2 | 1 | 9 | 6 | 4 | 0 | 48 | 11 | ||
| 1980–81 | 35 | 13 | 7 | 1 | 11 | 9 | 4 | 0 | 57 | 23 | ||
| 1981–82 | 31 | 15 | 5 | 2 | 11 | 6 | 7 | 1 | 54 | 24 | ||
| 1982–83 | 28 | 8 | 1 | 0 | 9 | 7 | 7 | 1 | 45 | 16 | ||
| 1983–84 | 17 | 4 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 5 | 0 | 27 | 6 | ||
| 1984–85 | 30 | 14 | 6 | 2 | 6 | 2 | 6 | 2 | 48 | 20 | ||
| 1985–86 | 31 | 8 | 5 | 2 | 5 | 0 | 5 | 3 | 46 | 13 | ||
| 1986–87 | 30 | 6 | 6 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 11 | 0 | 50 | 6 | ||
| 1987–88 | 9 | 3 | – | 3 | 2 | 3 | 2 | 15 | 7 | |||
| 1988–89 | 9 | 1 | 5 | 0 | – | – | 14 | 1 | ||||
| Career total | 384 | 109 | 48 | 12 | 79 | 38 | 60 | 11 | 571 | 170 | ||
| National team | Year | Apps | Goals |
|---|---|---|---|
| Scotland | 1981 | 4 | 1 |
| 1982 | 6 | 1 | |
| 1983 | 3 | 0 | |
| 1984 | 2 | 1 | |
| 1986 | 4 | 0 | |
| 1987 | 1 | 0 | |
| Total | 20 | 3 | |
| No. | Date | Venue | Opponent | Score | Result | Competition | Ref. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 18 November 1981 | Estadio da Luz,Lisbon |  Portugal | 1–0 | 1–2 | 1982 FIFA World Cup qualification | [1] |
| 2 | 13 October 1982 | Hampden Park,Glasgow |  East Germany | 2–0 | 2–0 | UEFA Euro 1984 qualifying | [1] |
| 3 | 12 September 1984 | Hampden Park, Glasgow |  Yugoslavia | 4–1 | 6–1 | Friendly match | [1] |
Research by football economistsSimon Kuper and Stefan Szymanski found Sturrock to be among the highest performing managers in English football. The measure was based on game success after allowing for the clubs' wage bills.[31]
| Team | Nat | From | To | Record | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| G | W | D | L | Win % | ||||
| St Johnstone |  | 1 August 1993 | 5 September 1998 | 197 | 90 | 56 | 51 | 045.69 |
| Dundee United | | 5 September 1998 | 7 August 2000 | 85 | 27 | 19 | 39 | 031.76 |
| Plymouth Argyle |  | 31 October 2000 | 4 March 2004 | 178 | 85 | 47 | 46 | 047.75 |
| Southampton | | 4 March 2004 | 23 August 2004 | 13 | 5 | 2 | 6 | 038.46 |
| Sheffield Wednesday | | 23 September 2004 | 19 October 2006 | 104 | 35 | 29 | 40 | 033.65 |
| Swindon Town | | 7 November 2006 | 27 November 2007 | 52 | 26 | 11 | 15 | 050.00 |
| Plymouth Argyle | | 27 November 2007 | 10 December 2009 | 99 | 28 | 22 | 49 | 028.28 |
| Southend United | | 5 July 2010 | 24 March 2013 | 161 | 67 | 43 | 51 | 041.61 |
| Yeovil Town | | 9 April 2015 | 1 December 2015 | 30 | 6 | 8 | 16 | 020.00 |
| Total | 919 | 369 | 237 | 313 | 040.15 | |||
Dundee United
Scotland
St Johnstone
Plymouth Argyle
Sheffield Wednesday
Swindon Town
Individual
Awards
His autobiography was published in 2015,Luggy: The Autobiography of Paul Sturrock.
The new recruitment strategy has meant some tough decisions needing to be made. Club legend or not, there's no room for Luggy. Paul Sturrock, brought in under the previous regime as head of recruitment, is now free to continue enjoying life in his Cornwall retreat. "I think there are still some contractual issues to get sorted", says Asghar. "Myself and Paul have spoken. But he is no longer working for the club.
Scotland squads | |||||||
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| International | |
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| National | |
