CHRIS SUTTON

'Christopher Roy Sutton' (born 10 March 1973 in Nottingham, England) is an English former footballer.
In his career, Sutton played for Norwich City, Blackburn Rovers, Chelsea, Celtic, Birmingham and Aston Villa. Sutton scored over 150 career goals in over 400 league appearances spanning 16 years in the English and Scottish Premier Leagues. He has also been capped once by England.
Sutton played in either defence, midfield or attack, although usually in the latter role. A very physical player, Sutton was a fairly prolific goalscorer throughout his career and was joint top goalscorer (with Dion Dublin and Michael Owen) in the English Premiership for the 1997-98 season.

Contents

English Career (1991 - 2000)

Celtic and Birmingham (2000-2006)

Aston Villa (2006-2007)

See also

Notes

External links

English Career (1991 - 2000)

He started his career at Norwich City, initially as a centre-half before being converted into a striker by manager Dave Stringer. He quickly found success in his new position as Norwich spent most of the first season (1992-1993) of the new Premiership as league leaders, before eventually slipping back to third place.
He became the most expensive player in English football in July 1994, when he was transferred from Norwich City to Blackburn Rovers for £5 million. In his first season at Ewood Park he developed a strong partnership (known as 'The SAS Partnership') with Alan Shearer and scored fifteen Premiership goals to secure the club's first league title since 1914.
A succession of injuries, combined with a loss of form, saw him make just thirteen Premiership appearances during 1995-96 and fail to score a goal. He regained his form over the next three seasons and even won an England cap in November 1997, although he was left out of the World Cup squad after a fall-out with national coach Glenn Hoddle.
Blackburn Rovers were relegated from the Premiership at the end of 1998-99, just four years after being crowned champions, and Sutton was sold to Chelsea for £10 million. His time at Stamford 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 28 appearances, in the 5-0 destruction of Manchester United. He failed to even make the bench for the club's FA Cup final win against Aston Villa and was sold to Scottish Premier League side Celtic for £6 million in the summer of 2000.

Celtic and Birmingham (2000-2006)

Sutton scored the winner on his debut v Dundee United in 2000, and in his first Old Firm match v Rangers he scored the first and last goals in a dramatic 6-2 victory for Celtic over Rangers in a match tagged 'The Demolition Derby'. It was even more unusual in that in a press conference before the game Sutton was asked why he was here in Scotland. Sutton said: "To put Rangers in their place." ^[1]
Sutton's goals helped Celtic win three SPL titles, two Scottish Cups and two Scottish League Cups, as well as reaching a UEFA Cup final. Sutton formed a prolific partnership with Swede Henrik Larsson, one to rival his earlier one with Shearer.
Sutton also holds the record for the quickest goal ever in an Old Firm Clash, scored at Ibrox in 2002, scoring inside just 18 seconds. Sutton was voted SPFA Player of the Year for Season 2003-2004.^[2]
At the end of season 2002-03, Sutton accused Dunfermline of 'lying down' to Rangers in order for Celtic to lose the title. He was charged with 'bringing the game into disrepute' and received a one-match ban.^[3] He joined Birmingham on a free transfer in January 2006 but injuries restricted him to just eleven appearances, scoring once in the derby defeat to Aston Villa in mid-April. Following Birmingham's relegation to the English Championship and his high wages, he was released.

Aston Villa (2006-2007)

Sutton signed for Aston Villa on 3 October 2006 until the end of the 2006-07 season. The move sees Sutton link up with former Celtic boss Martin O'Neil. Sutton scored his first goal for the club with a winning goal against Everton on 11 November 2006.
However, in a game against Manchester United in December, he suffered blurred vision, and having visited several specialists, has still not recovered. His manager is quoted as saying:
"Chris has got a genuine concern. His concern is that 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."
On 5 July 2007 Sutton retired from football due to the same eye injury he sustained while playing for Villa in the 2006-07 season.^[4]

See also

★ John Sutton (footballer) who plays for Wycombe Wanderers is Chris Sutton's younger brother.

★ Norwich City F.C. Hall of Fame.

Notes

1. http://thescotsman.scotsman.com/sport.cfm?id=1138182004
2. http://www.scotprem.premiumtv.co.uk/page/SeasonReview/0,,10002~674646,00.html
3. ''"Sutton gets further ban"'', BBC Sport, 28 July 2003. Retrieved 5 July 2007.
4. Eye injury forces Sutton to quit

External links

★

★ Player profile at 4thegame.com

★ Profile at premierleague.com

★ Photos and stats at sporting-heroes.net

★ Career information at ex-canaries.co.uk

★ Playing career stats at BBC Sport

★ Sutton's playing career in pictures at BBC Sport

★