Chris Sutton

72
Chris Sutton bigraphy, stories - Footballer; football manager

Chris Sutton : biography

10 March 1973 –

Christopher Roy "Chris" Sutton (born 10 March 1973) is an English professional footballer and manager who plays as a forward for Isthmian League Division One North side Wroxham.

In his career, Sutton initially played from 1991 to 2007 for Norwich City, Blackburn Rovers, Chelsea, Celtic, Birmingham City 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 was capped once by England.

Sutton played principally in midfield or attack, although usually in the latter role as a striker. 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 FA Premier League 1997–98 season. He is also known as being one of the foremost exponents of the glancing header. He scored many a goal with this technique which made him particularly effective from set-pieces.

In September 2009, Sutton was appointed manager of Lincoln City, but he resigned due to personal reasons twelve months later.

Playing career

Norwich City (1991–1994)

He started his career at Norwich City, initially as a centre-half before being converted into a striker by manager Dave Stringer. He made his debut on 4 May 1991 in a 1–0 home win over Queens Park Rangers in the First Division.

In Stringer’s final season as manager, 1991–92, Norwich were FA Cup semi-finalists and Sutton gradually broke into the first team. Sutton made 21 league appearances that season, scoring twice.

He quickly found success in his new position as Norwich spent most of the first season of the new FA Premier League, 1992–93, as league leaders, before eventually slipping back to third place under new manager Mike Walker. Sutton featured in 38 Premier League games that season, scoring eight goals – making him the club’s second highest scorer behind Mark Robins.

In the autumn of 1993, he was part of the Norwich side which famously eliminated Bayern Munich from the UEFA Cup. He scored 25 Premier League goals that season, but after Walker defected to Everton in January to be succeeded by assistant John Deehan, Norwich slipped out of the top five and finished a disappointing 12th in the final table.

By now, Sutton was being linked with some of the biggest clubs in the country, including Blackburn Rovers, Arsenal and Manchester United.http://news.google.com/newspapers?id=ElBIAAAAIBAJ&sjid=lhMEAAAAIBAJ&pg=3963,3803900&dq=chris-sutton&hl=en

Blackburn Rovers (1994–1999)

Sutton 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 ‘SAS’) with Alan Shearer (who scored 34 times that season) and scored fifteen Premier League goals to help secure the club’s first league title since 1914.

A succession of injuries, combined with a loss of form, saw him make just 13 Premier League appearances during 1995–96 and fail to score a single league goal. Shearer’s regular strike partner that season was Mike Newell, but at the end of the season both Shearer and Newell left the club, leaving Sutton and Kevin Gallacher as Blackburn’s only major strikers.

He regained his form over the next three seasons and was the joint highest goalscorer in the Premier League in 1997–98, scoring 18 times.

Sutton was involved in controversy in the final game of the 1996–97 season against Arsenal. Late in the game with the "Gunners" leading by a single goal, the ball was kicked out of play by Arsenal to allow an injured team-mate to receive treatment. Under the unwritten sportsmanship rule, Arsenal would expect the ball to be returned to them unhindered. However, Sutton chased the ball instead of allowing it to be thrown back to Arsenal and won a corner from his efforts. Blackburn scored from this corner and as a result Arsenal missed out on a lucrative place in the Champions League to Newcastle United on goal difference. Following the incident Blackburn’s interim manager Tony Parkes described Sutton as "a boy who is sometimes a bit dizzy … a bit silly", stating "It was against the spirit of the game and he should not have done it". Sutton refused to apologise for his actions.