Carl Shutt

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Carl Shutt (born 10th October 1961 in Sheffield) is an English former professional football player.

Carl Shutt's league career started at the relatively late age of 23. He was spotted by Howard Wilkinson while playing for Spalding United and enjoyed two relatively successful seasons with Sheffield Wednesday. With the manager leaving for pastures new, Carl joined Bristol City and again had two relatively successful seasons. It wasn’t long before Howard Wilkinson recalled him and arranged to swap Bob Taylor and £50,000 to get his man again, right on cue for Leeds United’s push to promotion.

Carl made an instant impact at Leeds with a hat-trick in his first game. He became a fans' favourite with tireless running and unwillingness to give up any cause. Following promotion and the successful pairing of Lee Chapman and Rod Wallace, Shutt remained a popular figure and was frequently used as a substitute.

Perhaps the defining moment of Shutt's Leeds career came at the Nou Camp against VfB Stuttgart in 1992, in a replayed European Cup game. Within a couple of minutes of coming on as a substitute, he scored the winner with only his second touch.

After leaving Leeds in 1993 with over 100 appearances and 25 goals, he played for Birmingham City and had a very brief spell at Manchester City before settling at Bradford City in 1994. In three seasons with the Bantams, Shutt scored 15 goals before moving on to Darlington FC where again he spent three seasons, scoring nine goals.

[edit] Management

After spells with a number of lower league clubs, Shutt became player-manager at non-league Kettering Town, leading them back to the Conference at the first attempt. In the 2002/03 season, he managed the club through a very difficult period with the club up for sale and facing administration. It was a losing battle and when relegation was confirmed, the club decided to terminate his contract.

In 2004, Shutt was announced as the new manager of Bradford Park Avenue and managed to steer them to the Conference North league. Shutt has yet to officially announce his playing retirement and continues to play (and score) occasionally. Since leaving Bradford, Shutt is without a club.