Chris Sutton

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Chris Sutton
Personal information
Full name	Christopher Roy Sutton
Date of birth	March 10, 1973 (age 34)
Place of birth	Nottingham, United Kingdom
Height	6 ft 3 in (1.91 m)
Playing position	Striker / Central Defender
Club information
Current club	Aston Villa
Number	20
Senior clubs1
Years	Club	App (Gls)*
1991-1994 1994-1999 1999-2000 2000-2006 2006 2006-	Norwich City Blackburn Rovers Chelsea Celtic Birmingham City Aston Villa	103 (35) 131 (50) 028 0(1) 130 (63) 010 0(1) 008 0(1)
National team2
1992-1994 1997	England U21 England	013 0(1) 001 0(0)
1 Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 16:33, 8 January 2007 (UTC). 2 National team caps and goals correct as of 12 March 2006. * Appearances (Goals)

Christopher Roy Sutton (born 10 March 1973) is an English footballer, currently playing for Aston Villa.

In his career, Sutton has played for Norwich City, Blackburn Rovers, Chelsea, Celtic and Birmingham. He has also been capped once by England.

Sutton is able to play in either defence, midfield or attack, although usually he plays in the latter role. A very physical player, Sutton has been 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 1 English Career (1991 - 2000) 2 Celtic and Birmingham (2000-2006) 3 Aston Villa (2006-present) 4 See also 5 References 6 External links

[edit] English Career (1991 - 2000)

He started his career at Norwich City, initially as a centre-half before being converted into a striker. 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,^{[citation needed]} when he was transferred from Norwich City to Blackburn Rovers for £5 million. Manchester United were close to being the first team to ever sign Sutton for £200,000 back in 1994.^{[citation needed]} In his first season at Ewood Park he developed a strong 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.^{[citation needed]}

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. 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.

[edit] 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 is on record as saying Henrik Larsson is the best player he has ever played with.^{[citation needed]}

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]

Sutton commented at the end of season 2002-03 that Dunfermline 'lay down' to Rangers, in order for Celtic to lose the title. 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.

[edit] Aston Villa (2006-present)

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'Neill. Sutton scored his first goal for the club with a winning goal against Everton on 11 November 2006.

[edit] See also

• John Sutton (footballer) who plays for St Mirren is Chris Sutton's younger brother.

[edit] References

1. ^ http://thescotsman.scotsman.com/sport.cfm?id=1138182004
2. ^ http://www.scotprem.premiumtv.co.uk/page/SeasonReview/0,,10002~674646,00.html

[edit] External links

• Chris Sutton career stats at Soccerbase
• Player profile at 4thegame.com
• Profile at premierleague.com
• Photos and stats at sporting-heroes.net
• Career information at ex-canaries.co.uk

Preceded by Barry Ferguson	Scottish PFA Players' Player of the Year 2004	Succeeded by John Hartson Fernando Ricksen
Preceded by Alan Shearer	Premier League top scorer 1997-98	Succeeded by Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink Michael Owen Dwight Yorke

Aston Villa F.C. - Current Squad
1 Sørensen | 2 Delaney | 3 Samuel | 4 Mellberg | 5 Laursen | 6 Barry | 8 McCann | 9 Ángel | 10 Carew | 11 Petrov | 12 Davis | 13 Taylor | 15 Agbonlahor | 16 Bouma | 17 Young | 18 Hughes | 19 Ridgewell | 20 Sutton | 21 Cahill | 22 Moore | 23 Berger | 24 Bardsley | 25 Olejnik | 26 Gardner | 27 Osbourne | 28 Maloney | 29 O'Halloran | Manager: O'Neill