Luke Horace Guttridge (born 27 March 1982) is an English former professional

footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby le ...

who played as a

midfielder A midfielder is an outfield position in association football. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in that case known as defensive midfielders. As central midfielders often go across boundarie ...

. He previously played for

Torquay United Torquay United Football Club is a professional football club based in Torquay, Devon, England. The team currently compete in the , the fifth tier of English football. They have played their home matches at Plainmoor since 1921 and are nicknamed ...

Cambridge United Cambridge United Football Club is a professional association football club based in the city of Cambridge, England. They compete in EFL League one , the 3rd tier of the English football league system. The club is based at the Abbey Stadium on N ...

Southend United Southend United Football Club is a professional association football club based in Southend-on-Sea, Essex, England. As of the 2022–23 season, the team competes in the National League, the fifth tier of English football. Southend are known as ...

Leyton Orient Leyton Orient Football Club is a professional football club based in Leyton, East London, England, who compete in , the fourth tier of the English football league system. They are the second oldest football club in London to play at a professio ...

Colchester United Colchester United Football Club is a professional association football club based in the city of Colchester, Essex, England. The team competes in , the fourth tier of the English football league system. Founded in 1937, the club spent its earl ...

Northampton Town Northampton Town Football Club is a professional association football club based in the town of Northampton, England. The team plays in , the fourth tier of the English football league system. Founded in 1897, the club competed in the Midland ...

Aldershot Town Aldershot Town Football Club is a professional association football club based in Aldershot Aldershot () is a town in Hampshire, England. It lies on heathland in the extreme northeast corner of the county, southwest of London. The area i ...

Luton Town Luton Town Football Club () is a professional association football club based in the town of Luton, Bedfordshire, England, that competes in the Championship, the second tier of the English football league system. Founded in 1885, it is nicknam ...

and

Dagenham & Redbridge Dagenham & Redbridge Football Club is a professional association football club based in Dagenham, Greater London, England. The team competes in the National League, the fifth tier of the English football league system. Often known simply as Dag ...

. He amassed more than 400 appearances in the

Football League The English Football League (EFL) is a league of professional football clubs from England and Wales. Founded in 1888 as the Football League, the league is the oldest such competition in the world. It was the top-level football league in Engla ...

Career

Torquay United

Born in

Barnstaple Barnstaple ( or ) is a river-port town in North Devon, England, at the River Taw's lowest crossing point before the Bristol Channel. From the 14th century, it was licensed to export wool and won great wealth. Later it imported Irish wool, bu ...

, Devon, Guttridge began his career as a trainee with

after playing junior football for Paignton Pilgrims. He made his league debut whilst still a trainee as a late substitute, replacing Alex Watson in the 4–0 win against

Mansfield Town Mansfield Town Football Club is a professional association football, football club based in the town of Mansfield, Nottinghamshire, England. The team competes in , the fourth tier of the English football league system. Nicknamed 'The Stags', they ...

on 10 April 2000. In May 2000, against the advice for a longer contract offer given by youth coaches

Paul Compton Paul David Compton (born 6 June 1961) is an English former professional footballer and football club manager. He most notably managed Torquay United during the 1992–93 season, and was assistant manager at Dorchester Town prior to rejoining ...

and

Richard Hancox Richard Hancox (born 4 October 1968) is an English former professional footballer. He has held various roles at Torquay United in his career. Career Hancox was born in Stourbridge and first joined Exeter city in 1985, he was not offered a contr ...

, Guttridge was only offered a three-month professional contract by Torquay manager

Wes Saunders Wesley Saunders (born 23 February 1963) is an English former professional football player and manager, who played as a central defender. He played for Newcastle United, Bradford City, Carlisle United and Torquay United in the Football League and ...

, even though

had offered him a one-year deal and the chance to play

Second Division In sport, the Second Division, also called Division 2 or Division II is usually the second highest division of a league, and will often have promotion and relegation with divisions above and below. Following the rise of Premier League style compet ...

football.

Cambridge United

Unsurprisingly, Guttridge left for Cambridge, managed by

Roy McFarland Roy Leslie McFarland (born 5 April 1948) is an English former football manager and former player. With Derby County, he played 442 league games, helping him to earn 28 caps for England. Playing career Born in Liverpool, McFarland was a player f ...

, on a free transfer. He had to wait until the following spring for his Cambridge league debut, after playing twice in the

Football League Trophy The English Football League Trophy, known for sponsorship purposes as the Papa Johns Trophy after restaurant chain Papa John's Pizza, is an annual English association football knockout competition open to all clubs in EFL League One and EFL Leag ...

, but when it came he scored within two minutes in a vital 2–0 home win against

Oldham Athletic Oldham Athletic Association Football Club is a professional football club in Oldham, Greater Manchester, England, which competes in the National League, the fifth tier of the English football league system. The history of Oldham Athletic ...

. In August 2001, McFarland, by now manager of Torquay, made a bid to bring Guttridge back to

Plainmoor Plainmoor is an association football stadium located in the Plainmoor suburb of Torquay, Devon, England. Since 1921, the stadium has been the home of Torquay United Football Club, who currently compete in the National League, the fifth tier of E ...

, but this was rejected and he remained at the Abbey Stadium. In April 2004, Guttridge went on

trial In law, a trial is a coming together of Party (law), parties to a :wikt:dispute, dispute, to present information (in the form of evidence (law), evidence) in a tribunal, a formal setting with the authority to Adjudication, adjudicate claims or d ...

with

Premier League The Premier League (legal name: The Football Association Premier League Limited) is the highest level of the men's English football league system. Contested by 20 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation with the English Foo ...

club

Charlton Athletic Charlton Athletic Football Club is an English professional football club based in Charlton, south-east London, which compete in . Their home ground is The Valley, where the club have played since 1919. They have also played at The Mount in C ...

and trained with them during this time. However, a move failed to materialise and he returned to Cambridge. Ahead of the 2004–05 season, Guttridge was selected as club captain.

Southend United

Guttridge signed a three-year contract with

in March 2005 for an undisclosed fee plus add-ons. After a slow start, he firmly established himself in the first-team and was given the opportunity to move into the role of a

central midfielder A midfielder is an outfield position in association football. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in that case known as defensive midfielders. As central midfielders often go across boundarie ...

from his usual

wide midfielder A midfielder is an outfield position in association football. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in that case known as defensive midfielders. As central midfielders often go across boundarie ...

role following a meeting with manager

Steve Tilson Stephen Brian Tilson (born 27 July 1966) is an English football manager and former player, he is currently the manager of Heybridge Swifts. Tilson is best known for his time in charge of Southend United, where he was in charge for seven year ...

. This proved to be a turning point and Guttridge was a major factor in helping Southend secure the 2005–06 League One title after a 1–0 home win over

Bristol City Bristol City Football Club is a professional football club based in Bristol, England, which compete in the , the second tier of English football. They have played their home games at Ashton Gate since moving from St John's Lane in 1904. The ...

on the final day of the season.

Leyton Orient

Guttridge lost his place in the Southend first-team following their

promotion Promotion may refer to: Marketing * Promotion (marketing), one of the four marketing mix elements, comprising any type of marketing communication used to inform or persuade target audiences of the relative merits of a product, service, brand or i ...

and subsequently joined

loan In finance, a loan is the lending of money by one or more individuals, organizations, or other entities to other individuals, organizations, etc. The recipient (i.e., the borrower) incurs a debt and is usually liable to pay interest on that d ...

until 1 January 2007. He scored his first and what turned out to be only goal for the club in a 3–1

away Away may refer to: Film and television * ''Away'' (2016 film), a 2016 British film * ''Away'' (2019 film), a 2019 animated silent film * ''Away'' (TV series), a 2020 science fiction drama on Netflix Literature * ''Away'' (play), a 1986 play by M ...

win over

Nottingham Forest Nottingham Forest Football Club is an association football club based in West Bridgford, Nottinghamshire, England. Nottingham Forest was founded in 1865 and have been playing their home games at the City Ground, on the banks of the River Tren ...

on 16 December 2006. On 30 January 2007, Guttridge left Southend to sign a permanent contract at Leyton Orient for an undisclosed fee until the end of the 2006–07 season. After rejecting a new contract offer from Leyton Orient, he left the club in May 2007.

Colchester United

On 5 July 2007, Guttridge joined

Championship In sport, a championship is a competition in which the aim is to decide which individual or team is the champion. Championship systems Various forms of competition can be referred to by the term championship. Title match system In this system ...

club

on a free transfer. After playing in only 14 league games during the 2007–08 season, Guttridge was released by the club following their relegation to

League One The English Football League One (often referred to as League One for short or Sky Bet League One for sponsorship purposes, and known as the Football League One from 2004 until 2016) is the second-highest division of the English Football Leag ...

Northampton Town

Guttridge impressed during a trial period at

, and on 4 August 2008, after two commanding performances in pre-season friendlies, he signed a two-year contract with the club until the summer of 2010. His first goal for the club came during a 4–0 win over

Stockport County Stockport County Football Club are a professional association football, football club in Stockport, England, who compete in EFL League Two, the fourth tier of the English football league system. Formed in 1883 as Heaton Norris Rovers, they wer ...

on 21 March 2009. He was released by the club on 12 May 2010 along with five other players.

Aldershot Town

In July 2010, Guttridge signed a two-year contract with

. He was voted Supporters Player of the Season after an impressive first year with the Shots. Having made 80 appearances for Aldershot in all competitions, scoring 14 goals, Guttridge was released in January 2012 after his contract was cancelled by mutual consent.

Return to Northampton

On 27 January 2012, Guttridge rejoined Northampton Town on an 18-month contract until the end of the 2012–13 season. "Luke is a very experienced player and is just the sort of character we need," said Northampton manager

Aidy Boothroyd Adrian Neil Boothroyd (born 8 February 1971) is an English former footballer who is currently the manager of Indian Super League club Jamshedpur. At club level, he was manager of Watford from 2005 to 2008. During his time with Watford, he was r ...

. Guttridge made 44 league appearances, but was not offered a new contract and left the club in June 2013.

Luton Town

Guttridge signed for

Conference Premier The National League, known as the Vanarama National League for sponsorship reasons, is the highest level of the National League System and fifth-highest of the overall English football league system. It is the highest league that is semi-profess ...

club

on a two-year contract on 5 July 2013. He was played in an advanced creative midfielder role for much of the 2013–14 season, scoring 13 goals and assisting 9 others in 32 league games, making him one of the most effective performers as Luton won the Conference Premier title and with it promotion to

League Two The English Football League Two (often referred to as League Two for short or Sky Bet League Two for sponsorship purposes, and known as the Football League Two from 2004 until 2016) is the third and lowest division of the English Football Lea ...

. Guttridge's performances led his teammates to name him as the Players' Player of the Year. Guttridge played in 30 games for Luton during the 2014–15 season upon his return to the

, scoring four goals, and triggered a contract extension to keep him at the club until the summer of 2016. Guttridge made 11 appearances, scoring two goals in 2015–16, but he was released by new manager Nathan Jones on 19 January 2016 after his contract was cancelled by mutual consent.

Dagenham & Redbridge

Guttridge signed a one-and-a-half-year contract with League Two club

two days after his release by Luton. He was restricted to just three appearances, scoring once in 2015–16 due to injury, as the club were relegated to the

National League The National League of Professional Baseball Clubs, known simply as the National League (NL), is the older of two leagues constituting Major League Baseball (MLB) in the United States and Canada, and the world's oldest extant professional team s ...

after finishing in 23rd place in League Two. Guttridge scored Dagenham's second goal on the opening day of 2016–17 in a 3–0 win at home to

Southport Southport is a seaside town in the Metropolitan Borough of Sefton in Merseyside, England. At the 2001 census, it had a population of 90,336, making it the eleventh most populous settlement in North West England. Southport lies on the Irish ...

. He was introduced as a

half-time In several team sports, matches are played in two halves. Half-time (also written halftime or half time) is the name given to the interval between the two halves of the match. Typically, after half-time, teams swap ends of the field of play in or ...

substitute in the second leg of the play-off semi-final defeat to

Forest Green Rovers Forest Green Rovers Football Club are a professional football club based in Nailsworth, Gloucestershire, England. The team compete in , the third tier of the English football league system, and have played their home games at The New Lawn since ...

, losing 3–1 on aggregate, and finished the season with 30 appearances and eight goals. Guttridge was released by Dagenham & Redbridge when his contract expired at the end of 2016–17.

Career statistics

Honours

Cambridge United *

runner-up: 2001–02 Southend United *

Football League One The English Football League One (often referred to as League One for short or Sky Bet League One for sponsorship purposes, and known as the Football League One from 2004 until 2016) is the second-highest division of the English Football Leag ...

: 2005–06 *

Football League Two play-offs The EFL League Two play-offs are a series of play-off matches contested by the association football teams finishing from fourth to seventh in EFL League Two, the fourth tier of the English football league system. They are part of the annual Engli ...

: 2004–05 *Football League Trophy runner-up: 2004–05 Luton Town *

: 2013–14 Individual *Conference Premier Team of the Year: 2013–14

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Guttridge, Luke 1982 births Living people Sportspeople from Barnstaple Footballers from Devon English men's footballers Men's association football midfielders Torquay United F.C. players Cambridge United F.C. players Southend United F.C. players Leyton Orient F.C. players Colchester United F.C. players Northampton Town F.C. players Aldershot Town F.C. players Luton Town F.C. players Dagenham & Redbridge F.C. players English Football League players National League (English football) players