Liam Robert Bridcutt (born 8 May 1989) is a 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 plays as a

defensive 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 ...

for

Blackpool Blackpool is a seaside resort in Lancashire, England. Located on the North West England, northwest coast of England, it is the main settlement within the Borough of Blackpool, borough also called Blackpool. The town is by the Irish Sea, betw ...

. Born in England, he represented the Scotland national team. Bridcutt started his career with

Chelsea Chelsea or Chelsey may refer to: Places Australia * Chelsea, Victoria Canada * Chelsea, Nova Scotia * Chelsea, Quebec United Kingdom * Chelsea, London, an area of London, bounded to the south by the River Thames ** Chelsea (UK Parliament consti ...

, but did not make a league appearance for the London club. He was loaned to

Yeovil Town Yeovil Town may refer to: * Yeovil Town F.C., an English football team based in Yeovil, Somerset * Yeovil Town L.F.C. Bridgwater United Women's Football Club are an English women's association football club based in Bridgwater, Somerset who wer ...

Watford Watford () is a town and borough in Hertfordshire, England, 15 miles northwest of Central London, on the River Colne. Initially a small market town, the Grand Junction Canal encouraged the construction of paper-making mills, print works, a ...

and

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 ...

, before moving to

Brighton & Hove Albion Brighton & Hove Albion Football Club (), commonly referred to simply as Brighton, is an English professional football club based in the city of Brighton and Hove. They compete in the Premier League, the top tier of the English football league ...

in 2010. He has since played for

Sunderland Sunderland () is a port city in Tyne and Wear, England. It is the City of Sunderland's administrative centre and in the Historic counties of England, historic county of County of Durham, Durham. The city is from Newcastle-upon-Tyne and is on t ...

Leeds United Leeds United Football Club is a professional football club based in Leeds, West Yorkshire in England. The club competes in the Premier League, the highest level of England's football league system, and plays its home matches at Elland Road S ...

, and

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 ...

Club career

Chelsea

Born in

Reading, Berkshire Reading ( ) is a town and borough in Berkshire, Southeast England, southeast England. Located in the Thames Valley at the confluence of the rivers River Thames, Thames and River Kennet, Kennet, the Great Western Main Line railway and the M4 mot ...

, Bridcutt rose through the youth system at

, and signed a professional contract in the summer of 2007. He signed on

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 ...

for

on 8 February 2008 and made his début against

Walsall Walsall (, or ; locally ) is a market town and administrative centre in the West Midlands (county), West Midlands County, England. Historic counties of England, Historically part of Staffordshire, it is located north-west of Birmingham, east ...

the following day. He then moved to

on loan on 27 November 2008, making his début for the club against

Doncaster Rovers Doncaster Rovers Football Club is a professional association football club based in Doncaster, South Yorkshire, England. The team compete in League Two, the fourth tier of the English football league system. The club play their home games at ...

on 29 November 2008. On 14 August 2009, Bridcutt moved to

on loan until January 2010 and was sent off on his début in the 4–2 win at

. He scored his first professional goal whilst at Stockport during a

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 ...

game against

Port Vale Port Vale Football Club are a professional football club based in Burslem, Stoke-on-Trent, England, which compete in . Vale are the only English Football League club not to be named after a place; their name being a reference to the valley o ...

Brighton & Hove Albion

On 28 August 2010, Bridcutt signed a five-month contract with

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 ...

side Brighton & Hove Albion. On 5 November 2010, he signed a contract extension until the end of the season after impressing

Gus Poyet Gustavo Augusto Poyet Domínguez (; born 15 November 1967) is a Uruguayan professional football manager and former footballer. He is currently the head coach of the Greece national football team. Poyet played as a midfielder and began his caree ...

especially against

Plymouth Argyle Plymouth Argyle Football Club is a professional football club based in the city of Plymouth, Devon, England. As of the 2021–22 season, the team are competing in League One, the third tier of English football. They have played at Home Park, ...

and

Peterborough United Peterborough United Football Club is an English professional football club based in Peterborough, Cambridgeshire, England. The team compete in League One, the third tier of the English football league system. Peterborough have a long-standing ...

. Bridcutt scored his first goal in Albion colours in stoppage time of their 4–3 win over

Carlisle United Carlisle United Football Club ( , ) is a professional association football club based in Carlisle, Cumbria, England. The team compete in , the fourth tier of the English football league system. They have played their home games at Brunton Par ...

. He followed this up with one of the goals in the 4–3 victory against

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 ...

which led to Brighton's promotion to the

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 ...

. Bridcutt's consistent performances in the 2011–12 Championship campaign earned him Brighton's Player of the Season award. Bridcutt's performances in the following 2012–13 Championship campaign earned him his second successive Player of the Season award, becoming the first Brighton player to achieve back-to-back Player of the Season awards since

Bobby Zamora Robert Lester Zamora (born 16 January 1981) is an English former professional footballer who played as a forward. Zamora began his career at Football League club Bristol Rovers, but was soon signed by Brighton & Hove Albion, where he found first ...

Sunderland

On 30 January 2014, after weeks of speculation and a transfer request which was subsequently rejected by Brighton, Bridcutt signed a three-and-a-half-year deal with

, reuniting him with former Brighton head coach

. Bridcutt signed for an undisclosed fee, believed to be between £3 million and £4 million, and made his Sunderland début in the

Tyne–Wear derby The Tyne–Wear derby, also known as the North East derby, is a local derby between the association football clubs Sunderland A.F.C., Sunderland and Newcastle United F.C., Newcastle United. The derby is an inter-city rivalry in North East Englan ...

in a 3–0 victory over

Newcastle United Newcastle United Football Club is an English professional football club, based in Newcastle upon Tyne, that plays in the Premier League – the top flight of English football. The club was founded in 1892 by the merger of Newcastle East End ...

St James' Park St James' Park is a football stadium in Newcastle upon Tyne, England. It is the home of Premier League club Newcastle United F.C. With a seating capacity of 52,305 seats, it is the eighth largest football stadium in England. St James' Park ...

on 1 February.

Leeds United (loan)

Bridcutt moved on loan to

on 26 November 2015. He made his Leeds debut on 28 November in a 1–0 defeat against

Queens Park Rangers Queens Park Rangers Football Club, commonly abbreviated to QPR, is a professional football club based in Shepherd's Bush, West London, England, which compete in the . After a nomadic early existence, they have played home matches at Loftus Ro ...

. After impressing in the heart of the Leeds midfield, on 5 January 2016, Bridcutt's loan was extended until the end of the 2015–16 season, with the view to a permanent move. On 13 March 2016, Leeds head coach Steve Evans revealed he wanted to sign Bridcutt permanently at the end of the season. Despite being at the club for less than a season, on 19 April, Bridcutt was one of five players nominated for the Leeds United Player of the Year Award, alongside Charlie Taylor,

Gaetano Berardi Gaetano Michel Berardi (born 21 August 1988) is a Swiss professional footballer who plays as a defender for Swiss club AC Bellinzona. He can also operate at left-back and centre-back. He has been capped at international level by Switzerland. Cl ...

, Mirco Antenucci and Lewis Cook. The award was won by Taylor on 30 April.

Leeds United

On 16 August 2016, Bridcutt transferred to Leeds United for an undisclosed fee, signing a two-year contract. His second debut for Leeds came on 20 August in a 2–0 win against

Sheffield Wednesday Sheffield Wednesday Football Club is a professional association football club based in Sheffield, South Yorkshire, England. The team competes in League One, the third tier of the English football league system. Formed in 1867 as an offshoot of ...

. Bridcutt was appointed team

captain Captain is a title, an appellative for the commanding officer of a military unit; the supreme leader of a navy ship, merchant ship, aeroplane, spacecraft, or other vessel; or the commander of a port, fire or police department, election precinct, e ...

, replacing the departed

Sol Bamba Souleymane Bamba (born 13 January 1985) is a professional footballer who last played for club Middlesbrough and the Ivorian national team as a centre-back. Bamba started his career in his native France with Paris Saint-Germain, but failed to ...

on 9 September 2016. Bridcutt picked up an injury on 14 September against

Blackburn Rovers Blackburn Rovers Football Club is a professional football club, based in Blackburn, Lancashire, England, which competes in the , the second tier of the English football league system. They have played home matches at Ewood Park since 1890. T ...

and it was revealed that Bridcutt had broken his foot and would miss several months of the season as a result of the injury. Bridcutt returned from injury on 13 December replacing an injured Chris Wood as a first-half substitute in a 2–0 win against

Reading Reading is the process of taking in the sense or meaning of Letter (alphabet), letters, symbols, etc., especially by Visual perception, sight or Somatosensory system, touch. For educators and researchers, reading is a multifaceted process invo ...

. At the start of the 2017–18 season, Leeds manager

Thomas Christiansen Thomas Christiansen Tarín (born 11 March 1973) is a former Association football, footballer who played as a Forward (association football)#Striker, striker, currently the Manager (association football), manager of Panama national football team ...

named

Liam Cooper Liam David Ian Cooper (born 30 August 1991) is a professional footballer who plays as a centre-back and captains club Leeds United and the Scotland national team. Cooper came through the youth academy at Hull City before making his debut wi ...

captain, replacing Bridcutt.

Nottingham Forest

On 22 August 2017, Bridcutt joined Championship side

on a three-year deal for undisclosed fee, thought to be in the region of £1,000,000. He scored his first goal for the club in a 2–1 loss at

Cardiff City Cardiff City Football Club ( cy, Clwb Pêl-droed Dinas Caerdydd) is a professional association football club based in Cardiff, Wales. It competes in the Championship, the second tier of the English football league system. Founded in 1899 as R ...

on 21 April 2018.

Bolton Wanderers (loan)

On 2 September 2019, Bridcutt joined

EFL 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 ...

side

Bolton Wanderers Bolton Wanderers Football Club () is a professional football club based in Horwich, Bolton, Greater Manchester, England, which competes in . The club played at Burnden Park for 102 years from 1895 after moving from their original home at Pike's ...

on loan until January and was one of nine players Bolton signed on deadline day. He made his debut on 14 September, starting against

Rotherham United Rotherham United Football Club, nicknamed The Millers, is a professional football club based in Rotherham, South Yorkshire, England, which compete in the . The club's colours were initially yellow and black, but changed to red and white around 1 ...

in a 6–1 defeat. On 17 September, Bridcutt started captaining Bolton. Bridcutt's loan was ended a few days early by Forest on 1 January 2020.

Lincoln City (loan)

On 31 January 2020, Bridcutt joined Lincoln City on loan for the remainder of the 2020 season. Bridcutt was named captain for the match against Gillingham on 22 February 2020 due to

Jason Shackell Jason Philip Shackell (born 27 September 1983) is a former English professional footballer who last played for Lincoln City. Shackell primarily plays as a centre-back. Career Norwich City Shackell is a product of the Norwich City youth academ ...

being dropped from the squad. He continued in his role as Captain as Shackell remained out of the team.

Lincoln City

On 7 August 2020, Bridcutt joined Lincoln City permanently following his expiration of his contract at

. He would make his first appearance as a permanent member of the team, coming off the bench in a 5-0 win against Bradford City in the

EFL Cup The EFL Cup (referred to historically, and colloquially, as the League Cup), currently known as the Carabao Cup for sponsorship reasons, is an annual knockout competition and major trophy in men's domestic football in England. Organised by the ...

second round. It was revealed on 18 May 2022 that he had been offered a new contract at Lincoln City. On the 27 June 2022, Lincoln confirmed that Bridcutt would be leaving the club after two-and-a-half seasons.

Blackpool

On 30 September 2022, Bridcutt signed for

on a one-year contract with an option for a further year, rejoining his former manager at Lincoln,

Michael Appleton Michael Antony Appleton (born 4 December 1975) is an English professional football manager and former player. He is currently the head coach of Blackpool. As a player, he operated as a midfielder, in a nine-year career that began in 1994 and e ...

International career

Bridcutt qualifies to play for

Scotland Scotland (, ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a border with England to the southeast and is otherwise surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean to the ...

through his

Edinburgh Edinburgh ( ; gd, Dùn Èideann ) is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 Council areas of Scotland, council areas. Historically part of the county of Midlothian (interchangeably Edinburghshire before 1921), it is located in Lothian ...

-born grandfather. On 7 March 2013, Bridcutt was named in

Gordon Strachan Gordon David Strachan ( born 9 February 1957) is a Scottish former football coach and player. He played for Dundee, Aberdeen, Manchester United, Leeds United and Coventry City, as well as the Scotland national team. He has since managed Cove ...

's Scotland squad for the

2014 FIFA World Cup qualification The 2014 FIFA World Cup qualification was a series of tournaments organised by the six FIFA#Structure, FIFA confederations. The 2014 FIFA World Cup featured 32 teams, with one place reserved for the host nation, Brazil national football team, Bra ...

matches against

Wales Wales ( cy, Cymru ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by England to the Wales–England border, east, the Irish Sea to the north and west, the Celtic Sea to the south west and the ...

and

Serbia Serbia (, ; Serbian language, Serbian: , , ), officially the Republic of Serbia (Serbian language, Serbian: , , ), is a landlocked country in Southeast Europe, Southeastern and Central Europe, situated at the crossroads of the Pannonian Bas ...

. He gained his first Scotland cap in the game versus Serbia on 26 March 2013. After regaining his form whilst at

, Bridcutt regained his place in the

squad on 10 March 2016 for a friendly against

Denmark ) , song = ( en, "King Christian stood by the lofty mast") , song_type = National and royal anthem , image_map = EU-Denmark.svg , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Danish Realm, Kingdom of Denmark ...

. He was called up alongside teammate

who made the squad for the first time. On 29 March 2016, Bridcutt played against Denmark in a 1–0 victory, and was subject to heavy criticism from Denmark Manager Age Hareide for a challenge on Denmark defender

Erik Sviatchenko Erik Sergiyovych Sviatchenko ( uk, Ерік Сергійович Святченко; born 4 October 1991) is a Danish footballer who plays as a defender and captain of FC Midtjylland. Club career FC Midtjylland Sviatchenko was, during his you ...

which only earned Bricutt a yellow card.

Career statistics

Honours

Brighton & Hove Albion *

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 ...

2010–11 1 (one, unit, unity) is a number representing a single or the only entity. 1 is also a numerical digit and represents a single unit of counting or measurement. For example, a line segment of ''unit length'' is a line segment of length 1. I ...

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Bridcutt, Liam 1989 births Living people Sportspeople from Reading, Berkshire English footballers Scottish footballers Scotland international footballers Association football midfielders Chelsea F.C. players Lincoln City F.C. players Yeovil Town F.C. players Watford F.C. players Stockport County F.C. players Brighton & Hove Albion F.C. players Sunderland A.F.C. players Premier League players English Football League players Black British sportsmen English people of Scottish descent Leeds United F.C. players Nottingham Forest F.C. players Bolton Wanderers F.C. players Blackpool F.C. players Footballers from Berkshire