Martin George Carruthers (born 7 August 1972) is an English former footballer who played as a

forward Forward is a relative direction, the opposite of backward. Forward may also refer to: People * Forward (surname) Sports * Forward (association football) * Forward (basketball), including: ** Point forward ** Power forward (basketball) ** Sm ...

for

Aston Villa Aston Villa Football Club is a professional football club based in Aston, Birmingham, England. The club competes in the , the top tier of the English football league system. Founded in 1874, they have played at their home ground, Villa Park ...

, Hull City,

Stoke City Stoke City Football Club is a professional football club based in Stoke-on-Trent, Staffordshire, England, which competes in the . Founded as Stoke Ramblers in 1863, it changed its name to Stoke in 1878 and then to Stoke City in 1925 after Stoke ...

, Peterborough United, York City,

Darlington Darlington is a market town in the Borough of Darlington, County Durham, England. The River Skerne flows through the town; it is a tributary of the River Tees. The Tees itself flows south of the town. In the 19th century, Darlington underwen ...

, Southend United,

Scunthorpe United Scunthorpe United Football Club is a professional association football club based in the town of Scunthorpe, Lincolnshire, England. The side currently competes in the National League, the fifth tier of the English football league system. The tea ...

, Macclesfield Town,

Boston United Boston United Football Club is a semi-professional association football club based in Boston, Lincolnshire, England. The club participates in the National League North, at the sixth tier of the English football league system. The club is know ...

, Lincoln City and Cambridge United. He is currently manager of Basford United.

Career

Carruthers was born in Nottingham and began his career with

. He failed to break into the first team at Villa Park and, after a loan at Hull City where he scored six goals in 13 matches, he joined

in July 1993. He scored nine goals in 45 appearances in 1993–94 as Stoke finished in 10th position. He scored eight goals in 42 matches in 1994–95. He struggled for form in 1995–96 scoring just three goals after losing his place in the side in 1996–97 he joined Peterborough United in November 1996. He spent three years at Peterborough scoring 21 goals in 67 league matches and after a short loan spell at York City he signed for

. He soon went on to Southend United before enjoying the most prolific spell of his career at

where he scored 34 goals in 86 league games. Carruthers then went on to play for Macclesfield Town,

, Lincoln City and ended his professional career with Cambridge United. He then went on to play non-league football, joining

Grantham Town Grantham Town Football Club is a football club, based in Grantham, Lincolnshire, England. They are currently members of the and play at the South Kesteven Sports Stadium. History The club was established in 1874 as Grantham Football Club.

in 2005, and then

Ilkeston Town Ilkeston Town Football Club is a football club based in Ilkeston, Derbyshire, England. They currently play in the . History On 30 June 2017, a company, Ilkeston Town F.C. Ltd was registered at Companies House. On 20 July 2017, it was conf ...

(initially on loan) in 2006. He went on to become player-assistant manager at Ilkeston, before joining

Arnold Town Arnold Town Football Club is a football club based in Arnold, Nottinghamshire, England. They are currently members of the and play at Eagle Valley. History Arnold Town was formed in 1989 by a merger of Arnold F.C. and Arnold Kingswell, adopt ...

in 2008, becoming joint manager alongside

Chris Freestone Chris Freestone (born 4 September 1971) is an English former professional footballer who played as a striker. Career Freestone joined Middlesbrough from Nottinghamshire club Arnold Town of the Northern Counties (East) League midway through t ...

two games into the 2009–10 season. They both left the club in June 2012, and Carruthers subsequently signed for Basford United as a player in 2012, becoming player-manager in 2013. He departed the club in March 2019.

Coaching career

On 20 May 2019, he was appointed manager at Quorn. At the end of November, he departed the club to become head coach at

linking up with his former Basford United assistant manager Mark Clifford who now owned the club. In the 2021–22 season, Ilkeston were promoted as champions of the

Northern Premier League The Northern Premier League is an English football league that was founded in 1968. It has four divisions: the Premier Division (which stands at level 7 of the English football league system), Division One East, Division One West and Divisio ...

Division One Midlands. Carruthers left the club by mutual consent on 6 September 2022. On 15 December 2022, he was appointed manager of Matlock Town. Carruthers resigned from his role in March 2024. Following his resignation, Carruthers return to Basford United.

Personal life

After retiring, he became Education manager at Notts County's Academy.

Career statistics

Source: :A. The "Other" column constitutes appearances and goals in the Football League Trophy, Football League play-offs and Full Members' Cup.

References

External links

Unofficial Martin Carruthers Profile
a
The Forgotten Imp
{{DEFAULTSORT:Carruthers, Martin 1972 births Living people Footballers from Nottingham English men's footballers Men's association football forwards Premier League players Aston Villa F.C. players Hull City A.F.C. players Stoke City F.C. players Peterborough United F.C. players York City F.C. players Darlington F.C. players Southend United F.C. players Scunthorpe United F.C. players Macclesfield Town F.C. players Boston United F.C. players Lincoln City F.C. players Cambridge United F.C. players Grantham Town F.C. players Ilkeston Town F.C. (1945) players Arnold Town F.C. players Basford United F.C. players English Football League players Northern Premier League players English football managers Arnold Town F.C. managers Basford United F.C. managers Ilkeston Town F.C. managers Matlock Town F.C. managers Northern Premier League managers