Michael John Sutton (5 October 1944 – 26 December 2020) was an English professional footballer. He played 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 ...

for three clubs. Two of his sons,

Chris Chris is a short form of various names including Christopher, Christian, Christina, Christine, and Christos. Chris is also used as a name in its own right, however it is not as common. People with the given name * Chris Abani (born 1966), N ...

and

John John is a common English name and surname: * John (given name) * John (surname) John may also refer to: New Testament Works * Gospel of John, a title often shortened to John * First Epistle of John, often shortened to 1 John * Secon ...

, have also played professionally.

Playing career

Sutton began his career in his home city of

Norwich Norwich () is a cathedral city and district of Norfolk, England, of which it is the county town. Norwich is by the River Wensum, about north-east of London, north of Ipswich and east of Peterborough. As the seat of the See of Norwich, with ...

with

Norwich City Norwich City Football Club (also known as The Canaries or The Yellows) is an English professional football club based in Norwich, Norfolk. The club competes in the EFL Championship following their relegation from the Premier League in the 20 ...

, with whom he turned professional in September 1962. He made more than 50 league appearances over the next five years and then joined

Chester Chester is a cathedral city and the county town of Cheshire, England. It is located on the River Dee, close to the English–Welsh border. With a population of 79,645 in 2011,"2011 Census results: People and Population Profile: Chester Loca ...

. This followed successful efforts by Chester manager

Peter Hauser Peter Benjamin Hauser (20 April 1934 – 9 March 2000) played professional football for Blackpool before becoming player-manager of Chester in 1963. This made him one of the first foreign managers in English football. A wing-half, former u ...

to persuade a disillusioned Sutton not to go ahead with his plans to quit

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly c ...

. Sutton played in all league games over the next three seasons (including one substitute appearance) before moving to Carlisle United for £10,000 at a time when Chester were in financial difficulties. Unfortunately, Sutton was forced to retire from playing professional football two years later due to injury.'Player Memories', Chester City v. Crewe Alexandra matchday programme; 19 October 1993; p. 24 Sutton then spent four years studying

physical education Physical education, often abbreviated to Phys Ed. or P.E., is a subject taught in schools around the world. It is usually taught during primary and secondary education, and encourages psychomotor learning by using a play and movement explorati ...

and

biology Biology is the scientific study of life. It is a natural science with a broad scope but has several unifying themes that tie it together as a single, coherent field. For instance, all organisms are made up of cells that process hereditary i ...

Loughborough University Loughborough University (abbreviated as ''Lough'' or ''Lboro'' for post-nominals) is a public research university in the market town of Loughborough, Leicestershire, England. It has been a university since 1966, but it dates back to 1909, when L ...

and became a teacher at

Hellesdon High School Hellesdon High School is a secondary school and sixth form with academy status in Hellesdon, Norfolk, England. The school is part of the Wensum Trust. The headmaster duties are shared between Tom Rolfe & Mike Earl. The school incorporates 1, ...

, in

. He returned to football by playing for Great Yarmouth Town for eight years and became involved in coaching youngsters at

. Sutton was also actively involved with

Drayton Cricket Club Drayton may refer to: People * Drayton (surname) Legal cases * '' United States v. Drayton'', 536 U.S. 194 (2002) Places Australia *Drayton, Queensland, a locality in the Toowoomba Region *Shire of Drayton, a former local government area in Quee ...

for many years, including a spell as club chairman from 2003 to 2005.

Death

Sutton died on 26 December 2020, aged 76. He had suffered from

dementia Dementia is a disorder which manifests as a set of related symptoms, which usually surfaces when the brain is damaged by injury or disease. The symptoms involve progressive impairments in memory, thinking, and behavior, which negatively affe ...

for the past decade. His son

Chris Sutton Christopher Roy Sutton (born 10 March 1973) is an English former professional football player and manager. He later became a pundit and commentator for BT Sport, regularly working on their coverage of Scottish football. He is now also a pundi ...

had spoken about his father's condition as part of a campaign to persuade football authorities to do more to protect players from the effects of repeated heading of the ball.

External links

Drayton Cricket Club profile

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Sutton, Mike 1944 births 2020 deaths Footballers from Norwich English footballers Association football midfielders English Football League players Norwich City F.C. players Chester City F.C. players Carlisle United F.C. players Great Yarmouth Town F.C. players Alumni of Loughborough University Schoolteachers from Norfolk People from Horsford