Samuel Edward Hutchinson (born 3 August 1989) is an English 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 primarily plays as a

centre-back In the sport of association football, a defender is an outfield position whose primary role is to stop attacks during the game and prevent the opposition from scoring. Centre-backs are usually positioned in pairs, with one full-back on either s ...

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 club

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 ...

Early and personal life

Hutchinson was born in

Windsor, Berkshire Windsor is a historic market town and unparished area in the Royal Borough of Windsor and Maidenhead in Berkshire, England. It is the site of Windsor Castle, one of the official residences of the British monarch. The town is situated west of ...

, in

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

. He is the son of Eddie Hutchinson, who had played for Chelsea's youth team, before a career in

non-League football Non-League football describes football leagues played outside the top leagues of a country. Usually, it describes leagues which are not fully professional. The term is primarily used for football in England, where it is specifically used to de ...

. As of June 2019, Hutchinson had one daughter and two sons with his wife, Jennifer.

Club career

Chelsea

Hutchinson joined the Chelsea Academy at the age of nine, and made his senior debut in May 2007, at the age of 17. Hutchinson signed a new four-year contract in August 2007. Later that month,

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, ...

manager

Ian Holloway Ian Scott Holloway (born 12 March 1963) is an English professional football manager, former player, media personality and television pundit who was most recently the manager of Grimsby Town. A midfielder, he notably played in the Premier League ...

announced his interest in signing Hutchinson on loan. Hutchinson retired from professional football at the age of 21 in August 2010, due to a recurring knee injury. In December 2011 he came out of retirement and signed a new one-and-a-half-year contract with Chelsea following a "significant improvement" with his knee. He made his return as a substitute on 29 April in a 6–1 win over

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 ...

. In August 2012, Hutchinson joined

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 a season-long loan deal.

Loan to Nottingham Forest

On 16 August 2012, Hutchinson signed on loan for

Football League Championship The English Football League Championship (often referred to as the Championship for short or the Sky Bet Championship for sponsorship purposes) is the highest division of the English Football League (EFL) and second-highest overall in the En ...

side

. He made his debut on 21 August, in a 1–1 draw away to

Huddersfield Town Huddersfield Town Association Football Club is a professional football club based in Huddersfield, West Yorkshire, England, which compete in the . The team have played home games at the Kirklees Stadium since moving from Leeds Road in 1994. The ...

. He scored on his home debut in a 2–1 win against

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 ...

on 1 September 2012. Following another knee injury, Hutchinson went back to Chelsea in September for an injection that was intended to clear up the problem by the October international break; the treatment did not work and he was still out through mid-December, missing fifteen games. After a long break, Hutchinson returned to training with Forest at the beginning of the March 2013.

Loan to Vitesse

On 2 September 2013, Hutchinson joined Dutch club

Vitesse Arnhem Vitesse may refer to: * Vitesse Models, a diecast model car company * Vitesse (band), Dutch rock band * Bugatti Veyron Grand Sport Vitesse, a car * Rover 216 Vitesse, a car * Rover 3500 Vitesse, a car * Rover 800 Vitesse, a car * Triumph Vites ...

on a season-long loan. On 31 October he made his debut for the club in a league cup game against

VV Noordwijk Voetbalvereniging Noordwijk is a Dutch football club founded in 1933, based in Noordwijk. It currently competes in the Tweede Divisie. History VV Noordwijk was founded on 4 March 1933. 1940s–1960s: Vierde, Derde, and Tweede Klasse During ...

which Vitesse won 5–0. Hutchinson made his league debut on 2 November in a 1–0 win over

Ajax Ajax may refer to: Greek mythology and tragedy * Ajax the Great, a Greek mythological hero, son of King Telamon and Periboea * Ajax the Lesser, a Greek mythological hero, son of Oileus, the king of Locris * ''Ajax'' (play), by the ancient Greek ...

coming on as a late substitute. On 2 January 2014 it was announced that he was recalled from his loan spell. Sam_Hutchinson_2013

Sheffield Wednesday

On 14 February 2014, Hutchinson 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 ...

side

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 ...

on a 28-day loan. On 14 March 2014, Hutchinson extended his loan with the "Owls" until 9 April 2014. On 23 May 2014, Chelsea released Hutchinson and made him available for free transfer. Hutchinson signed a permanent two-year contract with Sheffield Wednesday, on 8 July 2014. In the 2016–17 season, Hutchinson picked up three Player of the Month awards, before signing a new two-and-a-half-year contract in January 2017. On 24 June 2020, it was announced that he would leave the club when his contract expired on 30 June 2020.

Pafos

On 21 September 2020, following his release from Sheffield Wednesday, Hutchinson joined

Cypriot Cypriot (in older sources often "Cypriote") refers to someone or something of, from, or related to the country of Cyprus. * Cypriot people, or of Cypriot descent; this includes: **Armenian Cypriots **Greek Cypriots **Maronite Cypriots **Turkish C ...

club

Pafos Paphos ( el, Πάφος ; tr, Baf) is a coastal city in southwest Cyprus and the capital of Paphos District. In classical antiquity, two locations were called Paphos: Old Paphos, today known as Kouklia, and New Paphos. The current city of Pap ...

. After 7 appearances in all competitions, it was announced that his contract has been terminated on 26 December 2020, following links that he could be about to return to his old club Sheffield Wednesday.

Return to Sheffield Wednesday

After speculation linking him with a return to Sheffield Wednesday, he signed for the club on 25 January 2021. He would make his third debut against

Coventry City Coventry City Football Club is a professional association football club based in Coventry, West Midlands (county), West Midlands, England. The team currently compete in the EFL Championship, Championship, the second tier of the English footbal ...

a few days later. His first goal on his return to the club would be against

Derby County Derby County Football Club () is a professional association football club based in Derby, Derbyshire, England. In 2022, it was announced that DCFC was acquired by Clowes Developments (UK) Ltd, a Derbyshire-based property group. Founded in 1884 ...

on the final day of the season, but the result would eventually see Sheffield Wednesday relegated back 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 ...

. After playing 22 games and only missing one match on his return to the club, it was reported that he had triggered a one-year option in his contract due to the number of games he had played, which was confirmed by the club on 20 May 2021. On 21 May 2022, it was confirmed he would leave the club following the expiration of his contract.

Reading

Hutchinson had a trial with Championship club

in July 2022, training with the first team and playing in a few pre-season

friendlies An exhibition game (also known as a friendly, a scrimmage, a demonstration, a preseason game, a warmup match, or a preparation match, depending at least in part on the sport) is a sporting event whose prize money and impact on the player's or ...

. After impressing manager

Paul Ince Paul Emerson Carlyle Ince (; born 21 October 1967) is an English professional football manager and former player who is the current manager of EFL Championship side Reading. A former midfielder, Ince played professionally from 1982 to 2007, star ...

, Hutchinson signed a two-year contract on 20 July 2022, which runs till June 2024.

International career

Hutchinson played for England at under-18 and under-19 youth international level; he missed the

2008 UEFA European Under-19 Football Championship The final tournament of the 2008 UEFA European Under-19 Championship was the 24th UEFA European Under-19 Championship, UEFA's premier competition for players under the age of 19. The tournament was held in the Czech Republic with matches played fro ...

tournament through injury, and would have been the country's captain. Hutchinson was called up to the England under-21 squad on 1 October 2009 for the European Championship qualifier against Macedonia, but withdrew injured.

Style of play

Hutchinson broke through as a defender. His manager at Forest,

Sean O'Driscoll Sean Michael O'Driscoll (born 1 July 1957) is a former professional footballer and manager. He has previously managed AFC Bournemouth, Doncaster Rovers, Crawley Town, Nottingham Forest, Bristol City and Walsall. He was known by the nickname "N ...

, remarked that Hutchinson "can play right-back or right centre-half", adding "he's a bit

John Terry John George Terry (born 7 December 1980) is an English professional football coach and former player who played as a centre-back. He was previously captain of Chelsea, the England national team and Aston Villa. He was most recently the assi ...

-esque". However, during his time at Sheffield Wednesday, he evolved into "an old-fashioned midfielder who marauds into tackles"; Hutchinson believes that since the recovery from his knee injury, he has become "even more full-blooded". After his trio of Player of the Month accolades in 2016–17, ''

the Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers ''The Observer'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the Gu ...

'' referred to him as "probably Wednesday's best player ..and one of the best midfielders in the Championship".

Career statistics

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Hutchinson, Sam 1989 births Living people Sportspeople from Windsor, Berkshire English men's footballers Men's association football defenders England men's youth international footballers Chelsea F.C. players Nottingham Forest F.C. players SBV Vitesse players Sheffield Wednesday F.C. players Pafos FC players Premier League players English Football League players Eredivisie players Cypriot First Division players English expatriate men's footballers English expatriate sportspeople in the Netherlands Expatriate men's footballers in the Netherlands English expatriate sportspeople in Cyprus Expatriate men's footballers in Cyprus Footballers from Berkshire Reading F.C. players