Sam Harry Sutton (born 10 December 2001) is a New Zealand 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 left-back for

A-League Men A-League Men (known as the Isuzu UTE A-League for sponsorship reasons) is the highest-level professional men's soccer league in Australia and New Zealand. At the top of the Australian league system, it is the country's premier men's competiti ...

club Wellington Phoenix.

Club career

Wellington Phoenix Reserves

Sutton joined the Wellington Phoenix as part of their academy in 2016 after moving down from Auckland. He started playing for the Wellington Phoenix Reserves in the

New Zealand Football Championship The New Zealand Football Championship ( mi, Te Whakataetae Whutupaoro a Aotearoa) was a men's association football league at the top of the New Zealand league system. Founded in 2004, the New Zealand Football Championship was the successor to a m ...

in the 2016–17 season, making 4 appearances with 2 starts. His debut in the national league was two weeks before he turned 15 when he came on in their away game against

Southern United Southern United, previously known as Otago United, is a semi-professional football club based in Dunedin, New Zealand. Founded in 2004, they play their home games at the Logan Park and Forsyth Barr Stadium. It is the southernmost football clu ...

with the team leading 1–0 and looking for their first back-to-back wins in the reserve team's history.

Wellington Phoenix

Sutton started training with the first team players during pre-season July 2019. On 21 December 2019, Sutton made his A-League debut as a stoppage time substitute in the Phoenix 2–2 draw against

Sydney FC Sydney Football Club is an Australian professional soccer club based in Sydney, New South Wales. It competes in the country's premier men's competition, A-League Men, under licence from Australian Professional Leagues (APL). The club was fo ...

Sydney Sydney ( ) is the capital city of the state of New South Wales, and the most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Sydney Harbour and extends about towards the Blue Mountain ...

. He followed that up with another 25 mins and his

Sky Stadium Wellington Regional Stadium (known commercially as Sky Stadium through naming rights) is a major sporting venue in Wellington, New Zealand. The stadium's bowl site size is . The stadium was built in 1999 by Fletcher Construction and is situa ...

home debut against Western Sydney Wanderers Sutton got his first start on the 25 July 2020 in a 1–1 draw with Adelaide United playing for 60 minutes in an attacking midfield role. With young teammates Callan Elliot and

Te Atawhai Hudson-Wihongi Te Atawhai Maurice Hudson-Wihongi (born 27 March 1995) is a New Zealand footballer who currently plays for Southern Football League Division One Central club Walthamstow. He has also played for the New Zealand national football team. Career ...

also starting alongside Sutton, the starting XI in this match was the youngest in club history, with an average age of 25.02 years. On the 29 October 2020, Sutton signed a three-year deal with the Phoenix, his first professional contract with the club. On 21 March 2022, Sutton extended his contract with the Phoenix for a further two years until the end of the 2024–25 season.

Personal life

Sutton grew up on Auckland's North Shore and played for

East Coast Bays East Coast Bays is a string of small suburbs that form the northernmost part of the North Shore, part of the contiguous Auckland metropolitan area in New Zealand. The suburbs line the north-east coast of the city along the shore of the Haurak ...

as a junior. He was spotted by Wellington Phoenix's Academy Director Paul Temple at 12 years old and was asked to attend the Academy. After moving to Wellington with his family, Sutton enrolled at

Wellington College Wellington College may refer to: *Wellington College, Berkshire, an independent school in Crowthorne, Berkshire, England ** Wellington College International Shanghai ** Wellington College International Tianjin *Wellington College, Wellington, New Z ...

while training with the Phoenix academy.

International career

On 12 July 2021, Sutton made his debut for the New Zealand U23's in a pre-Olympic friendly against

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...

. Sutton scored his first goal for the New Zealand U23's from the penalty spot, in a 2–0 win over

China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's most populous country, with a population exceeding 1.4 billion, slightly ahead of India. China spans the equivalent of five time zones and ...

on 23 March 2023. He was also named captain for this first time during this game.

Career statistics

Club

International

Honours

New Zealand * OFC Nations Cup:

2024 Predicted and scheduled events * January 1 ** In the United States, books, films, and other works published in 1928 will enter the public domain, assuming there are no changes made to copyright law. ***''Steamboat Willie'', Walt Disney's fi ...

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Sutton, Sam 2001 births Living people New Zealand men's association footballers Wellington Phoenix FC players Men's association football defenders People educated at Wellington College, Wellington Association footballers from Auckland Footballers at the 2020 Summer Olympics Olympic association footballers for New Zealand New Zealand Football Championship players 2024 OFC Men's Nations Cup players OFC Nations Cup-winning players Footballers at the 2024 Summer Olympics