‘Chris suggested I play in Scotland but I didn’t want to… now I realise you’d struggle to find a more football-obsessed nation’: John Sutton on the path that led him from Spurs to today’s Premier Sports Cup semi-finalists

The sun is shining, the man is smiling and the verdict is unsurprising. ‘I still have the joy,’ says John Sutton.

He is sitting in a cafe in Maryhill, just up the road from his home and not far from the Firhill Complex where some of the activities of the John Sutton Community Club take place.

‘I always enjoyed it. I still do,’ he says of football. ‘My dad was big into fitness and we spent our time running through woods, playing two-touch football, heady tennis with Chris in the gym,’ he says. One may have heard of Chris, he played a bit of football, too.

He was instrumental in the development of his younger brother and, indeed, his decision to come to Scotland in 2003. John liked it so much he played for Raith Rovers, Dundee, St Johnstone, Morton and Hearts. 

More pertinently, given today’s League Cup semi-final, he signed for St Mirren, twice (2005-2007, 2016-2018) and Motherwell, twice (2008-2011, 2013-2015).

‘Initially I didn’t want to come up,’ he admits. ‘I was at Tottenham Hotspur and you generally go to League One or Two from there. But ITV digital had gone bust and there was no money in the lower leagues.

‘My brother suggested I come up here as an alternative. I came to Raith Rovers and absolutely loved it from the off. You would be hard pressed to find a more football-obsessed nation. The atmosphere and the passion for the game up here is unsurpassed in my experience.’

It is interesting to reflect that Sutton played for Motherwell when they finished second in the league. The club also played five consecutive seasons in Europe from 2008. His experiences at St Mirren were tougher, trying to win promotion and fighting to avoid relegation.

Sutton, now 41, relished it all. He was a technically proficient, physical centre forward. He also had a pedigree with more than a hint of glamour. ‘The best player I was on the pitch with was Jermaine Pennant,’ he says of his time as a player in the England under-age set-up.

‘He would get the ball, run the length of the pitch and score. It was as if it was nothing. We played Everton in the youth cup and they had Wayne Rooney in the semi. I thought: ‘’He is going to be unbelievable, but Jermaine Pennant…’ Pennant went on to play for such as Arsenal and Liverpool.

Sutton was in the youth set-up at Spurs when George Graham was manager. ‘He would tell you to face Sol Campbell. That is when you realise: ‘’I am not big and strong. I have to work harder”.’

Another lesson was learned from Neil Lennon, with whom he played at Wycombe Wanderers. ‘Yes, he moaned,’ recalls Sutton. ‘But he inspired you and he taught you lessons. He encouraged, he organised. Smashing guy.’

In a week that has seen the Scottish Football Association abandon their elite schools programme, Sutton is asked for his thoughts on the matter. He coaches a series of under-age teams, but admits: ‘I don’t know what the answer is to bring more kids through to the top level.’

He is, however, a strong advocate of what worked for him. ‘I was lucky. My brother was a British transfer record holder and I learned from him. But the environment in those days was different, too. 

‘I used to train with Peter Crouch, Ledley King. Standards were so high. You were being pitched in with older players.

‘That has all gone. There is a kind of segregation. Academies train separately. Kids don’t clean boots any more. When I cleaned the boots, it was terrific. 

‘You picked up the boots and chatted with the first team. You experienced that environment, you saw what was going on.’

He is far from welded to the imperative of rising to the top at all costs. He believes the game is about much more than that. ‘It is about enjoying it, loving it. That’s what I get from it and I want to extend that to other people. 

‘People get carried away with winning or losing. It’s great to win but enjoying yourself is more important. That’s what I try to instill in the kids.

‘We also have a walking football programme on Fridays. There is a guy in his eighties playing. There are people there who had never met before they came along. They now text each other, have a natter. They have become friends.’

There will be no apparent friendship on the pitch at Hampden today. Sutton believes the stakes are enhanced. ‘I genuinely believe whoever wins will think they have a chance in the final given what is happening at Rangers and Celtic,’ he says. ‘Incidentally, another of my former teams, Hearts, could win the league.’

Sutton won a Bell’s Cup with St Mirren in 2005, scoring in a 2-1 win over Hamilton Academical, and holds it in high regard. ‘There are players who go through their careers and win nothing. I value that cup,’ he says.

He also reflects with pride on his spells at Motherwell. ‘We had a bit of a swagger about us. The manager at that time was Mark McGhee and he expected us to go toe to toe with Celtic or Rangers. He emphasised that he wanted us to be on the front foot.

‘This was exemplified by what he used to say to Stephen Hughes, who once played for Rangers, of course. If he was against Pedro Mendes, Mark would say to him: ‘’You are a better player than him. Run him off the park, pass him off the park’’. That was the attitude.’

He was also coached at Motherwell by Stephen Robinson, now St Mirren manager. ‘I was always impressed by him,’ says Sutton. ‘Motherwell always had a bit of free spirit but Robbo came in and changed that a wee bit. We went from playing a bit off the cuff to being structured. 

‘Robbo’s teams have hallmarks. They all know their job, don’t over-commit in forward areas, are difficult to beat. He got to two cup finals with Motherwell and had top-six finishes.’

Sutton, too, got to a cup final with Motherwell, losing to Celtic in the Scottish Cup at Hampden in 2011. ‘I was dubbed the No 2, because I lost in a cup final, we finished second in the league and I finished second top goalscorer in Scotland,’ he says. It does not seem to haunt him.

‘I was lucky and it was a great time,’ he says.

He will not be drawn on the ultimate winners today. ‘I was at the game when they played each other at the start of the season. I thought Motherwell played the better football, were more fluid. But St Mirren will have learned from that and, after all, it was a draw so I think it will be very close at Hampden.’

Sutton loved the culture of both sets of fans when he played for their respective sides. ‘There was a real community feel. In many ways, what I am doing now is just a continuation of that.’

He adds: ‘I love the city of Glasgow. I love living in it. We have a wee football pitch around the corner from where I live. Everyone goes there and has a kickabout.’

The culture of fans does remind him of the serious business of professional football. ‘I never thought it was a chore. I wanted to get better all the time. 

‘I loved to stay out doing shooting, heady tennis. I loved going to the gym in the morning. I loved the dressing room. The charity is all about bringing that to others.’

With that he takes a last sip of tea and ventures out into the sun. Work beckons but, in truth, he is heading for an appointment with joy.