Blair David Sturrock (born 25 August 1981) is a Scottish former 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 lea ...

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) ** Smal ...

. His previous clubs include

Dundee United Dundee United Football Club is a Scotland, Scottish professional association football, football club based in the city of Dundee. Formed in 1909, originally as Dundee Hibernian, the club changed to the present name in 1923. United are nickname ...

Brechin City Brechin City Football Club is a Scottish football club based in the townDespite the name of the football club, Brechin is not an official city. Brechin was historically known as a city because it has a cathedral. of Brechin in Angus. The club w ...

Plymouth Argyle Plymouth Argyle Football Club is a professional association football club based in the city of Plymouth, Devon, England. The team currently competes in EFL League One, the third level of the English football league system. The club has played ...

Kidderminster Harriers Kidderminster Harriers Football Club are a professional association football club based in Kidderminster, Worcestershire, England. The team competes in the National League North, the sixth level of the English football league system. Formed in ...

Rochdale Rochdale ( ) is a town in Greater Manchester, England, and the administrative centre of the Metropolitan Borough of Rochdale. In the United Kingdom 2021 Census, 2021 Census, the town had a population of 111,261, compared to 223,773 for the wid ...

Swindon Town Swindon Town Football Club is a professional association football club based in Swindon, Wiltshire, England. The team, known as the "Robins", currently compete in , the fourth level of the English football league system. Founded as Swindon A ...

AFC Bournemouth AFC Bournemouth ( ) is a professional association football club based in Kings Park, Boscombe, a suburb of Bournemouth, Dorset, England. The club compete in the Premier League, the top tier of English football league system, English football. ...

Torquay United Torquay United Football Club is a professional association football club based in Torquay, Devon, England. The team currently compete in the National League South, the sixth level of the English football league system. They have played their ho ...

, Mansfield Town,

Southend United Southend United Football Club is a professional association football club based in Southend-on-Sea, Essex, England, which competes in the National League, the fifth level of English football. The team are known as "The Shrimpers", a reference ...

. His father,

Paul Sturrock Paul Whitehead Sturrock (born 10 October 1956) is a Scottish former football coach and former player. As a player, Sturrock spent his entire senior career with Dundee United, making more than five hundred appearances between 1974 and 1989. He w ...

, a former player who was a Scotland international was also the

Manager Management (or managing) is the administration of organizations, whether businesses, nonprofit organizations, or a government bodies through business administration, nonprofit management, or the political science sub-field of public administra ...

signing Blair and then ultimately releasing him.

Career

Dundee United

Sturrock started off as a trainee for Dundee United before briefly going on loan to Brechin City in the 2000–01 season.

Plymouth Argyle

He then moved to Plymouth for three years and made 64 appearances for the club during the years 2001–2004, but mostly as a substitute. He scored two goals in his time at Plymouth.

Kidderminster Harriers

He then moved to Kidderminster Harriers in 2004 where he spent nine months, playing 22 games and scoring five goals.

Rochdale

Nine months after signing for Kidderminster he signed for Rochdale for the 2005–06 season where he made 33 appearances, scoring six goals in 15 starts for the club. He later got a knee injury that ended his spell at the club and was released. After being released by Rochdale, Sturrock had a short trial with

Wrexham Wrexham ( ; ) is a city status in the United Kingdom, city in the North East Wales, north-east of Wales. It lies between the Cambrian Mountains, Welsh mountains and the lower River Dee, Wales, Dee Valley, near the England–Wales border, borde ...

in July.

Swindon Town

In November 2006, Sturrock signed for Swindon Town the club his father was the manager of. Having overcome a groin injury, he made 25 appearances for the Wiltshire club in his first season scoring five goals, with 12 starts. Sturrock made his debut as a second-half substitute in a 2–1 defeat at

Macclesfield Town Macclesfield Town Football Club was an association football club based in Macclesfield, Cheshire, England. Initially known as Macclesfield F.C., the club was formed in 1874 and from 1891 played home games at Moss Rose. It competed in the short ...

on 23 December, his first goal coming in mid-January, when he netted within seconds of coming on to wrap up a 3–1 win at Boston. He then later signed a contract extension to take him through to the end of the 2008–09 season. He was released by Swindon in May 2009.

Mansfield Town

On 1 September 2009, Blair signed for

Conference National The National League, officially known as Vanarama National League for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in England. The National League is the first division of the National League (English football), National Le ...

outfit Mansfield Town after leaving Torquay United, signing on the first transfer deadline day of the 2009–10 football season. He made his debut as a substitute in the 1–1 draw with Grays Athletic on 5 September 2009.

Southend United

Sturrock signed for Southend United during the summer of 2010, the fourth time he has signed for a club managed by his father,

. On 7 August, he made his debut, coming off the bench to score the equaliser in the fifth minute of injury time against

Stockport County Stockport County Football Club is a professional association football club based in Stockport, Greater Manchester, England. The team competes in EFL League One, the third tier of the English football league system. Formed in 1883 as Heaton ...

, in the 1–1 draw. On 25 September, Sturrock scored in a 3–1 win over

Hereford United Hereford United Football Club was an association football club based in Hereford, England. They played at Edgar Street for their entire history. They were nicknamed 'The Whites' or 'The Lilywhites', after their predominantly white kit, or 'Th ...

, and again in Southend's 1–0 win over

Rotherham Rotherham ( ) is a market town in South Yorkshire, England. It lies at the confluence of the River Rother, South Yorkshire, River Rother, from which the town gets its name, and the River Don, Yorkshire, River Don. It is the largest settlement ...

on 30 October. Sturrock scored a consolation goal in Southend's 3–1 defeat against

Burton Albion Burton Albion Football Club is a professional association football club in the town of Burton upon Trent, Staffordshire, England. The team competes in League One, the third level of the English football league system. The club moved its home g ...

. On 31 June 2011, Sturrock extended his contract with Southend until the end of the 2011–12 season. On 18 May 2012, Sturrock was one of eleven players to be released at the end of their contract.

After Southend

On 16 October 2012 Blair signed for

Conference North The National League North, officially known as Vanarama National League North for sponsorship reasons, is a professional Association football league in England. National League North is the second division of the National Leagues and step 2 o ...

side,

Bishop's Stortford Bishop's Stortford is a historic market town and civil parish in the East Hertfordshire district, in the county of Hertfordshire, England. It is in the London metropolitan area, London commuter belt, near the border with Essex, just west of the ...

. Following his spell at Bishop's Stortford, Sturrock joined

Essex Senior League The Essex Senior Football League is an English men's football league. It contains clubs from the Essex FA, Hertfordshire FA, London FA, Middlesex FA and the Amateur Football Alliance. It is a feeder league to Division One North of the Isthmia ...

side

Basildon United Basildon United Football Club is a football club based in Basildon, Essex. They are currently members of the and play at Gardiners Close. History Basildon United's roots go back to 1955, when a club named Armada Sports was formed, joining Divis ...

as Assistant Manager. For the 2013 summer season, Blair signed for the

Victoria Highlanders Victoria Highlanders FC is a Canadian association football, soccer team based in Victoria, British Columbia, Canada. The club was founded in 2008. The team had played in the American USL League Two from 2009 to 2019 (except 2015) and in League ...

of the North American

USL PDL USL League Two (USL2), formerly the Premier Development League (PDL), is a semi-professional soccer league sponsored by United Soccer Leagues in the United States, forming part of the United States soccer league system. The league will feature ...

league, moving to Canada to be a player-coach for the club.

Honours

Plymouth Argyle

* 2001–02

Division Three The Football League Third Division was the third tier of the English football league system in 1920–21 and again from 1958 until 1992. When the FA Premier League was formed, the Third Division become the fourth tier of English football. In 2 ...

Champions * 2003–04 Division Two Champions

Swindon Town

* 2006–07 League Two 3rd Place – Promotion

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Sturrock, Blair 1981 births Living people Footballers from Dundee Men's association football forwards Scottish men's footballers Scottish expatriate men's footballers Dundee United F.C. players Brechin City F.C. players Plymouth Argyle F.C. players Kidderminster Harriers F.C. players Rochdale A.F.C. players Swindon Town F.C. players AFC Bournemouth players Torquay United F.C. players Mansfield Town F.C. players Southend United F.C. players Bishop's Stortford F.C. players Basildon United F.C. players Victoria Highlanders FC players Expatriate men's soccer players in Canada Scottish Football League players English Football League players USL League Two players Scottish expatriate sportspeople in Canada 21st-century Scottish sportsmen