Craig Stephen Sutherland (born 17 December 1988) 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 ...

. He began his career in the United States playing

college soccer College soccer, called college football in some countries, is played by teams composed of soccer players who are enrolled in colleges and universities. While it is most widespread in the United States, it is also prominent in Japan, South Kore ...

for

Midwestern State University Midwestern State University (MSU Texas) is a public liberal arts university in Wichita Falls, Texas. As of Fall 2024, MSU Texas enrolled 5,324 students. It is the state's only public institution focused on the liberal arts. History Founded in ...

and

North Carolina State University North Carolina State University (NC State, North Carolina State, NC State University, or NCSU) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Raleigh, North Carolina, United States. Founded in 1887 and p ...

. Sutherland played 16 times 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, it is the oldest football league in the world, and was the top-level football league in England from ...

for

Blackpool Blackpool is a seaside town in Lancashire, England. It is located on the Irish Sea coast of the Fylde peninsula, approximately north of Liverpool and west of Preston, Lancashire, Preston. It is the main settlement in the Borough of Blackpool ...

and

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 ...

between 2011 and 2012. He has also played for

Woking Woking ( ) is a town and borough status in the United Kingdom, borough in north-west Surrey, England, around from central London. It appears in Domesday Book as ''Wochinges'', and its name probably derives from that of a Anglo-Saxon settleme ...

, Queen's Park,

Cowdenbeath Cowdenbeath () is a town and burgh in west Fife, Scotland. It is north-east of Dunfermline and north of the capital, Edinburgh. The town grew up around the extensive coalfields of the area and became a police burgh in 1890. According to a 20 ...

Stenhousemuir Stenhousemuir (; ) is a town in the Central Lowlands of Scotland. It lies within the Falkirk council area of Scotland. The town is north-northwest of Falkirk and directly adjoins to Larbert in the west, where the nearest rail access is located ...

and East Fife.

Career

Sutherland played for

Spartans Sparta was a prominent city-state in Laconia in ancient Greece. In antiquity, the city-state was known as Lacedaemon (), while the name Sparta referred to its main settlement in the valley of Evrotas river in Laconia, in southeastern P ...

at youth level between 2006 and 2007 before moving to the United States to begin a soccer scholarship in

Texas Texas ( , ; or ) is the most populous U.S. state, state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. It borders Louisiana to the east, Arkansas to the northeast, Oklahoma to the north, New Mexico to the we ...

. Sutherland joined

on 26 July 2011 from North Carolina State University. He made his debut on 5 August as a substitute in Blackpool's single-goal

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 sys ...

victory at

Hull City Hull City Association Football Club is a professional association football club based in Kingston upon Hull, East Riding of Yorkshire, England. They compete in the , the second level of the English football league system. They play their home ...

in the opening game of the

2011–12 Football League The 2011–12 Football League (known as the npower Football League for sponsorship reasons) was the 113th season of the Football League. It began in August 2011 and concluded in May 2012, with the promotion play-off finals. The Football League ...

season. His first start came six days later, in the first round of the League Cup against

Sheffield Wednesday Sheffield Wednesday Football Club is a professional association football club based in Sheffield, South Yorkshire, England. They compete in the EFL Championship, the second level of the English football league system. Formed in 1867 as an off ...

at Hillsborough. On 16 November he joined League Two side

on loan for two months, joining teammate

Paul Bignot Paul Junior Bignot (born 14 February 1986) is an English former professional footballer who played as a defender. He played in the Football League with Crewe Alexandra, Blackpool, Plymouth Argyle and Grimsby Town and Newport County, and in N ...

, who had also signed on loan two weeks earlier. His made his debut three days later in a 3–1 defeat away to

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 ...

. He went close to scoring his first senior goal in his third appearance for ''the Pilgrims'', in a 1–1 draw with

Bradford City Bradford City Association Football Club is an English professional football club in Bradford, West Yorkshire. The club competes in , the third tier of English football, and is managed by Graham Alexander. The club was founded in 1903 and ...

Valley Parade Valley Parade, currently known as University of Bradford Stadium for sponsorship reasons, is an all-seater association football, football stadium in Bradford, West Yorkshire, England. The stadium was built in 1886 as the home of Manningham F.C. ...

on 10 December. A shot from

Simon Walton Simon William Walton (born 13 September 1987) is an English footballer who most recently played as a midfielder for Havant & Waterlooville. He has played in the Football League for Leeds United, Ipswich Town, Cardiff City, Queens Park Rangers ...

took a deflection in the crowded penalty area and Sutherland was credited with the goal by the

Press Association PA Media (formerly the Press Association) is a multimedia news agency A news agency is an organization that gathers news reports and sells them to subscribing news organizations, such as newspapers, magazines and All-news radio, radio and ...

, however the deflection actually came off a Bradford defender. "Craig said he didn't touch it. It might have been one of the defenders, but, as far as I understand it, it's only an own goal if it is not on target, and it was going in," said Walton. "Craig said, while we were celebrating, 'It's your goal' so I'll take it." The goal remained credited to Sutherland at the end of the season. Sutherland returned to Blackpool at the end of January 2012, having made nine appearances for Argyle. He was released at the end of the 2012–13 season without making another first team appearance. Sutherland then spent time on trial at

Rangers A ranger is typically someone in a law enforcement or military/paramilitary role specializing in patrolling a given territory, called "ranging" or "scouting". The term most often refers to: * Park ranger or forest ranger, a person charged with prot ...

before signing for

. In March 2014, Sutherland went on trial at

Dundee Dundee (; ; or , ) is the List of towns and cities in Scotland by population, fourth-largest city in Scotland. The mid-year population estimate for the locality was . It lies within the eastern central Lowlands on the north bank of the Firt ...

. After registration issues stopped him joining Dundee, he signed for

Scottish League Two The Scottish League Two, known as William Hill (bookmaker), William Hill League Two for sponsorship reasons, is the fourth tier of the Scottish Professional Football League, the league competition for men's professional association football, foo ...

club Queen's Park until the end of the 2013–14 season. On 25 July 2014, Sutherland signed for

Scottish Championship The Scottish Championship known as the William Hill (bookmaker), William Hill Championship for sponsorship reasons, is the second tier of the Scottish Professional Football League, the league competition for men's professional association footb ...

club

. On 23 January 2015, Sutherland joined

, signing a contract until the end of the 2014–15 season. He was released by the club at the end of the season. Sutherland then signed for East Fife on 23 July 2015, making eight appearances before leaving the club in October 2015.

Personal life

Sutherland was born in

Edinburgh Edinburgh is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 Council areas of Scotland, council areas. The city is located in southeast Scotland and is bounded to the north by the Firth of Forth and to the south by the Pentland Hills. Edinburgh ...

. After attending

George Watson's College George Watson's College is a co-educational Private schools in the United Kingdom, private day school in Scotland, situated on Colinton Road, in the Merchiston area of Edinburgh. It was first established as a Scottish education in the eighteenth ...

in Edinburgh, he moved to the United States in 2007 to begin a soccer scholarship at Midwestern State University. He played for Great Britain in the

2009 Summer Universiade The 2009 Summer Universiade, officially known as the XXV Summer Universiade, was celebrated in Belgrade, Serbia from July 1 to 12, 2009. The event has also been organised by a range of co-host cities mostly in Vojvodina (Serbian Autonomous Provin ...

football tournament, held in

Serbia , image_flag = Flag of Serbia.svg , national_motto = , image_coat = Coat of arms of Serbia.svg , national_anthem = () , image_map = , map_caption = Location of Serbia (gree ...

. In the opening group game he scored a late equaliser in a 2–2 draw with Mexico at the

Omladinski Stadium Omladinski Stadium ( sr-Cyrl, Омладински стадион, lit=Youth's Stadium) is a multi-purpose stadium in Belgrade, Serbia. It is currently used mostly for football matches and is the home ground of OFK Beograd. The stadium is capab ...

, Belgrade. After two years at Midwestern he then moved to North Carolina State University, where he played for a further two years.

Career statistics

References

External links

*
Craig Sutherland profile
at North Carolina State Wolfpack's website {{DEFAULTSORT:Sutherland, Craig 1988 births Living people Footballers from Edinburgh Scottish men's footballers Men's association football forwards Midwestern State Mustangs men's soccer players NC State Wolfpack men's soccer players Blackpool F.C. players Plymouth Argyle F.C. players Woking F.C. players Queen's Park F.C. players Cowdenbeath F.C. players Stenhousemuir F.C. players East Fife F.C. players English Football League players Scottish Professional Football League players Midwestern State University alumni North Carolina State University alumni People educated at George Watson's College 21st-century Scottish sportsmen