Liam Robert Bridcutt (born 8 May 1989) is a 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

defensive midfielder In the sport of association football, a midfielder takes an outfield position primarily in the middle of the pitch. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in that case known as defensive midfielders. ...

. He is a coach at

National League National League often refers to: *National League (baseball), one of the two baseball leagues constituting Major League Baseball in the United States and Canada *National League (division), the fifth division of the English football (soccer) system ...

side

Gateshead Gateshead () is a town in the Gateshead Metropolitan Borough of Tyne and Wear, England. It is on the River Tyne's southern bank. The town's attractions include the twenty metre tall Angel of the North sculpture on the town's southern outskirts, ...

. Born in England, he represented the Scotland national team. Bridcutt started his career with Chelsea, but did not make a league appearance for the London club. He was loaned to Yeovil Town,

Watford Watford () is a town and non-metropolitan district with Borough status in the United Kingdom, borough status in Hertfordshire, England, northwest of Central London, on the banks of the River Colne, Hertfordshire, River Colne. Initially a smal ...

and

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 ...

, before moving to

Brighton & Hove Albion Brighton & Hove Albion Football Club, commonly referred to as Brighton, is a professional football club based in Brighton and Hove, East Sussex, England. The club competes in the Premier League, the top tier of English football. Their home gr ...

in 2010. He was a member of the Brighton side that won the League One title in the 2010–11 season. Bridcutt won back-to-back Player of the Year awards at Brighton, earning him a move to

Premier League The Premier League is a professional association football league in England and the highest level of the English football league system. Contested by 20 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation with the English Football Lea ...

side

Sunderland Sunderland () is a port City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in Tyne and Wear, England. It is a port at the mouth of the River Wear on the North Sea, approximately south-east of Newcastle upon Tyne. It is the most p ...

in 2014. He spent three seasons with the Wearside club before moving to

Leeds United Leeds United Football Club is a professional football club based in Leeds, West Yorkshire, England. The team compete in the Premier League, the top tier of the English football league system. Leeds United have won the League Championship th ...

following a successful loan spell. Bridcutt had spells with

Nottingham Forest Nottingham Forest Football Club is a professional association football club based in West Bridgford, Nottinghamshire, England. The club competes in the Premier League, the top tier of English football league system, English football. Founde ...

Bolton Wanderers Bolton Wanderers Football Club ( ) is a professional association football, football club based in Horwich, Metropolitan Borough of Bolton, Greater Manchester, England, which competes in EFL League One, League One, the third level of the Englis ...

, Lincoln City and

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 ...

before ending his playing career in 2024.

Club career

Chelsea

Born in

Reading, Berkshire Reading ( ) is a town and borough in Berkshire, England, and the county town of Berkshire. It is the United Kingdom's largest town, with a combined population of 355,596. Most of Reading built-up area, its built-up area lies within the Borough ...

, Bridcutt rose through the youth system at Chelsea, and signed a professional contract in the summer of 2007. He signed on

loan In finance, a loan is the tender of money by one party to another with an agreement to pay it back. The recipient, or borrower, incurs a debt and is usually required to pay interest for the use of the money. The document evidencing the deb ...

for Yeovil Town on 8 February 2008 and made his début against

Walsall Walsall (, or ; locally ) is a market town and administrative centre of the Metropolitan Borough of Walsall, in the West Midlands (county), West Midlands, England. Historic counties of England, Historically part of Staffordshire, it is located ...

the following day. He then moved to

on loan on 27 November 2008, making his début for the club against

Doncaster Rovers Doncaster Rovers Football Club is a professional association football club based in Doncaster, South Yorkshire, England. The team currently competes in EFL League One, the third level of the English football league system after winning the 202 ...

on 29 November 2008. On 14 August 2009, Bridcutt moved to

on loan until January 2010 and was sent off on his début in the 4–2 win at

. He scored his first professional goal whilst at Stockport during a

Football League Trophy The English Football League Trophy, officially known as the Vertu Trophy for sponsorship reasons, is an annual English football knockout competition open to all clubs in EFL League One and EFL League Two and U-21 teams from the Premier Le ...

game against

Port Vale Port Vale Football Club are a professional football club based in Burslem, Stoke-on-Trent, England, which compete in , the third tier of the English football league system. Vale are named after the valley of ports on the Trent and Mersey Canal ...

Brighton & Hove Albion

On 28 August 2010, Bridcutt signed a five-month contract with League One side Brighton & Hove Albion. On 5 November 2010, he signed a contract extension until the end of the season after impressing

Gus Poyet Gustavo Augusto Poyet Domínguez (; born 15 November 1967) is a Uruguayan professional football manager and former footballer who is the manager of K League 1 club Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors. Poyet played as a midfielder and began his career with s ...

especially against

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 ...

and

Peterborough United Peterborough United Football Club is a professional association football club based in Peterborough, Cambridgeshire, England. The team compete in League One, the third level of the English football league system. Peterborough United formed in ...

. Bridcutt scored his first goal in Albion colours in stoppage time of their 4–3 win over

Carlisle United Carlisle United Football Club ( , ) is a professional association football club based in Carlisle, Cumbria, England. The team currently compete in the National League, the fifth level of the English football league system. They have played their ...

. He followed this up with one of the goals in the 4–3 victory against

Dagenham & Redbridge Dagenham & Redbridge Football Club (), often known simply as Dagenham and abbreviated when written to Dag & Red, is a professional association football club based in Dagenham, Greater London, England that play in the , the sixth level of the En ...

which led to Brighton's promotion to the

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 ...

. Bridcutt's consistent performances in the 2011–12 Championship campaign earned him Brighton's Player of the Season award. Bridcutt's performances in the following 2012–13 Championship campaign earned him his second successive Player of the Season award.

Sunderland

On 30 January 2014, after weeks of speculation and a transfer request which was subsequently rejected by Brighton, Bridcutt signed a three-and-a-half-year deal with Sunderland, reuniting him with former Brighton head coach

. Bridcutt signed for an undisclosed fee, believed to be between £3 million and £4 million, and made his Sunderland début in the

Tyne–Wear derby The Tyne–Wear derby, also known as the Wear–Tyne derby or the North East derby, is a local derby between the association football clubs Sunderland and Newcastle United. The derby is an inter-city rivalry in North East England with the two ci ...

in a 3–0 victory over

Newcastle United Newcastle United Football Club is a professional association football club based in Newcastle upon Tyne, Tyne and Wear, England. The club competes in the Premier League, the top tier of English football league system, English football. Since th ...

St James' Park St James' Park is a Association football, football stadium in Newcastle upon Tyne, England. It is the home of Newcastle United F.C., Newcastle United. With a seating capacity of 52,305, it is the List of football stadiums in England, 8th la ...

on 1 February.

Leeds United (loan)

Bridcutt moved on loan to

on 26 November 2015. He made his Leeds debut on 28 November in a 1–0 defeat against

Queens Park Rangers Queens Park Rangers Football Club, commonly abbreviated to QPR, is a professional association football club based in Shepherd's Bush, West London, England. The team currently compete in the EFL Championship, the second level of the English f ...

. After impressing in the heart of the Leeds midfield, on 5 January 2016, Bridcutt's loan was extended until the end of the 2015–16 season, with the view to a permanent move. On 13 March 2016, Leeds head coach Steve Evans revealed he wanted to sign Bridcutt permanently at the end of the season. Despite being at the club for less than a season, on 19 April, Bridcutt was one of five players nominated for the Leeds United Player of the Year Award, alongside Charlie Taylor, Gaetano Berardi,

Mirco Antenucci Mirco Antenucci (born 8 September 1984) is an Italian professional footballer who plays as a forward for club SPAL. Club career Giulianova Antenucci began his professional career in 2002, with Serie C1 club, Giulianova, where in two seasons wit ...

and Lewis Cook. The award was won by Taylor on 30 April.

Leeds United

On 16 August 2016, Bridcutt transferred to Leeds United for an undisclosed fee, signing a two-year contract. His second debut for Leeds came on 20 August in a 2–0 win 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 ...

. Bridcutt was appointed team

captain Captain is a title, an appellative for the commanding officer of a military unit; the supreme leader or highest rank officer of a navy ship, merchant ship, aeroplane, spacecraft, or other vessel; or the commander of a port, fire or police depa ...

, replacing the departed Sol Bamba on 9 September 2016. Bridcutt picked up an injury on 14 September against

Blackburn Rovers Blackburn Rovers Football Club is a professional football club based in Blackburn, Lancashire, England, which competes in the , the second level of the English football league system. They have played home matches at Ewood Park since 1890. Th ...

and it was revealed that Bridcutt had broken his foot and would miss several months of the season as a result of the injury. Bridcutt returned from injury on 13 December replacing an injured Chris Wood as a first-half substitute in a 2–0 win against

Reading Reading is the process of taking in the sense or meaning of symbols, often specifically those of a written language, by means of Visual perception, sight or Somatosensory system, touch. For educators and researchers, reading is a multifacete ...

. At the start of the 2017–18 season, Leeds manager

Thomas Christiansen Thomas Christiansen Tarín (born 11 March 1973) is a football manager and former player who played as a striker. He is the current manager of the Panama national team. Left-footed, he played for a number of clubs in Danish, Spanish and Ger ...

named Liam Cooper captain, replacing Bridcutt.

Nottingham Forest

On 22 August 2017, Bridcutt joined Championship side

on a three-year deal for undisclosed fee, thought to be in the region of £1,000,000. He scored his first goal for the club in a 2–1 loss at

Cardiff City Cardiff City Football Club () is a professional association football club based in Cardiff, Wales. It currently competes in , the third tier of the English football league system in the 2025–26 season following relegation. Founded in 1899 a ...

on 21 April 2018.

Bolton Wanderers (loan)

On 2 September 2019, Bridcutt joined

EFL League One The English Football League One, known as Sky Bet League One for sponsorship reasons, or simply League One, is a professional association football league in England. EFL League One is the second-highest division of the English Football League an ...

side

on loan until January and was one of nine players Bolton signed on deadline day. He made his debut on 14 September, starting against

Rotherham United Rotherham United Football Club, nicknamed The Millers, is a professional association football club based in Rotherham, South Yorkshire, England. The team plays in EFL League One, the third tier of English football, after suffering relegation fr ...

in a 6–1 defeat. On 17 September, Bridcutt started captaining Bolton. Bridcutt's loan was ended a few days early by Forest on 1 January 2020.

Lincoln City (loan)

On 31 January 2020, Bridcutt joined Lincoln City on loan for the remainder of the 2020 season. Bridcutt was named captain for the match against Gillingham on 22 February 2020 due to

Jason Shackell Jason Philip Shackell (born 27 September 1983) is an English former professional footballer who primarily played as a centre-back, notably for Norwich City and Derby County. Born in Stevenage, he joined Norwich City in 2000. He made his senior ...

being dropped from the squad. He continued in his role as Captain as Shackell remained out of the team.

Lincoln City

On 7 August 2020, Bridcutt joined Lincoln City permanently following his expiration of his contract at

. He would make his first appearance as a permanent member of the team, coming off the bench in a 5–0 win against Bradford City in the

EFL Cup The English Football League Cup, often referred to as the League Cup and currently known as the Carabao Cup for sponsorship reasons, is an annual Single-elimination tournament, knockout competition in men's domestic football in England. Orga ...

second round. It was revealed on 18 May 2022 that he had been offered a new contract at Lincoln City. On the 27 June 2022, Lincoln confirmed that Bridcutt would be leaving the club after two and a half seasons.

Blackpool

On 30 September 2022, Bridcutt signed for

on a one-year contract with an option for a further year, rejoining his former manager at Lincoln,

Michael Appleton Michael Antony Appleton (born 4 December 1975) is an English professional football manager and former player who is the head coach of EFL League Two club Shrewsbury Town. As a player, he operated as a midfielder, in a nine-year career that ...

. On 16 May 2023, the club announced that Bridcutt was being released.

International career

Born in England, Bridcutt is of Scottish, Trinidadian and Grenadian descent. He qualified to play for

Scotland Scotland is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It contains nearly one-third of the United Kingdom's land area, consisting of the northern part of the island of Great Britain and more than 790 adjac ...

through his

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 ...

-born grandfather. On 7 March 2013, Bridcutt was named in

Gordon Strachan Gordon David Strachan ( born 9 February 1957) is a Scottish former football coach and player who is currently Technical Director of Dundee. He played for Dundee, Aberdeen, Manchester United, Leeds United and Coventry City, as well as the Sc ...

's Scotland squad for the

2014 FIFA World Cup qualification The 2014 FIFA World Cup qualification was a series of tournaments organised by the six FIFA#Structure, FIFA confederations. The 2014 FIFA World Cup featured 32 teams, with one place reserved for the host nation, Brazil national football team, Bra ...

matches against

Wales Wales ( ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by the Irish Sea to the north and west, England to the England–Wales border, east, the Bristol Channel to the south, and the Celtic ...

and

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 ...

. He gained his first Scotland cap in the game versus Serbia on 26 March 2013. After regaining his form whilst at

, Bridcutt regained his place in the

squad on 10 March 2016 for a friendly against

Denmark Denmark is a Nordic countries, Nordic country in Northern Europe. It is the metropole and most populous constituent of the Kingdom of Denmark,, . also known as the Danish Realm, a constitutionally unitary state that includes the Autonomous a ...

. He was called up alongside teammate Liam Cooper who made the squad for the first time. On 29 March 2016, Bridcutt played against Denmark in a 1–0 victory, and was subject to heavy criticism from Denmark Manager Age Hareide for a challenge on Denmark defender Erik Sviatchenko which only earned Bricutt a yellow card.

Coaching career

After retiring from football in February 2024, Bridcutt began working as a sessional coach at Newcastle United's academy. On 15 October 2024, it was announced that he had appointed as a coach for

side

as part of newly appointed manager

Carl Magnay Carl Ronald Joseph Magnay (born 20 January 1989) is a former professional footballer who played as a defender. He is currently the assistant manager at South Shields. Born in Gateshead, Magnay joined Chelsea in 2007. After loan spells with Mi ...

's coaching staff.

Career statistics

Honours

Brighton & Hove Albion *

Football League One The English Football League One, known as Sky Bet League One for sponsorship reasons, or simply League One, is a professional association football league in England. EFL League One is the second-highest division of the English Football League an ...

2010–11 1 (one, unit, unity) is a number, numeral, and glyph. It is the first and smallest positive integer of the infinite sequence of natural numbers. This fundamental property has led to its unique uses in other fields, ranging from science to sp ...

Individual *

Player of the Year: 2011–12,

2012–13 1 (one, unit, unity) is a number, numeral, and glyph. It is the first and smallest positive integer of the infinite sequence of natural numbers. This fundamental property has led to its unique uses in other fields, ranging from science to sp ...

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Bridcutt, Liam 1989 births Living people Footballers from Reading, Berkshire Scottish men's footballers Scotland men's international footballers English men's footballers English people of Scottish descent English people of Trinidad and Tobago descent Sportspeople of Trinidad and Tobago descent English people of Grenadian descent Sportspeople of Grenadian descent Scottish people of Trinidad and Tobago descent Scottish people of Grenadian descent Men's association football midfielders Chelsea F.C. players Lincoln City F.C. players Yeovil Town F.C. players Watford F.C. players Stockport County F.C. players Brighton & Hove Albion F.C. players Sunderland A.F.C. players Premier League players English Football League players Black British sportsmen Leeds United F.C. players Nottingham Forest F.C. players Bolton Wanderers F.C. players Blackpool F.C. players Footballers from Berkshire Newcastle United F.C. non-playing staff Gateshead F.C. non-playing staff 21st-century English sportsmen 21st-century Scottish sportsmen

Club career

Chelsea

Brighton & Hove Albion

Sunderland

Leeds United (loan)

Leeds United

Nottingham Forest

Bolton Wanderers (loan)

Lincoln City (loan)

Lincoln City

Blackpool

International career

Coaching career

Career statistics

Honours

See also

References

External links