René Sutter (born 5 January 1966) is a Swiss former

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

midfielder In the sport of association football, a midfielder takes an Glossary of association football terms#O, outfield position primarily in the middle of the pitch. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in t ...

Club career

Sutter started playing football at the age of eight at ''FC Bümpliz'', which later became

SC Bümpliz 78 SC Bümpliz 78 is a football team A football team is a group of players selected to play together in the various team sports known as football. Such teams could be selected to play in a match against an opposing team, to represent a football ...

. In the 1984−85 season, he started playing for their first team in the 2. Liga, which at the time was the fourth highest division in the

Swiss football league system The Swiss football league system, is a series of interconnected leagues for association football clubs in Switzerland, with seven teams from Liechtenstein, and one each from exclaves of Germany and Italy, also competing. The system has a hierarchi ...

. In 1985, he signed for first division club Young Boys, where he stayed for five years. With the club, he won the Swiss Championship at the end the 1985−86 season, and lifted the

Swiss Cup The Swiss Cup (; ; ; ) is a football cup competition that has been organised annually since 1925–26 season by the Swiss Football Association. The Swiss Cup final is usually the most important game of the year with a high attendance. The co ...

in 1987. In 1990, he moved to league rival

FC Aarau FC Aarau is a Swiss professional football club based in Aarau. Founded in 1902, the club competes in the Swiss Challenge League, the second tier of Swiss football after being relegated from the Swiss Super League. History FC Aarau was form ...

, where he was part of the side that won the Swiss national title in 1992–93 under manager

Rolf Fringer Rolf Fringer (born 26 January 1957) is an Austrian football manager and former player. He has managed the Switzerland national team and numerous Swiss football clubs. Career Fringer led FC Aarau to the 1992–93 Swiss national title. At FC L ...

. In 1993, he returned to the Young Boys. In the later years of his career, Sutter played for

Yverdon-Sport Yverdon-Sport FC is a Swiss football club based in Yverdon-les-Bains that is set to compete in the Challenge League, the second tier of Swiss football, after being relegated from the top-tier Swiss Super League in the 2024–25 season. The club ...

FC Baden Fussballclub Baden 1897, simply known as FC Baden, is a Swiss football club based in Baden, Canton Aargau, which is a short distance from Zürich. It was founded in 1897. FC Baden has a total of 22 different teams at age levels, including fiv ...

and

FC Wil 1900 FC Wil (''Fussball Club Wil 1900'') is a football club based in Wil, Switzerland. They play in the ''Sportpark Bergholz'', which has a total capacity of 6,048. The club has consistently played in the Swiss second tier since regaining promotion ...

, before returning to his youth club SC Bümpliz in 2001. After one season at

FC Solothurn FC Solothurn is a Swiss football club based in Solothurn. The club has formerly played in the Challenge League (2nd level) and currently plays in Swiss 1. Liga (4th level). FC Solothurn is ranking as the number 1 club of Switzerland in the all- ...

, he retired from professional football in 2003.

International career

In 1989, Sutter earned his only two caps for the Switzerland national team. His first game was on 7 June 1989 against

Czechoslovakia Czechoslovakia ( ; Czech language, Czech and , ''Česko-Slovensko'') was a landlocked country in Central Europe, created in 1918, when it declared its independence from Austria-Hungary. In 1938, after the Munich Agreement, the Sudetenland beca ...

, where he appeared as a starter, before being substituted by

Kubilay Türkyilmaz Kubilay Türkyilmaz (; born 4 March 1967) is a Swiss former professional footballer who played as a forward. He ended his international career as the all-time joint leading goal scorer for the Switzerland national team, with 34 goals in 64 appe ...

in the 58th minute. His team lost the game 1–0. Two weeks later, he made his second and final appearance for Switzerland, when we was brought on as a substitute in the 56th minute in a friendly game against

Brazil Brazil, officially the Federative Republic of Brazil, is the largest country in South America. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by area, fifth-largest country by area and the List of countries and dependencies by population ...

. The game ended in a surprising 1–0 victory for Switzerland.

Personal life

After his retirement from professional football, Sutter studied

law Law is a set of rules that are created and are enforceable by social or governmental institutions to regulate behavior, with its precise definition a matter of longstanding debate. It has been variously described as a science and as the ar ...

, today he works as a legal professional for an institution of the Swiss government. He is the brother of former Swiss national footballer

Alain Sutter Alain Sutter (born 22 January 1968) is a Swiss former professional footballer who played as a midfielder. He is currently the sporting director of Grasshopper Club Zurich. Playing career Born in Bern, Sutter played youth football for SC Bümpli ...

and the father of Swiss footballer Nicola Sutter.

Honours

Young Boys * Swiss Championship: 1985–86 *

: 1986–87 FC Aarau * Swiss Championship: 1992–93

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Sutter, Rene 1966 births Living people Swiss men's footballers Men's association football midfielders Switzerland men's international footballers Swiss Super League players BSC Young Boys players FC Aarau players Yverdon-Sport FC players FC Baden players FC Wil players SC Bümpliz 78 players FC Solothurn players 20th-century Swiss sportsmen