Simon Andrew Sturridge (born 9 December 1969) is an English 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 striker. He made more than 250 appearances 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

Birmingham City Birmingham City Football Club is a professional football club based in Birmingham, England. Formed in 1875 as Small Heath Alliance, it was renamed Small Heath in 1888, Birmingham in 1905, and Birmingham City in 1943. The team compete in the ...

Stoke City Stoke City Football Club is a professional association football club based in Stoke-on-Trent, Staffordshire, England. The team competes in the , the second level of the English football league system. Founded as Stoke Ramblers in 1863, the cl ...

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 ...

Northampton Town Northampton Town Football Club is a professional association football club based in the town of Northampton, England. The team competes in EFL League One, League One, the third level of the English football league system. Founded in 1897, the c ...

and

Shrewsbury Town Shrewsbury Town Football Club is a professional association football club based in Shrewsbury, Shropshire, England. The team currently competes in , the fourth tier of the English football league system. Founded in 1886, the club were inaugur ...

Career

Sturridge was born in

Birmingham Birmingham ( ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in the metropolitan county of West Midlands (county), West Midlands, within the wider West Midlands (region), West Midlands region, in England. It is the Lis ...

and joined home-town club

as a trainee in 1985 and turned professional in 1988. He played 186 games in all competitions for the club and scored the first goal of the 1991 Football League Trophy Final in which Birmingham beat

Tranmere Rovers Tranmere Rovers Football Club are a professional association football club based in Birkenhead, Merseyside, England. The team competes in , the fourth level of the English football league system. Founded in 1884 as Belmont Football Club, they ...

3–2. After helping Birmingham gain promotion 1991–92 he joined

in September 1993. Sturridge had to wait before he could become a regular in the Stoke first team as he made 20 appearances in 1993–94 of which he started nine and played in just 11 matches in 1994–95 meaning that he was rarely seen at the

Victoria Ground The Victoria Ground was the home ground of Stoke City from 1878 until 1997, when the club relocated to the Britannia Stadium after 119 years. At the time of its demolition it was the oldest operational ground in the Football League. Histor ...

. However his fortunes improved considerably in 1995–96 after manager

Lou Macari Luigi Macari (born 7 June 1949) is a Scottish former footballer and manager. He began his playing career at Celtic where he was one of the Quality Street Gang, the outstanding reserve team that emerged in the late 1960s that also included Kenn ...

brought in

Mike Sheron Michael Nigel Sheron (born 11 January 1972) is an English football coach and former professional footballer who is under-23s head coach at Blackburn Rovers. As a player, he was a striker who notably played in the Premier League for Manchester ...

and played him alongside Sturridge. The pair scored a combined 29 goals which saw Stoke reach the play-offs where they lost 1–0 to

Leicester City Leicester ( ) is a city status in the United Kingdom, city, Unitary authorities of England, unitary authority area, and the county town of Leicestershire in the East Midlands of England. It is the largest city in the East Midlands with a popula ...

. He suffered a serious injury at the start of the 1996–97 and after making fleeting appearances in the next two years he left for

, having spent a short time out on loan at

. He played 19 times for the Cobblers helping them gain promotion in 1999–2000 and ended his career with an 11-game spell on loan at

Personal life

He is the brother of footballer

Dean Sturridge Dean Constantine Sturridge (born 26 July 1973) is an English former professional footballer and football commentator for beIN Sports. As a player, he was a striker who notably played in the Premier League for Derby County, Leicester City and ...

and the uncle of footballer

Daniel Sturridge Daniel Andre Sturridge Johnson (born 1 September 1989) is an English former professional footballer who played as a striker. Since 2023, he has worked as a television pundit for Sky Sports. Sturridge was scouted by Aston Villa and played for ...

, and is of Jamaican descent.

Career statistics

Honours

Birmingham City *

Football League Third Division The Football League Third Division was the third tier of the English football league system in 1920–21 Football League, 1920–21 and again from 1958–59 Football League, 1958 until 1991–92 Football League, 1992. When the FA Premier League ...

runner-up: 1991–92 *

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 ...

1991 It was the final year of the Cold War, which had begun in 1947. During the year, the Soviet Union Dissolution of the Soviet Union, collapsed, leaving Post-soviet states, fifteen sovereign republics and the Commonwealth of Independent State ...

Northampton Town *

third-place promotion: 1999–2000

References

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Sturridge, Simon Living people 1969 births Footballers from Birmingham, West Midlands English men's footballers English people of Jamaican descent Sportspeople of Jamaican descent Men's association football forwards Birmingham City F.C. players Stoke City F.C. players Blackpool F.C. players Northampton Town F.C. players Shrewsbury Town F.C. players English Football League players Sturridge family Black British sportsmen