Alan Hutton

Alan Hutton (born 30 November 1984) is a Scottish former professional footballer who played as a right back.

Hutton joined Rangers on 4 September 2000.

He made his debut against Partick Thistle in a Scottish Premier League match on 22 December 2002.

It was his only appearance that season; however, he made eleven appearances during 2003–04, scoring his first goal against Dunfermline Athletic at Ibrox on 23 March 2004.

He made twelve appearances during 2004–05 as the club won both the Scottish Premier League title and the Scottish League Cup.

Hutton started his career with Rangers, and won the league title in 2005.

He broke his leg in February 2005 whilst playing in a league match against Kilmarnock, and was sidelined for eight months.

The 2005–06 season proved to be difficult for Rangers domestically, and Hutton only made 23 appearances in the first team, competing with Dutchman Fernando Ricksen for the right back position.

Hutton made 50 appearances for the Scotland national team between 2007 and 2016.

He signed a new five-year contract with Rangers in the summer of 2007.

Hutton started the 2007–08 season well, earning praise from Sir Alex Ferguson.

He played a part in Rangers' opening UEFA Champions League group match victories against VfB Stuttgart and Olympique Lyonnais.

Hutton made a total of 94 league appearances for Rangers, scoring two league goals against Dunfermline and Hibernian.

He also scored goals against Partizan Belgrade in the UEFA Cup and East Stirlingshire in the Scottish Cup.

During the January transfer window in the 2007–08 season, Premier League side Tottenham Hotspur made a bid, believed to be in the £5 million region, for Hutton.

He initially rejected the chance to join Spurs, and did so again when they improved their offer.

He moved to English football with Tottenham Hotspur in 2008, and helped them win the League Cup later that year.

The protracted transfer was finally completed on 30 January 2008, with the fee reported to be in the region of £9 million.

He made his Spurs debut on 2 February in a 1–1 draw with Manchester United.

Hutton was cup-tied for the remainder of Spurs' UEFA Cup campaign.

In just his third appearance for the club he played as Tottenham won the 2008 Football League Cup Final against Chelsea.

After a loan spell with Sunderland in 2010, Hutton joined Aston Villa in 2011.

He initially struggled with Villa, and was loaned to Mallorca, Nottingham Forest and Bolton Wanderers.

Hutton then enjoyed a renaissance with Villa, where his defensive exploits earned him the moniker "The Scottish Cafu".

On 1 February 2010, Hutton signed for Sunderland on loan until the end of the season, and made his debut in the 1–1 draw with Wigan Athletic.

On 24 April 2010, he was shown a red card for a clash with Jozy Altidore.

Sunderland and Hutton were keen to make the move permanent, however they were unwilling to pay the fee that Spurs were demanding.

After Sunderland failed to sign Hutton on a permanent deal, he returned to Spurs, scored in the opening game of the season, and won a penalty, allowing newly signed Rafael van der Vaart to convert and score Tottenham's first goal in the match, a 3–1 win against Wolverhampton Wanderers.

He since started and played the full 90 minutes against Manchester United at Old Trafford in a 2–0 Premier League defeat.

At the end of the 2010–11 season, he made 26 appearances for Spurs in all competitions.

The next appearance, Hutton scored again, as Tottenham Hotspur lost to Bolton Wanderers.

He was Tottenham's first choice right-back for the majority of the 2010–11 season, often being preferred to Croatian international Vedran Ćorluka on the right hand side of the Spurs defence.

Hutton was also an important fixture in Tottenham's 2010–11 UEFA Champions League campaign that saw them reach the quarter-finals, including being part of the team that produced a memorable 3–1 victory over European champions Internazionale.

However, his season ended in April, after suffering a knee injury, which ruled him out for the rest of the season.

However, at the beginning of the 2011–12 season, Tottenham Hotspur right-back Kyle Walker was regularly chosen ahead of Hutton in defence following his return from a loan spell away at Villa Park.

Hutton was heavily linked with a £3 million transfer to Aston Villa, the club that Walker had recently returned from.

After joining Aston Villa, Hutton made accusations towards Harry Redknapp of making his life a misery by training with the youth side and that he was treated as an 'outcast' during his three years spell at Tottenham Hotspur.

On 31 August 2011, Aston Villa confirmed that they had signed Hutton on a four-year contract in a deal thought to be worth £40,000 a week to Hutton, along with fellow Tottenham player Jermaine Jenas, who arrived on loan.

He was also shortlisted for selection to the Great Britain Olympic football team for the London 2012 Olympics, but did not make the final squad.

He left the club after helping them win promotion back to the Premier League in 2019, making over 200 appearances for the club.