Chris Carruthers

Christopher Paul Carruthers (born 19 August 1983) is an English former professional footballer who played as a left-back.

He played in the Football League for Northampton Town and Bristol Rovers.

Carruthers was born in Kettering, Northamptonshire, and attended Raunds Manor School from 1994 to 1999.

He was named in the first-team squad for the 2000–01 season, when Northampton were in the Second Division following their promotion.

Carruthers started his career with the Northampton Town youth system and made his first-team debut in 2001.

He made his debut at the age of 17 as a half-time substitute in a 2–0 home defeat to Port Vale on 26 April 2001 and his first start came in a 3–0 home defeat to Walsall on 5 May, finishing the season with three appearances.

This season, 2001–02, Carruthers was able to make more of an impact, playing in 14 matches and scoring 1 goal.

He received the first yellow card of his career in a 2–2 away draw with Cambridge United in the FA Cup second round on 7 December.

He signed his first professional contract with the club on 9 April 2002.

He scored his first goal for the club with a "spectacular" long-range volley on 84 minutes in a 4–1 win against Wycombe Wanderers.

During 2002–03, he cemented his place in the first team, playing 38 matches.

He also represented the England national under-20 team and played at the 2003 Toulon Tournament and the 2003 FIFA World Youth Championship.

He earned 11 caps for the team.

He finished 2003–04 with 31 appearances.

He played for Northampton in a 3–0 home defeat to Premier League team Manchester United in the FA Cup fourth round on 25 January 2004, in which he conceded a penalty kick after two minutes and then was stretchered off in the second half with a neck injury.

However, in 2004–05, Carruthers fell out of favour at Northampton and he was made available to other clubs on loan.

He joined Conference South club Hornchurch on 19 November on a one-month loan, and after making his debut in a 2–1 home defeat to Grays Athletic he finished the loan with four appearances.

He had loans with Hornchurch, Kettering Town, and Bristol Rovers, joining the latter permanently in 2005 after making over 80 appearances for Northampton.

He joined Conference North leaders Kettering Town, his hometown club, on a one-month loan on 21 January 2005.

His debut came in a 5–0 home defeat to Southport and made one further appearance, completing the loan with two appearances before returning to Northampton.

After returning he only managed to play one match before being loaned out again on 24 March 2005, this time to League Two club Bristol Rovers, until the end of the season.

He made his debut two days later as a substitute on 79 minutes in a 2–1 victory away to Notts County.

He stated his desire to stay at the club long-term in April, saying "I do need a change, just to get myself going again really because it has been disappointing not playing."

He made his first start for the club in a 4–0 away defeat against Scunthorpe United on 30 April.

The loan expired in May after playing five times and he again expressed his desire to stay at the club.

Wycombe Wanderers agreed to sign Carruthers on a two-year contract on a free transfer on 16 June and Rovers manager Ian Atkins revealed his disappointment at not signing him, saying "He was high on my list. There are not many players who can play left-back, wing-back or as out-and-out wingers".

However, after speaking to Atkins and being guaranteed regular football, he decided to join Rovers instead on 29 June.

He signed a new contract with Northampton in February, which would expire in June 2006.

His three seasons with the club included an appearance in the successful 2007 League Two play-off final, which came before his release in 2008.

He signed for Conference Premier club Oxford United and after one season was loaned to Crawley Town.

He then joined Oxford's divisional rivals York City on loan and signed for them permanently in 2010.

He has been the owner of Carruthers Property Services since April 2010 and a director of Players Taxback since September 2012.

After his release by York, Carruthers joined Conference Premier club Gateshead in 2011.

He was released after one season with Gateshead, joining Hereford United before dropping down to the Southern League Premier Division with Corby Town in 2013.

He was named the Players' Player of the Year in 2013–14 before joining Brackley Town of the Conference North.

He has worked in various roles for Travis Perkins since October 2013.

Carruthers played for Raunds Tigers before joining Harborough Town aged 13.

He soon joined Northampton Town in their youth system after a two-week trial.

He rejoined Corby after their promotion to the National League North in 2015.

Later that year, he rejoined Southern League Premier Division club Kettering Town, before leaving in 2016.