Ritchie Sutton

Ritchie Aidan Sutton (born 29 April 1986) is an English football player and manager who plays as a defender.

Beginning his career at Crewe Alexandra, he never made the first team, and instead enjoyed loan spells at non-League Leek Town and Stafford Rangers.

Sutton started as a youth team player at Crewe Alexandra, turning professional in the summer of 2005.

His first season was spent on two separate loan spells at local side Leek Town, of the Northern Premier League Premier Division.

He made his senior debut on 29 January 2005, in a 3–2 victory at Farsley Celtic.

He made a total of 19 appearances across the two loan spells.

In March 2006, he joined another local non-League side, Stafford Rangers, on loan.

Rangers achieved promotion from the Conference North through the play-offs at the end of the season.

In May 2006 he was offered a new one-year contract by manager Dario Gradi.

At the start of the 2006–07 season he was sent out on loan back to Stafford Rangers, now in the Conference National.

The loan deal was initially only a month long, but ended up being extended to the end of the season, despite Sutton spending a month out to undergo knee surgery.

However, when he returned to Gresty Road he was informed that he would not be offered a new contract, at which point he signed with Rangers permanently.

By the end of the season he was an occasional captain.

He made 79 Conference appearances for the club over all his spells.

He was released by Crewe in 2007.

He returned to the non-League scene with Northwich Victoria, Halifax Town and Nantwich Town.

In the summer of 2008 he moved on to Conference club Northwich Victoria, though joined Halifax Town of the Northern Premier League Division One North on loan in December of that year.

In January 2009 he joined Halifax on a permanent basis, though would only remain at the club for the rest of the season.

He signed for Nantwich Town in June 2009, and had to turn down an offer of a trial at Football League club Port Vale in the summer of 2009 because of this contract.

Manager Pete Hall felt Sutton could play professionally again, but warned of the player's disciplinary record.

He made forty appearances for the "Dabbers" in 2009–10; signing a new, more flexible contract in summer 2010.

During the season he saw four red cards.

Throughout the season he also worked at a Crewe-based accident management company.

In summer 2010 he signed with Port Vale, before making the switch to Mansfield Town the following year.

In July 2010, he had a successful trial at League Two Port Vale, and was offered a short-term deal.

This meant a return to professional football, as he gave up a full-time job to join the Vale.

He was suspended for the opening six games of the season due to his record of four red cards in the previous season (this suspension included a previously unserved three match ban).

He made his debut in the Football League Trophy on 31 August 2010, in a 2–1 win over Rochdale at Vale Park.

In December he signed an extension to keep him at the club until the end of the season, despite having made just five appearances, manager Micky Adams felt Sutton performed well when called upon.

Sutton had also shed 2 st within six months.

In June 2011, he was unveiled at Conference club Mansfield Town, having signed on one-year contract a free transfer.

Manager Paul Cox said that "I've had my eye on Ritchie since his days at Crewe. He is a big strong 'unit' who will hopefully be a good acquisition for the club."

He was one of three Mansfield players injured in a pre-season friendly with Ilkeston, and so missed the start of the season.

He made his debut from the bench on 27 August, in a 3–0 home win over Kettering Town, before he was given his first start in a 1–0 win against Stockport County two days later.

He won the Conference National title with Mansfield in 2012–13 and won the club's Player of the Season award in 2014–15.

He moved to Tranmere Rovers in May 2015, and was loaned out to Barrow in March 2016.

He helped Tranmere to win promotion back into the English Football League with victory in the National League play-off final in 2018, before he was allowed to join Morecambe in January 2019.

He returned to non-League football with Altrincham in August 2020.

He was loaned out to Alfreton Town for the 2021–22 season and joined Nantwich Town as a player-coach in July 2022.

Sutton was appointed as joint-manager at Nantwich Town in September 2022, alongside Gary Taylor-Fletcher.