Chris Sutton played for Celtic, Norwich and Blackburn in a career in which he won league titles north and south of the border.
Here, he tells FourFourTwo the Games That Changed His Life.
This article first appeared Issue 306 of FourFourTwo. Subscribe now!
Celtic, Norwich and Blackburn legend Chris Sutton's Games That Changed My Life: 1. Bayern Munich 1 Norwich 2, UEFA Cup, 1993
PATRICK KLUIVERT "I was only 18 and had already achieved one of the biggest dreams any footballer can have"
PAUL INCE "If we’d lost against Barca in '91, I don’t think we’d have gone on to win the Premier League two years later"
MICHAEL BALLACK "One of the most important matches of my career was Germany 1 England 5…"
“I was only 20 when we went to Bayern Munich and won against all odds. Our defence had been our weak area, so Mike Walker set up with three at the back and a sweeper behind that as well.
“We were underrated as a team but had really good players, such as Ian Crook, Ruel Fox and, of course, Jeremy Goss, who scored the iconic goal. Mark Bowen scored the second, and Bryan Gunn made some key saves in the second half.
“We were the only English team ever to beat Bayern at the Olympiastadion. We shocked European football.”
2. Blackburn 1 Newcastle 0, Premier League, 1995
“This was the penultimate match of Blackburn’s title-winning season, and we were out on our feet by this stage. There was such pressure: I remember the tension in the stadium, and it was all about the will to get over the line. Newcastle were better than us that night but Alan Shearer scored and we hung on.
“Tim Flowers produced a superb performance and gave a famous interview afterwards, saying, ‘Don’t talk to me about bottle’, because people had been questioning whether we had the bottle to win the league. That game ultimately won us the title - my only league title south of the border.”
3. Celtic 6 Rangers 2, Scottish Premier League, 2000
“This was my first derby against Rangers, and Celtic’s first derby under Martin O’Neill. Rangers had won the league by 21 points the previous season, but we had started this one well.
“Walking onto the pitch, the noise was something I’d never experienced before, and it was followed by the most remarkable first 20 minutes of football I ever played in. I scored after 52 seconds; within minutes it was 3-0 and absolute bedlam.
“I scored a second in the last minute, after Henrik Larsson scored one of the greatest goals I ever saw – he dribbled past a player, nutmegged Bert Konterman and chipped Stefan Klos, but the ball hit me on the chest on the halfway line first, so I count that as an assist!”
4. Celtic 4 Juventus 3, Champions League, 2001
“I was always very honest with myself – after most games I’d think, ‘I should have done this or that better’. Against Juventus, I thought, ‘I played quite well!’ They had a really strong side and Alessandro Del Piero scored early on, but we got back into it, then I put us in front with a header.
“In the second half, I scored a left-footed volley. It was a special night. Our home record in Europe was incredible.”
