Early career Born on 26 December 1983 in
Norwich, England, Sutton was a promising youth
cricketer, representing Norfolk at various age levels. He was a modest batsman and useful off-spinner of moderate pace. He started his football career as a youth trainee with
Tottenham Hotspur and as part of their reserve squad. Whilst playing at under 17 level he scored 25 goals in 26 games. He made a quick impression at Raith, scoring 13 goals in 20 league appearances for the
Scottish First Division club. Several clubs enquired about his availability in January including
Valencia where he spent three days on trial,
Dundee and
English Championship club
Millwall, who signed him for £60,000. He failed to make an impression at Millwall, playing just 4 league matches.
Dundee Sutton returned to Scotland on a season-long loan with
Scottish Premier League side
Dundee, making his debut on 7 August 2004 in Dundee's 1–0 defeat to Hearts. He scored his first goal for the club the following week netting the winner in the 47th minute in their
Dundee derby win over
Dundee United. His form proved better back in Scotland, scoring 8 times in 33 league appearances.
St Mirren On 31 August 2005, Sutton joined Scottish First Division club
St Mirren on a two-year contract, making his debut on 10 September 2005 against
Queen of the South, He scored his first goal for the club three days later against
Stenhousemuir in the
Scottish Challenge Cup. Sutton scored the winning goal for St Mirren in the
2005 Scottish Challenge Cup Final against
Hamilton Academical. Sutton was sent off on 26 December against Queen of the South after a challenge with
Jim Thomson, although the red card was later rescinded upon appeal. He scored 17 goals in all competitions that season, helping St Mirren win promotion to the
Scottish Premier League in his first season. In total, Sutton made 75 appearances scoring 30 times for the club. With his contract having expired at the end of the season, he became a free agent in May 2007. In an interview with the
Daily Record on 5 October 2013, Sutton stated joining St Mirren saved his career saying that the club had the "enthusiasm for the game" he needed.
Wycombe Wanderers On 28 June 2007, Sutton signed for
Wycombe Wanderers, making his debut on 11 August against Accrington. He scored his first goal for the club on 2 October, against
Barnet in their 2–1 defeat. On 19 August 2008, after one season, Sutton's Wycombe contract was cancelled by mutual consent. In all Sutton made 48 appearances scoring six times for the club.
Motherwell Sutton then signed for Scottish Premier League club
Motherwell on a three-year contract. He scored on his debut against
Dundee United on 23 August, and followed it up with a 79th-minute winner against
Hibernian a week later. Sutton continued his impressive start to his Motherwell career with a consolation goal against Celtic in a 4–2 defeat, an equaliser against his former club St Mirren and the winner against
Falkirk, bringing his total to an impressive five goals in his first six league matches. On 2 February 2009, Sutton scored a brace in Motherwell's 3–0
Scottish Cup victory over
Inverurie Loco Works. In his first season, he scored 12 goals in 31 appearances in all competitions. Motherwell qualified for the
2009–10 Europa League through the
FIFA Fair Play Award and were drawn against Welsh club
Llanelli in the first-qualifying round. In the first-leg in Scotland, Llanelli shocked
The Steelmen 1–0, but Sutton scored twice in the return leg as Motherwell won 3–0 to progress through to the next round, where they were drawn Albanian side
Flamurtari Vlorë. In the first-leg in Albania, Sutton scored from the penalty spot early in the match, but the referee ordered a retake, which he missed. There did not seem to be any infringement before the kick was taken and manager
Jim Gannon blasted the decision as Flamurtari won 1–0. Sutton's penalty miss did not matter at all, as
Well blew the Albanians away in the second leg at Fir Park, winning 8–1, although Sutton did not score in this match either, nor did he score in either leg of the third qualifying round tie with
Steaua București, as Motherwell lost 3–0 in Romania and 3–1 at home to go out 6–1 on aggregate. Sutton netted a brace in the historic
6–6 draw with
Hibernian on 5 May 2010. He finished the 2009–10 season with a total of 14 goals in 38 appearances. and on 16 April 2011, he scored a screaming half volley from outside the box in the Scottish Cup Semi-Final against
St Johnstone. His final appearance for Motherwell came in the
2011 Scottish Cup Final, losing 3–0 to Celtic at
Hampden Park. He finished the season as their top scorer with 17 goals.
Heart of Midlothian On 25 May 2011, Sutton signed for
Heart of Midlothian (Hearts). Making his debut against
Rangers at
Ibrox on 23 July, Sutton started the first three matches of the season including Hearts Europa League tie against
Paks, in which he won a penalty. His fortunes changed under new manager
Paulo Sergio as his appearances became limited to substitute appearances and the odd start prompting doubts about his future at the club, though Sergio denied this. He scored his first goals for the club on 13 August against
Aberdeen scoring twice in a 3–0 win in one of his few starts. Despite his lack of games Sergio and Sutton both denied he didn't have a future at the club. Sutton came on as a substitute in Hearts 3–1 victory over
Hibernian in the
Edinburgh derby on 2 January 2012, to assist two goals. In his debut season he made 18 appearances, scoring 3 times before being sent on loan in February 2012, to Australian side
Central Coast Mariners. On his return he played in Hearts four pre-season games scoring three times, becoming Hearts main striker under new manager
John McGlynn. Sutton stated on his return ''that If Sergio was still in charge then I wouldn't be anywhere near the first team.'' On 4 August 2012, Sutton scored from the penalty spot in a 2–0 win over
St Johnstone. After Hearts entered
administration in June 2013, Sutton was
made redundant by the club as he refused to accept a pay cut. Following his departure, Sutton explained that he had been told by Hearts that he didn't feature in their future plans, insisting he was no traitor to the club, and admitted joining the club was a mistake in the first place.
Central Coast Mariners (loan) It was first reported on 26 January, that Australian
A-League club
Central Coast Mariners were one of several clubs interested in acquiring Sutton on a loan deal. Other clubs that were believed to also be interested were St Mirren and even Edinburgh rivals
Hibernian The Mariners soon entered into discussions with the player, in the hope of securing him on a four-month loan as a replacement for recently departed striker
Matt Simon, and hoping to fill the void left by youth international
Bernie Ibini-Isei who was due to join up with the
Australian Under-20s. On 31 January 2012, it was announced that the move had been finalised pending international clearance. On 3 February, it was confirmed Sutton had signed a four-month loan deal and would join up with the squad the following week. He made his debut on 18 February, starting the match and played 88 minutes before being substituted, against
Wellington Phoenix in a 2–0 win. Sutton received a handful of starts, playing in the forward position. He scored his first goal for Central Coast Mariners FC and helped the club win 2-1 against Wellington Phoenix to win the A-League Men Premiership. However, Sutton was unsuccessful helping Central Coast Mariners FC reach
the Finals series after losing 5-3 on penalties following a 1-1 draw. At the end of the 2011-12 season, he went on to make ten appearances and scoring once in all competitions. Following this, Sutton returned to his parent club.
Motherwell (second spell) After being made redundant by Hearts, Sutton signed for Motherwell for a second time on a two-year contract on 28 June 2013, being handed the number nine shirt. He made his second debut in the first leg of the third qualifying round of the Europa League, in a 2–0 loss against
Kuban Krasnodar. Motherwell would be eliminated after Kuban Krasnodar proved to be too strong and failed to win either legs losing 2–0 and 1–0 respectively. Sutton scored in three straight games against
Partick Thistle,
Kilmarnock and
St Mirren. Two weeks later, on 28 September 2013, he scored his first brace of the season, as Motherwell won 2–0 against
Ross County and he scored another against Ross County on 14 December 2013, in a 2–1 win for Motherwell. After sixteen goals in twenty league appearances, in March 2014, manager
Stuart McCall described Sutton as the key signing of the season. Sutton was involved in the 92nd minute winning goal from
Craig Reid in the 1–0 league victory at
Aberdeen on the last day of the
2013–14 league season on 11 May 2014, a victory which seen Motherwell secure second spot for the second season running, leapfrogging Aberdeen in the process. and
St Mirren on 7 April 2015. He converted a penalty in a 2–1 defeat at St Mirren in the penultimate league match, a defeat which consigned Motherwell to the
Scottish Premiership play-off spot. The club maintained their Premiership with a 6–1 aggregate victory against
Rangers in the play-off, with Sutton converting a late penalty in the second leg home win to round off the scoring in a 3–0 win. He finished the season as top goalscorer at Motherwell again, with 13 goals from 43 appearances. He was due to sign for St Johnstone on 1 July, after his previous contract was due to expire, but Motherwell granted him an early release on 17 June. Sutton scored on his Saints Premiership debut against former club
Heart of Midlothian in a 4–3 defeat for his new club. At the end of the season, he was made available for transfer or loan by St Johnstone.
St Mirren (second spell) After leaving
St Johnstone, Sutton rejoined
Scottish Championship side
St Mirren in June 2016, signing a two-year deal with the
Paisley side. Sutton made his second debut in a
League Cup group stage win at
Livingston on 16 July 2016. He scored his first goal since his return to the club in the
Renfrewshire derby against
Greenock Morton in a 1–1 home draw on 6 August 2017. Sutton netted four times in total en route to the
Challenge Cup final, including registering a very late double against
Ayr United in a 2–1 win in the quarter-finals. He played the full match in the final, but
Dundee United beat St Mirren 2–1 to win the trophy on 25 March 2017. Sutton scored on his 100th start for St Mirren (across two spells), also against local rivals Greenock Morton in a 4–1 away victory on 11 April 2017. He was released by St Mirren at the end of his contract.
Greenock Morton On 28 June 2019, Sutton came out of retirement, signing a playing contract with
Greenock Morton while continuing in his coaching role with the club. ==Later career==