Nottingham Forest (1977–1992) Sutton was born in
Hartington, Derbyshire. He began his career at
Nottingham Forest in 1977, rising from youth apprentice to become understudy to England international
goalkeeper Peter Shilton. He made his first team debut, aged only 19, in 1980, although he only began to play regularly after Shilton's departure from Forest in mid-1982. Following the departure in turn of Shilton's replacement, Netherlands international
Hans van Breukelen, in 1984, Sutton then had to compete with
Hans Segers for the No.1 jersey. When Segers sustained an injury in 1985, Sutton became
Brian Clough's regular first-choice in goal for Forest until the end of the decade. During this time Sutton was a part of a team with five England international players – including defensive partners
Stuart Pearce and
Des Walker. Throughout this period, Forest routinely resided in the top half of the
Football League First Division, including finishing in third place in both the
1987–88 and
1988–89 Football League seasons. Sutton was one of the Forest players who had to cope with the horrors of the
Hillsborough disaster, during the opening minutes of their
FA Cup semi-final against
Liverpool on 15 April 1989. After playing in two victorious
League Cup finals for Forest in
1989 and
1990, to local rivals
Derby County later in 1992. In his thirteen years with Nottingham Forest Sutton recorded 257 appearances for the first team, his moustache and lazy right eye making him something of a club icon during the period.
Later career (1992–1998) At Derby, Sutton again established himself as a regular, if not immediate choice, in the first team. However, gradually his role became that of permanent reserve and in 1996 he was granted a free transfer to
Birmingham City. at the expiry of his single year contract with Birmingham Sutton joined
Notts County as cover for their goalkeeping line up. With no real prospect of regular match selection Sutton was released from his Notts contract after only four months, to join non-league
Grantham Town. As a swansong to his career Sutton went out on something of a high. He played in all but one of Grantham's remaining fixtures in the 1997–98 season, with the team ending the year as
Southern League Midlands Division Champions. ==Coaching and media career==