Nineteen years ago today Celtic broke their transfer record.
Martin O’Neill made a statement signing with Chris Sutton, £6m splashed out on a guy who had bombed spectacularly at Chelsea enduring a season of misery after a £10m move from Blackburn Rovers. Sutton was so bad that he was watching Tore Andre Flo from the bench most weeks.
It seemed a high risk move from the new Celtic boss who had identified the Chelsea flop as the ideal partner for Henrik Larsson with the petted lip of Mark Viduka heading to Leeds United to offset the £6m bill to Chelsea.
On his competitive debut Sutton bundled in a late winner away to Dundee United, afterwards he told Sky Sports that he had come to Scotland to put Rangers in their place. He wasn’t kidding!
His debut in the Glasgow derby won’t be forgotten, scoring the first and last goals in an eight goal thriller as Celtic emerged on top in a match that changed the landscape of Scottish football.
Within a week Ronald de Boer had moved to Ibrox, lured by the Discount Option Scheme that later enticed Flo to quit Chelsea for twice the fee they received for Sutton. Celtic and O’Neill barely blinked, the first treble since 1969 was completed as the benchmark switched across the city. Sutton, Larsson and others drove Celtic to new heights, in 2005 he left Celtic for Aston Villa but Celtic never left him.
Injury ended his playing days but after a slow start to his media days he threw off the shackles and started to share the opinions that most players keep under wraps and express only in guarded company. Sutton was criticised by Celtic fans for his views on Ronny Deila but he held an opinion, stuck to his guns with the nice guy Norwegian replaced by the ultimate show of intent from Celtic.
Brendan Rodgers made as big an impact as O’Neill and Sutton, when he fled in the night Sutton wasn’t slow to slaughter the motives of the Leicester City boss. As he enters his 20th year associated with Celtic there is no sign of Sutton being got at or silenced, he likes his opinions and isn’t particularly bothered about who he upsets. He’s one of a kind!
A club like no other ?? https://t.co/YnU0ofKmM8
— Chris Sutton (@chris_sutton73) July 10, 2019
Fantastic era my first real taste of success as a supporter and you were a joy to watch chris. Juventus volly my best memory, what a goal. Club legend, great ambassador for Celtic and Scottish football HH ????
— Sean (@truetim87) July 10, 2019
So many great memories Chris, thank you…Until we meet again…Keep the Faith! Hail Hail! ????
— Lennybhoy (@Lennybhoy1888) July 11, 2019
You were appreciated big man and still are. Class ????????????
— Ginzo (@Ginzo1967) July 10, 2019
A true club great! Couldn’t believe he signed for us at the time and the impact he left is Legendary!
— Joe Watson Jnr. (@J0EWATS0N7) July 10, 2019
What a player, what a video and what a song. ????
— Rab K (@Rabehouserocke1) July 10, 2019
I was thrilled when you signed for us, and humbled still by how appreciative you are of Scottish football. Cheers big man ????????
— Ivan McGeorge (@I_McG) July 10, 2019
Thanks for the memories Chris. What a great striker you were. Hail hail
— Hail Hail (@LondonIrish1967) July 11, 2019