Peter Hutton (footballer)

Peter Hutton (born 2 March 1973) is a Northern Irish football coach and former player. A centre back, he spent the majority of his 21 years playing career with Derry City, and set a club record of over 670 appearances in the League of Ireland. His father, also named Peter, played for Finn Harps in the 1970s.

Peter Hutton
Hutton after rising to head the ball during Derry City's 2006 UEFA Cup tie against IFK Göteborg at the Brandywell Stadium
Personal information
Full name Peter Hutton
Date of birth (1973-03-02) 2 March 1973
Place of birth Derry, County Londonderry, Northern Ireland
Position(s) Centre back
Youth career
Oxford United Stars
Coleraine
1989–1990 Bradford City
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
1990–1998 Derry City 192 (30)
1998 Portadown 25 (2)
1998–2001 Derry City 92 (3)
2001–2002 Shelbourne 32 (3)
2002–2009 Derry City 216 (13)
2010–2011 Cliftonville 39 (3)
2011 Finn Harps 3 (0)
National team
1988–1989 Northern Ireland U16
2012 Irish League XI 1 (0)
Teams managed
2004 Derry City (caretaker)
2007 Derry City (caretaker)
2011–2013 Finn Harps
2014–2015 Derry City
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only

He spent his youth with Oxford United Stars, Coleraine, and Bradford City, before joining Derry City in 1990. Over the next 19 years he had three spells with Derry, winning seven League of Ireland Cup titles, three FAI Cup titles, as well as the League of Ireland title in 1996–97. He was named as both the PFAI Players' Player of the Year and SWAI Personality of the Year in 1996–97. He also had brief spells with Portadown and Shelbourne, and won the league title with Shelbourne in 2001–02. He ended his career in 2011 following short spells with Cliftonville and Finn Harps. He twice served Derry as caretaker-manager, before he managed Finn Harps on a full-time basis from 2011 to 2013 and then Derry City from 2014 to 2015.

Playing career

Hutton began his career with Oxford United Stars in the Derry and District League, and later played for Coleraine. At the age of 15, he joined English side Bradford City's youth training scheme. This saw Hutton move to Bradford for a number of summer months between seasons while still under contract with Coleraine. In 1990, he signed for his hometown club, Derry City. He made his League of Ireland debut for Derry on 17 March 1991. He scored the second goal in the 1995 FAI Cup final 2–1 success over rivals Shelbourne at Lansdowne Road.

He had trials with English clubs Tranmere Rovers and Port Vale, and played two summer tournament games for the "Valiants" in 1995, before returning to Derry.[1] He captained Derry to the League of Ireland title in 1996–97, and playing in midfield, finished as the club's top-scorer with 19 goals.[2]

He spent the 1998 season with Portadown, before returning to Derry City. He spent 2001 to 2002 at Shelbourne where he won another league title.

By November 2006, Hutton had made his 300th appearance as team-captain after a 1–0 League of Ireland final-night win over Cork City in the Brandywell Stadium. He made a total of more than 660 appearances for Derry City, a club record.[3] He also managed Derry twice on a caretaker basis – in 2004 for a short period in the aftermath of Gavin Dykes' departure and prior to the appointment of Stephen Kenny, and in 2007 following Pat Fenlon's departure.[3]

He was released after the 2009 season, and signed for Cliftonville in December 2009.

Management career

In May 2011, Hutton took over the management of League of Ireland First Division club Finn Harps, along with former Derry City teammate Felix Healy. Hutton was declared as the new manager while Healy took on the role of Director of football at the club. He went back to Derry City in November 2013, as an assistant to Roddy Collins. He succeeded Colins as manager the following year and managed the club's highest record win in European competition with a 5–1 away win over Welsh outfit Aberswyth. Disappointment followed with a FAI Cup final loss to St Pats in 2014. Hutton agreed to depart in September 2015 after suffering a 3–0 defeat to Cork City in the quarter-finals of the FAI Cup.

Honours

Club

Derry City

Shelbourne

Manager

Derry City

Individual

References
  1. Kent, Jeff (1996). Port Vale Personalities. Witan Books. p. 148. ISBN 0-9529152-0-0.
  2. White, Eric (4 March 2015). "Derry unlikely to challenge for League title accepts Peter Hutton". BBC Sport. Retrieved 13 November 2016.
  3. "'Pizza' reaches 600 mark for "Candy Stripes"". Derry Journal. 10 April 2008. Archived from the original on 6 February 2018. Retrieved 10 November 2016.
  4. "Ireland – Player of the Year and Other Awards". www.rsssf.com. Retrieved 13 November 2016.
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