Chris Sutton ended up in jail night before completing record-breaking transfer
Chris Sutton was once held the British record transfer fee, when he swapped Norwich for Blackburn Rovers, but the evening before the deal, Sutton was banged up by police
The night before Chris Sutton completed his move to Blackburn Rovers – which was the then British record fee – he was banged up in prison.
Sutton was on the verge of swapping Norwich for Blackburn, when he decided to have some farewell drinks with some of his soon-to-be former teammates.
Speaking to FourFourTwo, Sutton revealed: “I’d gone out for a drink with Bryan Gunn and a few of the others, and ended up driving into this convertible car. I bent the indicator of it a bit and got arrested – banged up.
“I was worried about the move collapsing and Kenny Dalgleish pulling the plug on the deal!”
However, as Sutton continued, he joked there was only one person on the planet he was more worried about than Dalgleish’s reaction: his dad.
Sutton added: “Worse than that, though, I was thinking: ‘My dad is going to mad’… And he did!”
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Fortunately for Sutton, the deal went ahead, and the next morning he was unveiled as Blackburn’s newest signing – to the tune of £5million. Sutton was an instant hit at Ewood Park, where he struck up a strike partnership with Alan Shearer.
Sutton notched 15 goals that season, as Blackburn went on to win their first Premier League title – and their first English top division title since 1914.
However, Sutton struggled the following season and managed just 13 appearances without any goal. Blackburn, too, struggled to hit the same highs, and Sutton left the club in 1999.
