Scott Sutter is a Switzerland international, who grew up in Potters Bars with an English mother of Polish descent and a Swiss father. During his time in England he played at youth level for Millwall, Barnet, Aston Villa and Charlton.
In 2002 Sutter ended up moving to his fathers homeland where he joined Grasshoppers before eventually moving to Young Boys in 2009. It is with the Swiss club that he made headlines in England last season when he was handed the chance to play against his boyhood club Tottenham Hotspur in the Champions League play-offs.
Sportsvibe.co.uk caught up with the 25-year-old right back to talk of his chances of playing for England, his fledgling tennis career and London travel cards.
Q. During your time in England you played youth football for a number of clubs including Millwall, Barnet, Aston Villa and Charlton. What was your time like at those clubs like?
Growing up in England seems quite a while back now as I’ve been over here for nine years, which is more than a third of my life. I’ve got good memories from playing football back home. Millwall was my first professional club and I played for them when I was 10. From what I remember it was quite tough at the time being that young and having to go training every Friday night.
I was also into my tennis back then as well. I grew up playing at quite a serious level and at some point I had to decide which way I wanted to go, if I wanted to carry on playing tennis or try football and I just enjoyed football more. I didn’t really have the temperament if I’m honest to play tennis, I got annoyed when I lost or played badly and ended up smashing my racket a couple of times.
Q. With your background being part English and part Swiss – when it comes to the tennis who do you cheer for when Andy Murray takes on Roger Federer?
(Laughs) Federer all the time, I’m not Murray’s biggest fan anyway so it’s got nothing to do with him representing Great Britain, well Scotland. But I’ve always been a fan of Federer and especially living out here he’s the number one sportsman. I went to see him a couple of months ago in the Davis Cup and it was cool to see him for the first time live in person.
Q. Growing up in Potters Bar, how did the move to Switzerland come about?
We always use to go on holiday with my Dad being from Switzerland and us having family out here so we used to go on skiing holidays. One time we were over an old school friend of my Dads played tennis with the managing director at Grasshoppers and he was saying we’ve got this kid back in England who’s not a bad footballer. They agreed to meet us at the airport in Zurich once and told us the plans for the club and it seemed like a really great opportunity.
My dad was from Switzerland and that was definitely one of the main reasons for the move because without his influence I wouldn’t have had the idea of coming here. The decision I made was based on football, it was purely my decision to move and my parents supported me either way – it probably broke my mums heart when I left home at 16, but what Grasshoppers offered at the time in terms of training and schooling was too good to turn down.
It was something I hadn’t had whilst in England as with Aston Villa and Charlton it was sort of pre YTS, so I still had school and was only training twice a week. I then moved to Grasshoppers and was training nine times a week, going to school and learning German. Just living away from home was one of my main decisions to help me grow up quicker and learn a new language. If I didn’t make it as a footballer at least I learnt something and been on an adventure.
Q. Before making the move over to Switzerland were you offered a professional contact by any clubs in England or other clubs in Europe?
I was offered a years contract at Charlton and I enjoyed my time at the club and training but I had my mind set on going abroad. My brother did it with his tennis when he was 16 and when your young you want to do what your older brother does so I had my mind set on moving from England and I just thought it would be a good opportunity. I’ve always had the aim of coming back to England at some stage whilst learning my trade abroad.
When you look at the players in the Premier League especially today it is full of foreign players and there technical ability is very good so I thought it would be a good idea to learn my trade abroad.
Q. Did it help with your dad being from Switzerland, in terms of settling in and learning the language?
To be honest I couldn’t speak any German, despite my dad growing up here. My Mum could speak German having lived in Switzerland with my Dad when they first got married and my brother could speak it as well. I think it helped me learn the language quicker because I was always surrounded by it. The first six months wasn’t easy and if I’m honest I wasn’t that sociable when I first moved over here.
Q. You made the headlines over here last season, because you’re a Tottenham fan and the team you play for Young Boys played Spurs in the Champions League play-offs. What was it like to play against the team you supported?
It was really special actually; when the draw was made I was in the stadium with my Dad. When Tottenham and Young Boys were paired together it was amazing, my Dad and me were joking about it before. I remember we played Middlesbrough in the UEFA Cup before but that was in Switzerland and it wasn’t the same.
Growing up as a Tottenham fan, to play Tottenham at White Hart Lane and over two legs was just amazing.
Q. After the games with Spurs you got a lot of media coverage, was there any interest in you from clubs in England after those two games?
I don’t really know, the only thing I heard was a few months ago that Wigan were interested but I’m not sure how true that is. I don’t tend to pay that much attention to it all. It’s obviously nice to read certain things but I haven’t had anything concrete. It is nice that my name is out there and people are aware that I’m playing football out here.
Q. After the games against Tottenham whose shirt did you get?
In the first game over here I swapped with Robbie Keane but it actually got stolen from me. I don’t know how and I don’t know who took it. I was devastated about it because it wasn’t just a shirt it was a shirt from where we had beat them and it was the first game I had played against Tottenham.
In the second game I swapped with (Gareth) Bale and our left back swapped with Ledley King and he gave me his shirt, which I was really thankful for. I had a couple of good games against Bale and kept him fairly quiet. I count myself pretty lucky he wasn’t in the form he was a couple of month later when he played Inter Milan.
Q. Your current boss at Young Boys is former Tottenham boss Christian Gross. What is it like working under Christian?
It’s tough and it’s a lot of hard work if I’m honest. We don’t have many days off, it’s very professional, he’s very football based and he knows everything. I’m finding it a bit hard under the current coach as over the last three years I was a regular in the first team and although I’m starting most of the games I’ve been left out of a few. However we are doing well in the League and can hopefully win something this season.
Q. The reason for your rotation isn’t because you mentioned the Travelcard incident to Christian is it?
(Laughs) no I haven’t mentioned that, I might use it as ammo if things get really bad.
Q. You’ve been capped twice by Switzerland now, what was that like and did you feel you’d ever get the chance to play for England at senior level?
I played for Switzerland at youth level all the way up to the Under 21’s and when I turned 21, I announced to the squad that I didn’t want to play for Switzerland anymore and I would like to keep the option open to play for England. At the time I was looking at it and thought I was probably one of 15 or 16 right-backs with a chance of playing for England. I then got unlucky and was injured for two years, then when I was fit and playing again I got the call from the Swiss FA to ask me if I wanted to play and having thought during my time out I wasn’t going to play football again I decided to take the opportunity to play for Switzerland.
Q. How do the atmospheres from the fans compare between England and Switzerland?
In Switzerland there are basically two clubs that are ahead of the rest with regards to fans and support and that’s Basel and the club I play for Young Boys. In all honesty I would compare the clubs to lower Premier League clubs – when looking at the stadiums and the attendances we get it comparable to that of most Premier League teams.
Some of the other teams in the league over here struggle to get 5,000 people through the turnstiles, so it is different. Football in England is like a religion, there is so much media coverage with Sky Sports and all the papers, football is the main thing and that is fantastic, over here it is a lot more laid back with the media.
Q. Is there anything you miss about England?
If I’m honest with you I’m at the point now where I’m getting a bit homesick but not from missing my family, but it’s the culture I miss and things like English TV and the way of life in England. My aim is to look for a move back home and I’ll just get my head down and see if something comes of it in the near future.
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