Luke Guttridge
Encyclopedia
Luke Horace Guttridge is an English
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...

 footballer, who signed for Aldershot Town
Aldershot Town F.C.
Aldershot Town Football Club is an association football club based in Aldershot, Hampshire, England, founded in the spring of 1992 just after the closure of debt-ridden Fourth Division club Aldershot Football Club...

 in July 2010, after being released by Northampton Town
Northampton Town F.C.
Northampton Town Football Club are an English professional football club based in Northampton, Northamptonshire. They currently play in Football League Two, the lowest league division, after being relegated from League One on the last day of the 2008–09 season...

.

Torquay United

Guttridge, a midfielder, began his career as a trainee with Torquay United
Torquay United F.C.
Torquay United Football Club, nicknamed the Gulls, are an English association football club based in the tourist resort town of Torquay, Devon. They played in the Conference National in 2008–09, but were promoted to Football League Two after a 2–0 win over Cambridge United on 17 May 2009 at Wembley...

 after playing junior football for Paignton Pilgrims. He made his league debut whilst still a trainee as a late substitute, replacing Alex Watson in the 4-0 win against Mansfield Town
Mansfield Town F.C.
Mansfield Town Football Club is an English football club from the former mining town of Mansfield, Nottinghamshire. The club was formed in 1897 as Mansfield Wesleyans and changed its name to Mansfield Wesley in 1906 before settling on Mansfield Town in 1910...

 on April 10, 2000. In May 2000, against the advice for a longer contract offer given by youth coaches Paul Compton
Paul Compton
Paul David Compton is an English former professional footballer and football club manager. He most notably managed Torquay United during the 1992-93 season, and was assistant manager at Dorchester Town prior to rejoining Torquay United in the summer of 2008 as joint manager of their new youth set-up...

 and Richard Hancox
Richard Hancox
Richard Hancox is an English former professional footballer, and is married to the daughter of former Torquay United chairman Mike Bateson. He currently coaches at Plymouth Argyle. He has held various roles at Torquay United in his career.-Career:Hancox was born in Stourbridge and first joined...

, Guttridge was only offered a three-month professional contract by Torquay manager Wes Saunders
Wes Saunders
Wes Saunders is an English former professional footballer and football club manager.Saunders was born in Sunderland and brought up in Boldon Colliery, attending Boldon Comprehensive school...

, even though Cambridge United
Cambridge United F.C.
Cambridge United Football Club is a professional football club from Cambridge, England. They are currently playing the 2011-2012 season in the Conference National, the fifth tier of the English league system, where they have competed since 2005 following their relegation from the Football League...

 had offered him a one-year deal and the chance to play second division football.

Cambridge United

Unsurprisingly, Guttridge left for Cambridge, managed by Roy McFarland
Roy McFarland
Roy Leslie McFarland is an English football manager who was also a player, notably at Derby County where he played 434 league games helping him to earn 28 caps for England.-Playing career:...

, on a free transfer. He had to wait until the following spring for his Cambridge league debut, after playing twice in the Football League Trophy
Football League Trophy
The Football League Trophy, currently known as the Johnstone's Paint Trophy for sponsorship reasons, is an annual English association football knock-out competition open to the 48 clubs in Football League One and Football League Two, the bottom two divisions in the four fully professional top...

, but when it came he scored within two minutes in a vital 2-0 home win against Oldham Athletic
Oldham Athletic A.F.C.
Oldham Athletic Association Football Club is an English association football club based at Boundary Park, on Sheepfoot Lane in Oldham, Greater Manchester. The club currently competes in the Football League One, the third tier of the English league...

. In August 2001, McFarland, by now manager of Torquay, made a bid to bring Guttridge back to Plainmoor
Plainmoor
Plainmoor is a suburb of Torquay, Devon, but is best known as the name of the stadium in which Torquay United Football Club currently play.-History:...

, but this was rejected and he remained at the Abbey Stadium. He became one of Cambridge's main performers to the extent that he was appointed captain of the side and a move to Premier League club Charlton Athletic
Charlton Athletic F.C.
Charlton Athletic Football Club is an English professional football club based in Charlton, in the London Borough of Greenwich. They compete in Football League One, the third tier of English football. The club was founded on 9 June 1905, when a number of youth clubs in the southeast London area,...

 was in the pipeline, although in the end nothing materialized.

Southend United

Guttridge joined Southend United
Southend United F.C.
Southend United Football Club is an English football club based at Roots Hall Stadium, Prittlewell, Southend-on-Sea, Essex, who play in Football League Two. Their home ground is Roots Hall, and the club plan to move into a new 22,000-seater stadium located at Fossetts Farm.-Stadium:The club has had...

 in March 2005 and, after a slow start, firmly established himself as a mainstay in the side. A chance move to the centre of midfield from his usual wide berth (following a meeting with boss Steve Tilson
Steve Tilson
Stephen Brian "Steve" Tilson is an English football manager and former player. He is best known for his time in charge of Southend United...

) proved to be a turning point and Guttridge was a major factor in the Blues 2005/06 League One
Football League One
Football League One is the second-highest division of The Football League and third-highest division overall in the English football league system....

 title winning side alongside Kevin Maher
Kevin Maher
Kevin Andrew Maher is an English-born Republic of Ireland footballer who plays for Dagenham & Redbridge. He predominantly plays as a central midfielder.- Southend United :...

.

Leyton Orient

However, he lost his place in the Southend first team after their promotion and on November 23, 2006 was allowed to join Leyton Orient
Leyton Orient F.C.
Leyton Orient F.C. are an English professional football club in East London. They currently play in Football League One and are known to their fans as the O's.Leyton Orient have spent one season in the top flight of English football, in 1962–63...

 on loan, scoring his first and what turned out to be only goal for the club against Nottingham Forest. He returned in January 2007. On 30 January 2007, he left Southend to sign a permanent contract at Leyton Orient initially until the end of the 2006-07 season. After rejecting a contract offer from Leyton Orient, he left the club in May 2007.

Colchester United

Two months later Guttridge signed for Championship
Football League Championship
The Football League Championship is the highest division of The Football League and second-highest division overall in the English football league system after the Premier League...

 side Colchester United
Colchester United F.C.
Colchester United Football Club is an English football club based in Colchester. The club was formed in 1937, and briefly shared their old Layer Road home with now defunct side Colchester Town who had previously used the ground from 1910....

. After only playing 14 league games in the season he was released.

Northampton Town

Guttridge impressed during a trial period at Northampton Town
Northampton Town F.C.
Northampton Town Football Club are an English professional football club based in Northampton, Northamptonshire. They currently play in Football League Two, the lowest league division, after being relegated from League One on the last day of the 2008–09 season...

, and on 4 August 2008 after two commanding performances in pre-season friendlies, he signed a contract with the Cobblers which will keep him at the club until at least the summer of 2010. His first goal for the club came as part of a 4–0 win over Stockport County
Stockport County F.C.
Stockport County Football Club is an English football club based in Stockport, Greater Manchester. The club formed in 1883 as Heaton Norris Rovers, shortly afterwards merging with Heaton Norris F.C., and adopted the current name on 24 May 1890 on the creation of the County Borough of Stockport...

 on 21 March 2009.

He was released by the club on 12 May 2010 along with five other players

Aldershot Town

In July 2010, Guttridge joined Aldershot Town
Aldershot Town F.C.
Aldershot Town Football Club is an association football club based in Aldershot, Hampshire, England, founded in the spring of 1992 just after the closure of debt-ridden Fourth Division club Aldershot Football Club...

 after signing a 2 year contract. He was voted Supporters Player of the Season after an impressive first year with the Shots.

External links

The source of this article is wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.  The text of this article is licensed under the GFDL.
 
x
OK