John Souttar

John Francis Souttar (born 25 September 1996) is a Scottish professional footballer who plays for Scottish Premiership club Rangers and the Scotland national team. He previously played for Dundee United and Heart of Midlothian before joining Rangers in 2022. Known as a central defender, Souttar was converted to play as a midfielder towards the end of his stay at Dundee United, however he reverted to once again playing as a centre-back for Hearts. He is the youngest player to have appeared for Dundee United's first team, having made his debut for the club in January 2013 at the age of 16. After previously representing the country at under-17, under-19 and under-21 levels, he made his full international debut in September 2018. Souttar was born in Aberdeen on 25 September 1996 to parents Jack and Heather. His father had previously been a professional footballer, with Brechin City. His mother's side of the family hails from Australia. Growing up in the village of Luthermuir, Aberdeenshire, Souttar attended Luthermuir Primary and then Mearns Academy in nearby Laurencekirk. In 2002, Souttar began to play for Brechin City Boys Club (later Brechin City Youths), where he was coached by his father in a successful team also containing Ryan Gauld and Euan Spark. The trio also developed their skills at coaching schools run in Dundee by Ian Cathro, before joining Dundee United's youth system in 2006 at the age of nine. Souttar has a younger brother, Harry, who plays for Leicester City and is an Australian international. Souttar has represented Scotland at under-17 level, making his debut on 28 August 2012, in a 0–0 draw against Belgium. In May 2013, Souttar made his debut for the Scotland under-19 team, against England. Alex McLeish called Souttar into the senior Scotland squad for the first time in May 2018, but he was forced to withdraw due to hip and hamstring injuries. In August 2018, Souttar's manager at Hearts, Craig Levein, suggested that Souttar may be called up for Australia if not selected for Scotland. Souttar later admitted he had not considered playing for Australia or been contacted by Football Federation Australia, and that he was unaware Levein was going to make the suggestion. Souttar was again selected for Scotland in September 2018, and he made his full international debut in a 4–0 defeat against Belgium on 7 September. A month later, in his third appearance, he was sent off for two bookings in a 2–1 loss away to Israel, later stating that he had been suffering with a hip injury (which caused him to miss three months of club football) but chose not to ask to be substituted as his defensive colleague Charlie Mulgrew had already come off injured. In November 2021 Souttar was called up by Steve Clarke to the Scotland squad for the World Cup qualifiers against Moldova and Denmark. On 15 November 2021 he scored his first international goal, a header from a corner, against Denmark in a 2–0 home win. Souttar was named in the provisional squad for UEFA Euro 2024, but was omitted from the final list.