Paul Coutts

Paul Coutts

Coutts representing the Scotland under-21 team
Personal information
Full name	Paul Alexander Coutts
Date of birth	(1988-07-22) 22 July 1988 (age 28)
Place of birth	Aberdeen, Scotland
Height	1.83 m (6 ft 0 in)
Playing position	Midfielder
Club information
Current team	Sheffield United
Number	15
Youth career
1998–2005	Aberdeen
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps	(Gls)
2005–2008	Cove Rangers	66	(9)
2008–2010	Peterborough United	53	(0)
2010–2012	Preston North End	77	(4)
2012–2015	Derby County	59	(2)
2015–	Sheffield United	83	(1)
National team‡
2008–2010	Scotland U21	8	(0)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 00:21, 26 February 2017 (UTC). ‡ National team caps and goals correct as of 17:13, 15 January 2012 (UTC)

Paul Alexander Coutts (born 22 July 1988) is a Scottish footballer who plays for Sheffield United. He played for Cove Rangers in the Highland Football League before a transfer to England with Peterborough United in 2008. Coutts was then transferred to Preston North End in 2010 before joining Derby in 2012. He has represented the Scotland under-21 team.

Born in Aberdeen, Coutts started his football career at Scottish Premier League side Aberdeen as a youth player from aged 10, the club he supported as a boy before he was released by the club aged 16 because the club thought he was too small to play professional football. Coutts said this move was "a big blow to be told by Aberdeen that I wouldn't be getting a contract but it was also a blessing in disguise."

In 2005, Coutts then moved into the Scottish Highland Football League with his local senior club, Cove Rangers F.C. When at Cove Rangers he also had a full-time job working in the oil industry, When at Cove, Coutts' work and football clashed with Coutts stating that, " I didn't go on the rigs but I probably would have done if I hadn't made it as a footballer. It was hard work doing a full-time job and then dashing off to training a couple of nights a week or for midweek games. Combining the two things can be pretty tiring. I did it for about a year and it was quite a tough time but I was about 17 or 18 and full of energy. Looking back, it was a good learning curve for me."

During his time at Cove Rangers he was a part of their Highland Football League title winning season, he also won the Highland Football League "Player of the Year" award in the same season. Cove's chairman Keith Moorhouse that was Coutts second season at the club "was absolutely outstanding, head and shoulders the best player in the league. He worked really hard on his upper-body strength and started to boss games." The captain of the club Kevin Tindall said that Coutts "had a good head on his shoulders. He listened to the senior players and the manager but he also had confidence in his own ability As centre-half at the time, Paul played in front of me and it was a joy to just give him the ball. We knew he would get a chance in the professional game."