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Signed by the club at the second attempt, all at Motherwell are delighted that John Sutton has proved to be well worth the wait.
The Sutton family will always be indelibly linked with Norwich City with father Mike and sons Chris and John all playing for the Canaries at various levels.
John, it has to be said, had the most modest impact of the Sutton family spending just a year in the Norwich City youth set before signing for Tottenham Hotspur.
Sutton was capped at England U15 and U16 level and proved himself a prolific striker netting 25 goals in 26 games for the Spurs U17 side and breaking into Tottenham's reserve side the following season.
To aid his development the striker was farmed out on loan to Carlisle Utd in October 2002 and netted once in ten league and cup games for the Cumbrians.
Having gained a taste of senior action John and Spurs mutually agreed to terminate his contract around Christmas 2002, however it would take several months before Sutton would secure a permanent deal for myself.
Initially signing a month long deal with Swindon, he played once for the Robins, before going on trial with Southend United and then Cambridge United.
Out of the blue though John elected to join Raith Rovers in the summer of 2003, following the path his brother Chris had taken in travelling north to try his luck in Scotland. The Scottish game proved to his liking and Sutton rattled home sixteen goals in half a season for the Starks Park club.
Dundee made a move to sign the striker and interestingly Spanish giants Valencia were credited with an interest in the player but it was back south to London John would move to sign for Millwall for a reported fee of £60,000.
John failed to make the expected impact with the Lions and was allowed to return to Scotland on a season long loan deal with Dundee making sure they didn't miss out on the player for a second time.
A relatively successful time on Tayside saw John net 8 times in 22 starts for the Dees attracting the attention of other sides in Scotland.
Released by Millwall, Sutton moved to promotion hopefuls St Mirren in the summer of 2005 and his 17 strikes during the campaign saw the Saints comfortably home as First Division Champions.
Thirteen goals in his first season in the SPL, three against the Steelmen among them, proved that Sutton could comfortably deal with life in the Scottish top flight.
Despite Gus McPherson's eagerness to retain the player's services, Sutton once again had itchy feet. Motherwell were among several clubs keen to snap him up but John elected to return south once more to sign for Paul Lambert's Wycombe Wanderers.
Once again though the player was inexplicably unable to transmit his form from Scottish to English football and his season with Wycombe ended with six goals from 25 starts.
After Paul Lambert decided to pass on the reigns, the experienced Peter Taylor was appointed Wycombe manager and it became apparent that John was not in his long-term players.
Upon learning of his availability, Motherwell manager Mark McGhee moved swiftly to bring Sutton's power and goalscoring ability to Fir Park, snapping him up on a 3 year deal in mid August 2008.
Sutton began to repay McGhee's faith in him almost immediately with three goals in three games. Another two quickly followed with John netting against his old club St Mirren and the winner against Falkirk in a 3-2 thriller at Fir Park.
Perhaps coincidently as the English striker suffered something of a goal drought, so the Steelmen began to slide down the table and by the turn of the year Sutton found himself on the sidelines as David Clarkson returned to fitness and Chris Porter found form.
It took the departure of Porter to Derby County to allow John to stake a claim for a starting place again and he responded with a brace in Motherwell's 3-0 win over Inverurie Locos in the Scottish Cup.
Further competition arrived in the shape of Cillian Sheridan on loan from Celtic and whilst Mark McGhee was not to averse to trying both strikers together such as when the duo responded by each scoring in the 2-1 win over Inverness in late February, more often than not it was a case of "one or the other".
Despite a stop-start close to the season where John flitted from the starting eleven to the bench he concluded his campaign with a creditable 12 goals including a goal of the season candidate at Ibrox, where Zidane style he turned on the edge of the box and volleyed the ball home.
John found himself working under a new manager for season 2009'10 and his double helped 'Well through the 1st Europa League tie against Llanelli 3-1 on aggregate. Further European experience was gained against Flamurtari and Steaua Bucharest before the league season began in earnest.
John netted in Motherwell's opening home game of the season in a 3-1 win over Killie but it would be mid-November before he would score another that coming against Dundee Utd.
Despite having just the four goals at the turn of the year, some sterling efforts in the second half of the season would see Sutton end up the club's top scorer and many supporters' candidate for Player of the Year.
An achievement all the more impressive given that incoming manager Craig Brown often made use of Sutton's aerial ability in deeper left-sided role.
Some ten goals between late January and the close of the campaign did much to catapult 'Well into European contention, including two in the incredible 6-6 match with Hibernian in the penultimate game of the season.
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D.O.B:
26/12/1983
Born:
Norwich
Height:
6' 2'
Weight:
14st 3Ibs
Signed From:
Wycombe Wanderers
Position:
Striker
International Caps:
 0
International Goals:
0
2010/11 Squad No:
11
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