Close your eyes and imagine a blissful world of football, far beyond the maddening chatter of the 'Old Firm' years and singularly focused on one man - John Souttar. Popped into existence on the 25th of September 1996 - if the Scottish birth certificates are to be trusted, Souttar is the embodiment of defensive reliability for Rangers. Standing an unapologetic 6ft 2in (a sizeable 1.88m for the metrically inclined) and tipping the scales at 11st 11lb (or 75 kg for those partial to the continental system), the Scottish national dons the number 5 jersey as though it were stitched into the fabric of his being.
If one could rewind the clock back to the halcyon days of July 2012, you'd see a raw, youthful Souttar joining Dundee United in the Premiership as a trainee. He was a fresh-faced debutant in season 2012 - 2013 with a mere 8 league appearances, but credit where it's due - the lad stuck around before making a handsome 22 appearances and notching up a goal in the 2013 - 2014 season. The lad's consistency surfaced in the subsequent seasons as he made 13 appearances in 2014 - 2015 and 20 in the 2015 - 2016 season. It seemed United had become a home of sorts.
Just when you thought you had his career path figured, he pulls a bolt-on-the-blue transfer in February 2016 from Dundee United to Hearts. All for some £150k. Stingy or savvy, you decide. His time at Hearts was laden with appearances, ranging from scouting the bench 15 times in season 2015 - 2016, to 22 appearances in 2016 - 2017, and shot up to a stellar 31 in 2017 - 2018, adding a solitary goal to his tally. From then, though his appearances tapered to 24 in 2018 - 2019, 7 in 2019 – 2020, and a sterling 27 in 2021 - 2022, his goals picked up with 4 notches in this season.
As predictable as the Scottish weather, Souttar jumped ship to Rangers in July 2022. Keeping the statisticians anxious in his initial 2022 - 2023 season with 12 appearances and a goal, followed by a more impressive 28 appearances and 2 goals in the 2023 - 2024 season, correlatively the 2024 - 2025 season saw 24 appearances and a goal. The current 2025 - 2026 season has Souttar with 21 appearances so far.
Beyond the confines of domestic football, Souttar has graced the League Cup 2025 - 2026 with two starts, the World Cup Qualifiers Europe 2024 - 2026 donning the Scottish blue with four starts and a substitute's role once, the Champions League Qualifiers 2025 - 2026 with six starts, and, the Europa League 2025 - 2026 with four starts and a substitute's role to boot.
Quite the footy journey, wouldn’t you say?
