[DavidMc]

Date of birth: 30.11.1984
Country: Scotland
Position: Defender

Alan Hutton is an attack minded right-back who made his Rangers debut against Partick Thistle on 22 December 2002. That proved to be his first and last appearance that season, however, he made eleven appearances during 2003-04, scoring his first goal against Dunfermline Athletic at Ibrox on 23 March 2004.


Hutton continued to improve, making twelve appearances during 2004-05 as the club won both the SPL and the Scottish League Cup. Hutton broke his leg in February 2005 whilst playing a Scottish Premier League match against Kilmarnock, he was sidelined for eight months. The 2005-06 season proved to be difficult for Rangers domestically, however Hutton made twenty-three appearances in the first team including games against Villarreal in the last 16 of the UEFA Champions League.

Hutton put pen to paper on a new five-year contract with Rangers in the summer of 2007. Since then he has started the the 2007-08 season well, drawing comparisons to Brazilian Cafu. He was part of the Scotland team that famously beat France at the Parc de Princes in September 2007, and won Sky Sports man of the match award when Scotland beat Ukraine in October 2007. He also played an instrumental part in Rangers opening UEFA Champions League group match victories against VfB Stuttgart and Olympique Lyonnais, assisting Charlie Adam for the equaliser and winning the penalty that Jean-Claude Darcheville converted against VfB Stuttgart and winning the corner that led to the opening goal from Lee McCulloch and assisting Daniel Cousin for the second goal against Olympique Lyonnais.

In November 2007, he was linked in the media with a transfer away from Rangers but his agent dismissed the speculation, stating that Hutton is happy at Rangers. On 2 December 2007 it was reported that a bid of eight million pounds would be enough for a move away from Ibrox, with Manchester United, Liverpool, Arsenal and a host of Serie A clubs keeping tabs on him. Hutton's boyhood heroes are Rangers so it is uncertain whether he would leave given the chance.


International
Along with team-mate Charlie Adam, Hutton was called up by manager Alex McLeish to the Scotland squad for the first time on May 11, 2007 for a friendly against Austria and a Euro 2008 qualifying match against the Faroe Islands. He made his international debut against Austria on May 30, 2007, coming on as a substitute. Hutton made his competitive Scotland debut against Lithuania in September of that year. He had previously been capped by Scotland at under 21 and B levels.