Erin Cuthbert's Story, told by those who know her best...
As she prepares to return home to Glasgow with Chelsea in the Champions League on Wednesday night, some of her earliest coaches recall a prodigious talent...
Wednesday night isn’t quite a homecoming by the literal sense of the word for Chelsea’s Erin Cuthbert, but it’s about as close as it gets.
The Scotland international was born in Irvine, 30 miles south west of Glasgow on the Scottish coastline, and while Celtic Park is very much not where the self-confessed Rangers fan called home growing up, it is a return to the city synonymous with her upbringing, development and rise to stardom.
On Wednesday night, she may well represent the English champions against the Scottish champions, embarking on their first ever Champions League campaign, while Cuthbert and Chelsea are looking for a much-wanted inaugural European title.
Cuthbert quickly became a star, one very much on the radar across Glasgow from an early age, and as she prepares to return this week, this is the story of how that fledgling talent turned into one of Europe’s best midfielders, through the voices of those who helped get her there…
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“Erin’s dad and I worked together,” recalls John Clark. “We both had kids. I had a wee boy, Lewis, and Steve had Erin. Both of them were kicking balls around from a very early age, driving people mental kicking a ball around the garden all day!
“Steve and I didn’t know each other then, but we both took our kids along to Girdle Toll, a local team, we were both looking to get our kids into one of the teams there. That’s the first time I came across Steve and Erin. The guy running it said ‘yeah, no problem’, they got them both in for a few nights to get an idea of the sort of level they’re at, and that’s how it started really.”
That was 2002, when Cuthbert was just four years old, and across the next few years her talent was already more than evident.
“They were both more than competent with their technique. This was a boys team, but Erin stood out, there wasn’t much precedent for girls teams back then, but she was at a level. There’s no filter at that age, they’re so innocent, but a lot of them were decent enough.”
Cutbert “fitted in fine” according to Clark and got on well with all the other kids, going onto play 7-a-side in the Central Ayshire Youth Football League for six months, training once a week at a local school.
“Erin had boys looking at her thinking ‘there’s a wee lassie playing for us’, but it was quickly evident it wasn’t going to be a weakness for the team, she was more than capable, and as time progressed she was a lot better than most of the boys.
“Erin dealt with it. If someone caught her, she’d catch them back!”
After a period of time, both Clark and Cuthbert’s dad got “sucked into getting more involved”, because both Erin and Lewis were both very keen on football and “ate, slept and breathed” it according to Clark.
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Eventually, they both became coaches at Girdle Toll, with Clark working directly with a young Erin.
“Steve and I knew how passionate they both were about football,” he says. “We’d stay around and watch training, we were interested in how they got on because they were interested. They watched football on TV, they went to watch games, they wanted to be footballers.
“Initially, we joined as first aiders, we went through the classes and then took it further, I think they wanted Steve a bit more involved with there being a girl in the team. We stayed quite close, so Erin and Lewis became quite pally, and at that stage we were putting them into development community schemes during the summer, people were already asking if they were playing for clubs.
“In a short space of time we became quite aware most clubs had a professional youth team and scouts were out and about. I had Erin’s team for about a season and a half, she was always at every session on time and because we knew each other so well we arranged extra training. We’d go to Kilwinning Sports Centre and take the two of them onto the astroturf and lay on a little session for just the two of them.
Kilwinning Sports Centre is another place which became synonymous with Cuthbert’s upbringing, as she continued to follow the passion and desire she had for the game.
“They were begging for more! You could see the marked increase in ability when they went to the community courses and were getting a football at their feet for a prolonged period. When we went to Rangers, there was a guy who had a saying, ‘unleash the beast’, and during the course he’d egg them on.
“Dare I say Erin was attracting attention at that time because there were hardly any girls in boys teams around us, she’s the only one I can remember.”
When Erin was eight years old, training at the Kilwinning, a chance meeting put her on the radar one of Scotland’s greats.
“They went to 11 v 11 football and I remember one occasion at Kilwinning the Scotland national team were training there. There was Julie Fleeting, she noticed Erin doing some keepie uppies, I think that was when her name came into prominence with some people.”
After a period and some structural changes Girdle Toll, both Erin and Lewis were looking to move on and take the next steps in their careers.
“Steve and I both gave them the ability to choose where they wanted to go, and they both chose the same team. It was the team we struggled most against and played good football like we did, not just lump it up the park.
“They moved to Crosshouse when they were eight or nine and were coached by Brian Garrick and his dad for a bit.”
Garrick picks up the story.
“Erin’s dad and John had her at Girdle Toll and when we came up against her for the first time, she played us into the ground,” he recalls. “We had some great players and Erin ran over the top of them. I thought, ‘this isn’t meant to happen!’
“When Girdle Toll disbanded and she wanted to come to Crosshouse, they phoned and I just said ‘absolutely!’ Girls playing boys football at that time was frowned upon, but Erin played five years with us and she was our best player in the age group, all the way to when she went to Rangers.
“She was just amazing. She plays the exact same way today, that determination on the ball, different class. Nothing phases her, she’s playing lads a foot taller, she got stuck in and the boys got stuck into her.”
Erin wasn’t even 10 at this point, so what stood about her which made anyone who worked with her she was potentially going to the very top?
“Vision alone,” says Garrick. “She reminded me a little of Barry Ferguson, the ball was always coming to her, she knew exactly what she was going to do next. It wasn’t ‘let’s get the ball and see what happens’, she knew what she was going to do. There are senior players now who couldn’t do what Erin could do then. She got the ball, used her vision, moved it on. She had everything at that age. She was small, but could pack a good shot, she scored a lot of goals for us.”
He adds, “There wasn’t a lot for us to coach, she was that talented. We ended up being one of the best teams in Scotland because we had Erin. We just got her on the ball and she made things happen. We had a few coaches, but she was just a class above everyone else. Her dad and John have said before, we just built the midfield and core of the team around Erin.”
It was here again that Erin and Scotland legend Fleeting crossed paths, with the forward often returning to Crosshouse where she had also played to offer advice and help coach some of the youngsters.
“You look at the accolades of someone like Julie, she turned around and said ‘this girl will go a lot further than I ever did’, and she had an amazing career!
“Shortly after, Erin signed for Rangers and one of the stipulations was she could come back to Crosshouse for two seasons, but by the last season you could see the boys were getting a lot bigger and stronger, but Erin still gave her best!”
Erin signed for the club her and her dad supported avidly when she was just 12, but alongside her time in the youth teams kept playing at Kilwinning Sports Centre, where she was coached by up and coming young coach himself, Jamie Beattie, who is the next to take up the story.
“Since you got in touch it’s nice to have actually reflected on working with Erin and I’m very proud to have played a part in her career,” says Beattie.
“I always reference it, ‘I coached Erin Cuthbert!’ I first came into contact with her and her dad around 2007, maybe 2008. They were looking for coaches and I was doing work experience. I considered Steve a mentor from the beginning, he played a pivotal role in my coaching journey.
“I was with the Under 13s and Erin always played up, she was probably 10 or 11 when she first came in, maybe even younger. From the first session I knew she was special, it’s rare to find that. She was so small, that’s one of my earliest memories, but the things she could do, body movements, both footed, passing awareness, she could do keepie uppies for fun!
“She was just a phenomenally talented young girl. She always wanted to learn, always asking questions. Steve had to take the ball off her at times! She’d dribble into training and dribble out of training.”
Aside from her clear technical ability, Beattie identifies other elements to Cuthbert’s game, more her determination which is still evident in how she plays today, as what stood out even at such a young age.
"Absolutely, that's what has made her so successful, that drive to get to where she wants to be. She's had a very successful career, played and scored in major tournaments, Champions League final, won numerous WSL titles, yet she still wants to get better. For someone at that age, it's a common factor she's had her whole career.”
He adds, "From a playing perspective, technically she was fantastic on both feet. She scored some unbelievable goals; some you really couldn't believe. Good goals, important goals. I remember our Scottish Cup final in 2009, we were the first local girls club to make it to that final, we'd played Kilmarnock, Dundee United, Celtic, we were just grassroots, she scored the winner in the last minute.
“From a personality point of view, she was motivated, driven, worked incredibly hard, always asking questions. She took feedback really well, some players can be unreceptive and think they know better, but she was keen to take it on, she was a sponge, she'd retain so much information. She just is and always has been a phenomenal talent.”
The youngster, still not even a teenager, was playing at Kilwinning when Rangers came calling, and Beattie encouraged her to take the opportunity, knowing it was the team she loved and a place she would continue to develop alongside her other playing commitments.
"From the moment I saw her I knew she'd hit the big stage, and when Rangers came calling…she'd supported them all her life and we actively encouraged her to took it because you always outgrow your local team and she outgrew us pretty quickly.
“We were actually surprised how long we kept hold of her. Her career has kicked on tenfold since then.”
While at Rangers, Cuthbert also played for the Scottish Schools programme, part of a partnership with the Scotland Football Association where players are nominated by their schools and play for their region, with Scotland having six regions, and gaining access to more specialised coaching.
Players such as Kim Little and Caroline Weir have come through the same programme, and a promising young Cuthbert was next to follow in the footsteps of many top Scottish talents.
It’s here she worked with David Thomson, assistant manager at that point for the Under 15s Scottish Schols team where Erin played in Ayrshire.
“She first came to our attention when she was a first-year kid, she came in for trials for Under 15s but she was two years too young,” Thomson recalls. “She wasn’t picked as a first year, she went to final trials, but she was a little too small at that time playing against third-year girls.
“Technically, without a doubt she was there, but she’d have been a bit brushed aside. In 2012 as a second year, a year after I’d first seen her, she was playing and I went down to watch her on a cold, wet Saturday morning in a Rangers vs Celtic game and she just dominated, she was outstanding. Sat in the middle of the park and did everything you’d want a midfielder to do. I went back and told them we had to pick her, she had to be there or thereabouts, but that in my opinion she’d be an international football player.
“She got into the team as a second year, we played home nations like Wales and Northern Ireland, she played in those through 2013, came back to play in an Under 18s game against Australia. We played England a couple of times; we were actually the first team to play on the indoor 3G at St. George’s Park and against Georgia Stanway.”
Thomson echoes the sentiments of others regarding Cuthbert’s desire to improve and the attributes which suggested he too believed she was going right to the very top.
“You can tell, an old head on young shoulders, if that's the right phrase? She wanted to learn, wanted to talk about football all the time, played with a smile on her face. She wanted to be the best and she always took the right step, went to Rangers and then Glasgow City.
"The desire was abundantly clear, there was a want to get better. She wanted to win; she likes winning! I've got some lovely photographs of her, up to the shoulders of the other kids, but a bigger kid.”
Cuthbert would go on to represent the Rangers first team, as well as then Glasgow City and earn her first senior caps for Scotland in in 2016, the same year she joined Chelsea when Emma Hayes spotted her talent, and she’s remained there ever since, taking on a prominent role, winning multiple major trophies and now has over 70 caps for the Scotland senior team.
While nobody could have perhaps predicted her exact rise given the rapid acceleration and interest in the women’s game alongside the development of individuals such as Cuthbert, none are overly surprised to see her where she is now, and there is a sense of pride within each of those who worked with her along the way.
"Erin's done the best out of anyone,” says Clark, who remains a family friend to this day, and whose son Lewis still plays non-league after a spell in Kilmarnock’s academy.
“There's sometimes not a lot you have to do. You just watch her play, she's the same as she was then. Not fazed at all, not afraid of making a challenge. She could see a pass, could run at players, and she's flying at Chelsea. I think Emma at one time had her playing right-back and she still did a great job!”
Beattie adds, "100%. I knew she would go on to where she has. She went to Glasgow at the right time, she played against Chelsea in the Champions League, so when they came calling it was no surprise to me. To see her kick on, win WSLs, FA Cups, she is probably one of the leaders of that group now, even at 26. I'd love to see her captain Scotland, I'd love to see her take that on, a dream come true for her and amazing to see for me.
"In terms of my own pride, it's not just her impact on players she's played with, it's the wider message. A lot of girls here look at her and think they can be the next Erin. I don't think she had that bar Julie Fleeting who she looked up to and played with.
“When I was at Glasgow City, during COVID she did a Zoom with our academy players. It shows what kind of person she is, she came on for an hour and gave her time to talk to the girls. That for me goes beyond the impact she has on the pitch, it's the wider community she's had an impact on. You see Cuthbert 22 and 8 shirts, that says to me more than anything."
Thomson very much echoes the sentiments.
“Of course, it's wonderful seeing how well they've done, whatever level. But when you see them run out at Hampden Park, it gives you a sense of pride. You recognised that an early age that this young lady had something special. It's a pleasure to see how well she's done. Steve's a good guy, he'll speak to the parents of the current Scottish Schools girls, he'll talk to them and explain that's where Erin started.
"When we ask the previous players to put a little video together or something just to send the kids some good luck, she'll always do it and make a little message for them. These are the kind of people they are, ‘where you're sitting now is where Erin sat or Kim or Caroline’, that’s what we tell them, they all started here."
For Garrick, Cuthbert’s rise and return to Glasgow is particularly poignant.
“My father helped me run the team and he sadly passed away last year, but he adored Erin. He was chief scout at Ayr United and was involved in various pro teams through his whole life.
“He said for pure ability, vision, she had everything. He brought Billy Dodds through until he went to Chelsea, he put her up there and it was nice she went to Chelsea like he did. Dad is probably more up on tactics than me and if he was here he’d let you know, but it’s phenomenal to see how far she’s come. I’m really proud to have had five years with her, we had a few good players, but she’s the one that lasted.”
