As a child, Jack Rutter shared a dream along with so many kids his age, to become a professional footballer.
After trialling with various academies throughout his childhood, including the likes of Bristol Rovers and Cardiff City. The Gloucester-born Rutter signed for Birmingham City as a 10-year-old, and stayed at the club until the age of 18.
All seemed to be falling into place for the young scholar, until an unprovoked attack outside a nightclub in Gloucester ended Rutter’s dreams of becoming a professional.
On March 22nd 2009, Rutter was out having drinks with his friends following victory over Watford in the Quarter Final of the FA Youth Cup. Towards the end of the night, he went over to speak to an old friend outside a nightclub when he was struck over the back of the head and dropped to the ground unconscious.
“When I’ve turned around this boy’s just ran up behind me and smacked me on the back of the head. He’s knocked me in the temple, completely unconscious, and I’ve fallen back and smacked the back of my skull on the end of the kerb.”
The incident left Rutter with a fractured skull, moderate brain damage, cerebral palsy in the limbs, and severed his cochlear nerve, meaning he was permanently deaf in the right ear.
“I left the hospital in Bristol on a wheelchair after three weeks of intensive care because I couldn’t even walk straight.” Rutter expressed with a hint of grief in his voice.
Six months after the event took place, Rutter returned to training with Birmingham, but it wasn’t the same.
“My balance and coordination wasn't the same and I’ve got something called ataxia, which means I have a delay in reactions from my brain to my body.”
Rutter was forced to retire from football and after short stints at University and some coaching, he found himself in a dark place.
“I had really bad anxiety at the time, so I stopped coaching football, I even stopped watching football, I was drinking a lot, a real bad time for me.”
However, times were about to get better for Rutter as the brain-injury charity, Headway, got in touch with the FA to see if there was any kind of disability football he could take part in. To Rutter’s delight, he was eligible for England’s Cerebral palsy football team.
After trials in the Midlands, Rutter was invited to train with the team at St George’s Park in Burton.
“As soon as I got there, I thought this is for me, this is my second chance to make the most of this”, Rutter remembered in joy.
After captaining his country and playing in five major tournaments for the three lions, Rutter was forced to retire again, through no fault of his own, due to rule changes about a player’s impairment.
“When I heard I had to retire I was gutted… It’s one of those things you’ve got to take on in life.”
Today, Jack Rutter remains heavily involved within the football community.
Along with his own business; Jack Rutter Skill School, he coaches the England Cerebral palsy Under 21's team and is the global ambassador for Disability in Sport at McDonalds.
“It’s nice to appreciate what I’ve done within the disability game as I feel I’ve not only done well on the pitch but I’ve helped drive it off the pitch and promote it.”
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