Paul Coutts

Paul Alexander Coutts (born 22 July 1988) is a Scottish footballer who plays for League Two club Bristol Rovers. A product of the Scottish Highland Football League, Coutts' first senior professional club was his home town club, Cove Rangers who are located 4 miles south of Aberdeen. In 2008, Coutts transferred into the English Football League joining Peterborough United. He then moved to Preston North End in 2010 before joining Derby County in 2012. In January 2015, he signed for Sheffield United. He has represented the Scotland under-21 team.

Club Career

Aberdeen

Born in Aberdeen, Coutts started his football career at Scottish Premier League side Aberdeen as a youth player from age 10, the club he supported as a boy before he was released aged 16 because the club thought he was too small to play professional football. Coutts said this move was "a big blow to be told by Aberdeen that I wouldn't be getting a contract but it was also a blessing in disguise."

Cove Rangers

In 2005, Coutts then moved into the Highland Football League with his local senior club, Cove Rangers. When at Cove Rangers he also had a full-time job working in the oil industry, During this time his work and football clashed with Coutts stating that, " I didn't go on the rigs but I probably would have done if I hadn't made it as a footballer. It was hard work doing a full-time job and then dashing off to training a couple of nights a week or for midweek games. Combining the two things can be pretty tiring. I did it for about a year and it was quite a tough time but I was about 17 or 18 and full of energy. Looking back, it was a good learning curve for me."

During his time at Cove Rangers he was a part of their Highland Football League title winning season, he also won the Highland Football League "Player of the Year" award in the same season. Cove's chairman Keith Moorhouse said that Coutts second season at the club "was absolutely outstanding, head and shoulders the best