How Scottish roots made future Socceroos captain Harry Souttar

Being two metres tall and immensely popular means sneaking into any room is impossible.

The night before the Socceroos’ playoff against Peru, Souttar tried to.

Graham Arnold, searching high and low for any mental boost he could give his side, flew Souttar from England to Qatar. Souttar didn’t want a big deal to be made.

Don’t put the focus on me, he told the boss.

I’ll just pop in quietly and say hello, he told himself.

Wrong.

At dinner the night before the game they’ll never forget, the vocal chords of every Socceroo rattled as soon as they saw their giant surprise in Big Harry Souttar.

A happy camp was happier. Harry had given them a boost, and for Arnold, it was a no-brainer.

“He’s such a great guy. His love for that badge is just ridiculous,” Arnold tells CodeSports.

“Such a good leader. He will be a future Socceroos captain.”

High praise, but Souttar has quickly risen from obscurity to something so much more than just one of the tallest footballers walking the earth.

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Souttar has a huge few months ahead.

An imposing figure for the opposition, and the type that makes every teammate feel more secure, Souttar is a walk-up start for the Socceroos’ World Cup squad.

If fit.

Last November, Souttar blew out his ACL playing for the Socceroos against Saudi Arabia on a sodden night in Sydney.

Bad for Australia, and worse for the player himself. After establishing himself with Stoke in England’s second division, Premier League clubs were starting to circle – Everton were reportedly on the verge of an AUD $35 million bid – before the knee went.

At just 23, it was a rough one to take for Souttar, but he quickly reverted to the long-time advice of his father, and man of humble beginnings, Jack.

“The street that dad grew up in, a town called Brechin in Scotland, had one toilet at the end of the road,” Souttar says.

“He’s an architect now, but forever drilled into us – you have to work hard for what you want.”

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Harry Souttar grew up just down the road from where his dad was raised, in Luthermuir, a village of 120 near the east coast of Scotland.

Harry and older brother John, had a ball at foot as soon as they could stand up and kick it.

“From when it was light to when it was dark, we’d play as much football as you can,” Souttar recalls.

“Football was everything. Still is, really.”

Both the Souttar boys showed talent, and John quickly found himself in the academy of nearby club Dundee United.

Harry took a while longer, as first impressions weren’t about his football, or personality.

Rather, it was about how bloody tall he was, soaring more than six feet before high school.

“Was taller than most of my teachers from 12-13 years of age,” Souttar says.

“(My height) is always the first thing that someone says.

“Some jokes get boring, people are really pleased with themselves that they‘ve come up with a height joke!”

The growth stage is a period which hinders many young athletes. Harry wouldn’t stop growing, and for a sport like football, where being as one with a ball is paramount to where the game can take you, it was a bumpy ride.

“I was just skin and bone, not a lot of co-ordination,” Souttar says.

But thousands of hours in the backyard, and at various skills training sessions growing up didn’t allow Harry’s physical attributes to become separated from his ability on the ball.

His elder brother John had a rapid acceleration through his teenage years, debuting in the Scottish Premier league at 16. By 19, he’d played a century of games.

Harry caught up and made his debut for Dundee United at 17, but soon decided it was best to move away from Scotland, where his brother had established the Souttar name.

“I was pretty keen to get to England. It felt up there it was, ‘Harry, you’re John’s little brother’.”

That’s certainly not the case now, for club, nor country.

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While Jack Souttar is as Scottish as kilts and bagpipes and John Souttar has eight caps for Scotland, the life story of Heather Souttar, Harry’s mum, is the reason this story has gone the way it has.

Heather was born in Port Hedland, the Western Australian outpost to where her parents immigrated as 10-pound Poms.

Heather moved back to Scotland, where she met and settled with Jack and as the kids started growing up, her heritage became a focal point every four years.

“Always remember in World Cups, Scotland never got to it, and from 2006 Australia was the team we supported,” Souttar says.

“Never really thought more of it until I met Adam at Stoke.”

Adam is Adam Federici, Souttar’s teammate at Stoke City, and 16-cap Socceroo.

As teammates do, Federici and Souttar got chatting about their backgrounds when the young defender mentioned where his mum was from.

Federici got in touch with Graham Arnold, knowing the Socceroos manager was on the lookout for as much depth in playing stocks he could find (Arnold had just recruited another Scot with Aussie parentage, Martin Boyle).

In March 2019, Souttar was selected for an Olympic team tournament in Cambodia and trepidation of walking into a new environment, like the new kid in school, immediately evaporated.

“Soon as I went into that camp, I was like this is class,” Souttar recalls.

“Loved it. Just a great group of lads. They had a team chemistry that I’ve never experienced before, just one big family”

From that moment on, Souttar and his broad Scottish accent only wanted to play for one badge.

“Mum was buzzing,” Souttar says.

“Dad was … pleased. Probably not after I left the room, perhaps a few choice words.

“Nah, dad always said at the start, it’s your decision who you play for, if you’re happy with it, we’ll back you all the way.”

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The Souttars have every intention of descending on Doha for the World Cup, but it all depends on the next period for Harry.

“It’s the pinnacle of any footballer’s career but my full concentration now is to get fit, and play games before it,“ Souttar says.

Recovering from an anterior cruciate rupture is a slow, boring process.

Souttar’s recovery was going well until late April when bone bruising on his tibia stopped any running for six weeks.

CodeSports catches him during his first week back running again and everything has to go right from this point. All things being equal, Souttar will be back for Stoke in early September, which would give him the required block of games to be ready for the World Cup.

Everyone in the Socceroos set up is eager to have him involved, and the feeling is mutual.

The very mention of the moment Andrew Redmayne’s gloves got in the way of Peru’s last penalty brings a massive smile to his face.

Souttar was sitting in the grandstand but flew down the stairs to join in the fun on the pitch.

“I realised after 10 yards I can’t actually run at the moment!” Souttar giggles.

“Had to do a little hobble, by the time I got down there they were all separating so they just jumped on the nearest person that was there.

“But it was worth it, so worth it.”

He’d love nothing more than to be a part of it again, with his new best mates.