Jack Carruthers was born in 1901 in Fulham, London, where his father was a greengrocer. After six years in the Army, he settled in Brighton where he worked for Southdown buses and Brighton Corporation Tramways, and played football for their works teams as well as for Eastbourne. He appeared occasionally for Brighton & Hove Albion’s for reserve team from 1926 onwards, and made three first-team appearances in 1929 before turning professional in 1930.
Originally a wing half, he scored eight goals in twelve Third Division South matches for the Seagulls as an emergency centre forward in the 1930–31 season. Carruthers left the Seagulls in 1934, and served in the Army throughout the Second World War, after which he returned to Brighton to work and live.