Hayden Mullins
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| Hayden Mullins | ||
| Personal information | ||
|---|---|---|
| Full name | Hayden Mullins | |
| Date of birth | March 27, 1979 | |
| Place of birth | Reading, England | |
| Height | 5' 11" | |
| Nickname | Mull-it over | |
| Position | Midfielder | |
| Club information | ||
| Current club | West Ham United | |
| Number | 17 | |
| Professional clubs* | ||
| Years | Club | Apps (goals) |
| 1996-2003 2003 2003- |
Crystal Palace → West Ham United (loan) West Ham United |
221 (16) 1 (0) 110 (2) |
|
* Professional club appearances and goals |
||
Hayden Mullins (born March 27, 1979 in Reading, Berkshire) is a professional English footballer. He is a versatile player equally at home in midfield, in central defence or at full back, although on many occasions his lack of ability shows up quite considerably when playing in these positions.
Mullins started his career at Crystal Palace, making his debut at the start of the 1998-99 season, and scored his first senior goal in only his third appearance. He was named "Player of The Year" and played for the England under-21s in only his first season. He would go on to become Palace captain, and make over 200 appearances for the South London club, being named "Player of The Year" for a second time, in 2003.
In October of that year, Mullins moved to recently-relegated West Ham United on a short-term loan. Just a day later, this was made permanent, with £625,000 paid to Palace for his services. That season, Mullins almost reached the Premiership for the first, as he helped West Ham to the Play-off Final. Unfortunately for him, the Hammers were beaten by a single goal to nil by none other than former club Palace.
The following season, Mullins and West Ham would rectify this, beating Preston North End by the same scorline the Hammers themselves had lost by, to win promotion.
Back in the Premier League, West Ham exceeded all expectations, and survived comfortably. Mullins played superbly and received big recognition for the quality of his football. Away from the league, West Ham also flourished in the FA Cup, but Mullins' hopes of playing in the Millenium Stadium for a third-successive year were dashed were he was sent off in the league fixture against West Ham's final opponents, Liverpool, along with Luis García, after the pair fought on the pitch. Both received three-game suspensions, the third and last game of both being the Cardiff final. Liverpool won the match on penalties, after the two had tied at 3-3 after 120 minutes.
At the beginning of the 2006-07 season, West Ham completed the signing of Argentine international Javier Mascherano. Mascherano is, like Mullins a defensive midfielder and hence it was thought that Mullins' first team opportunities would be limited. However, after a brief period on the Hammers' bench, Mullins re-established himself in the first team (at least for the time being). Alan Pardew's faith in Mullins paid off when he scored the winning goal, and put in a man of the match winning performance in the clubs 2-1 home win over Blackburn Rovers. This put an end to the worst run of results for West Ham in 74 years.
Mullins is married and has one son.
[edit] External links
| Preceded by Marc Edworthy |
Crystal Palace F.C. Player of The Year 1999 |
Succeeded by Andy Linighan |
| Preceded by Dougie Freedman |
Crystal Palace F.C. Player of The Year 2003 |
Succeeded by Andrew Johnson |
| West Ham United F.C. - Current Squad |
|---|
|
1 Carroll | 2 Mears | 3 Konchesky | 4 Gabbidon | 5 Ferdinand | 6 McCartney | 7 Dailly | 8 Sheringham | 9 Ashton | 10 Harewood | 11 Etherington | 12 Cole | 14 Pantsil | 15 Benayoun | 16 Mascherano | 17 Mullins | 18 Spector | 19 Collins | 20 Reo-Coker | 21 Green | 23 Walker | 24 Noble | 25 Zamora | 26 Newton | 29 Bowyer | 30 Tomkins | 31 Stokes | 32 Tévez | Manager: Curbishley |
