Matt Jansen

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Matt JANSEN
Personal information
Full name	Matthew Jansen
Date of birth	October 20, 1977
Place of birth	Carlisle, England
Height	1.8 m (5'11 ft)
Position	Striker
Club information
Current club	Free agent
Youth clubs
19??–95	Carlisle United
Professional clubs*
Years	Club	Apps (goals)
1995–1998 1998–1999 1999–2006 2003 2006	Carlisle United Crystal Palace Blackburn Rovers Coventry City (loan) Bolton Wanderers	36 (10) 26 (10) 153 (44) 9 (2) 6 (0)
National team**
1998–2000 2002	England U21 England	8 (0) 0 (0)
* Professional club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 13:54, 21 August 2006 (UTC). ** National team caps and goals correct as of 13:54, 21 August 2006 (UTC).

Matt Jansen (born October 20, 1977 in Carlisle, England) is an English football player.

A creative player, and a former England under-21 international, his career started at Carlisle United, where he scored 10 league goals. He turned down the chance to join Manchester United before signing for Crystal Palace in 1998 for £2.5 million, where his impressive displays earned him a move to Premier League side Blackburn Rovers for £4 million. He showed signs of things to come when he scored against Tottenham Hotspur on his debut in January 1999.

Blackburn were relegated to the First Division in Jansen's first season, but he was the star of the team which won promotion back to the Premier League in the 2000-01 season, finishing as the league's top scorer with 23 goals. He continued to impress in the following season, scoring the first goal in Blackburn's surprise 2-1 League Cup final victory against Tottenham Hotspur in 2002. His good form led to a surprise England call-up for the friendly game against Paraguay on April 17, 2002, however a stomach illness forced him to miss the game and consequently denied him the chance to claim a place in the World Cup 2002 squad.

A motorcycle accident in Rome, Italy during the summer of 2002 nearly killed Jansen and long-term hospitalisation followed (it is rumoured he spent four days in a coma). In the seasons after the accident he struggled to regain his place in the Blackburn side which led to him being loaned to Coventry City in 2003, where he scored 2 goals in 9 appearances. He made another attempt to force his way into the Blackburn team at the start of the 2004-05 season, scoring 2 goals in 8 appearances. However, it was felt that he had still not recovered mentally from the accident and was struggling to cope with the pressures of Premier League football. As a result, Blackburn decided it best for him take another break from football and sent him to visit a sports psychiatrist in America.

In May 2005 Jansen signed a 2 year 'pay as you play' contact with Blackburn, suggesting that the club was ready to give him one final chance to establish himself in the team after his injury, and he returned to action in a pre-season friendly against Morecambe in July 2005.

However, Jansen once again struggled to gain a first-team place once the season started. Blackburn agreed to release him from his contract on January 11, 2006, two days later he signed for Bolton Wanderers on a 6 month contract, after interest from Stuart Pearce's Man City failed. His first game for his new club came, naturally, at Ewood Park. However his stay at the Reebok Stadium was not a success and he was released in May of the same year.

In the summer of 2006 he had a trial with the New York Red Bulls but the move lead to nothing permanent. Bolton manager Sam Allardyce invited the player back to England and he has since been training with the club.

[edit] External links

• Matt Jansen's Profile on BBC Sport
• Matt Jansen's career stats at Soccerbase
• Jansen keen to keep options open