Jay Bothroyd

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Personal information
Jay Bothroyd
Full name	Jay Bothroyd
Date of birth	May 5, 1982 (age 24)
Place of birth	London, England
Playing position	Striker
Club information
Current club	Wolverhampton Wanderers
Number	10
Senior clubs¹
Years	Club	App (Gls)*
1999-2000 2000-2003 2003-2005 2004-2005 2005-2006 2006-	Arsenal Coventry City Perugia → Blackburn Rovers (loan) Charlton Athletic Wolverhampton Wanderers	00 0(0) 72 (14) 28 0(5) 11 0(1) 18 0(2) 23 0(5)
¹ Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 16:00, 11 March 2007 (UTC). * Appearances (Goals)

Jay Bothroyd (born May 5, 1982 in London, England) is an English football player who is currently playing for Wolverhampton Wanderers as a forward.

Having initially been on the books at Arsenal, he was bought as an eighteen-year-old by Coventry City, after throwing his shirt at the bench after the 2000 Premier League Youth Cup final against West Ham United after being substituted. In the three years he played for Coventry, he scored seventeen goals, despite not making much of an impact in his first season, after making his debut against Preston North End in the Worthington Cup.

A player of considerable talent but sometimes questionable motivation and prone to poor temperament, he only featured for Coventry after many other members of the squad had to be sold off to relieve the club's financial problems. He scored his debut goal in a defeat against Bradford City on August 24, 2001, and in the 2002-03 season became the club's top-scorer with 11 goals. This brought interest from Perugia, and he transferred to the Italian side when his Coventry contract expired in 2003.

Bothroyd failed to settle in Italy, and joined Blackburn Rovers in August 2004 on loan from Perugia. After getting sent off against Norwich City for violent conduct (kicking Norwich midfielder Mattias Jonson to the ground), he was unable to cement a place in the first team and returned to Perugia at the end of the season.

He signed for Charlton Athletic on August 31, 2005 having been released by Perugia due to their financial problems. His contribution here was perhaps most noted for his powerful free-kicks.

In the close season, Bothroyd was released by the Addicks, following the arrival of Iain Dowie as manager. He was then taken on trial at Crystal Palace, but the south-Londoners decided not to offer him a deal. Instead, he joined Wolves on 26th July 2006 becoming Mick McCarthy's first full signing for the Midlanders.

Bothroyd started the season in fine style, scoring 3 goals for his new club in their first 6 fixtures, including a stunner from 25 yards in injury time away at Leeds to grab all 3 points. However, in the following game against Derby County, Bothroyd's fortunes took a turn for the worse as he had a weak penalty saved in a game that Wolves went on to lose 0-1.

Bothroyd's goal scoring petered out after this initial burst and he suffered an injury in December that kept him out of the busy Christmas period, though he returned to the squad in February 2007 and made several substitute appearances.

The most vital of these came on March 11, 2007, when he scored the winning goal as Wolves beat their bitter Black Country rivals West Bromwich Albion 1-0 in a crucial encounter in the race for promotion.