Jonathan Spector

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Personal information
Jonathan Spector
Full name	Jonathan Spector
Date of birth	March 1, 1986 (age 21)
Place of birth	Arlington Heights, Illinois, USA
Height	6'1"
Playing position	Defender
Club information
Current club	West Ham United
Number	18
Youth clubs
????-2003	Bradenton Academy
Senior clubs¹
Years	Club	App (Gls)*
2003 2004-2006 2005-2006 2006-	Chicago Fire Premier Manchester United → Charlton Athletic (loan) West Ham United	0? (?) 03 (0) 20 (0) 20 (0)
National team
2004-	United States	03 (0)
¹ Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 18:12, 21 February 2007 (UTC). * Appearances (Goals)

Jonathan Spector (born March 1, 1986 [1] in Arlington Heights, Illinois), is an American soccer (football) defender. He currently plays for West Ham United in the FA Premier League.

Spector graduated from USSF's Bradenton Academy in 2003 and as his ancestry allowed him to acquire a German passport, he elected to go to Europe. Signing for Manchester United, he made his debut for the first team in August 2004.

On December 24, 2004, United manager Sir Alex Ferguson announced that Spector would be loaned out to fellow Premiership side Blackburn Rovers for the remainder of the season. However, Ferguson was soon forced to postpone the deal due to an injury crisis in the United defence. The injury crisis continued and therefore Spector was not able to make his loan move on time due to the transfer window closing on 31 January 2004.

Before the start of the 2005-06 season, Spector went on a season-long loan to Charlton Athletic to obtain more first team experience. He finished the season making sixteen starts and eight substitute appearances.

In 2003, Spector played for the United States national team at the World Under-17 Championship in Finland and earned his first cap for the senior team on November 17, 2004 in a World Cup qualifier against Jamaica.

In 2005, Spector was part of the U.S. Under-20 team at the 2005 FIFA World Youth Championship in the Netherlands and as the 2005-06 Premier League season approached its conclusion, was considered a long shot to be included in the United States World Cup squad. However a shoulder injury sustained on April 17 in a game against Portsmouth, ended his chances of playing at the World Cup.

On June 15, 2006, Jonathan moved to London side West Ham United in a deal initially worth £500,000 thereby ending his association with Manchester United after eight appearances.

1 Club career
2 Trivia
3 Notes
4 External links

[edit] Club career

(correct as of February 25, 2007)

Club	Season	League		Cup^[1]		Europe		Total
Club	Season	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals
Manchester United	2004-05	3	-	3	-	2	-	8	-
Charlton Athletic (loan)	2005-06	20	-	4	-	-	-	24	-
West Ham United	2006-07	20	-	1	-	1	-	22	-
Career totals								54	-

[edit] Trivia

Played high school soccer at St. Viator High School - home of the State Champion Boys Soccer team (2003).

Spector started his club soccer career with Schwaben AC in Buffalo Grove, Illinois before joining Sockers FC in Arlington Heights, Illinois.

When Spector was 15 he moved to Florida as part of a 'centre of excellence' for the US under-17 national team where there was a pool of 25 players who lived and trained together, which included a young Freddy Adu, the two became very close friends.

Jonathan Spector is only the second USA international to play for West Ham United - after midfielder John Harkes, who made 12 appearances for the club in the 1995-96 season.

Jonathan Spector's Grandfather was a keen basketball player and played professionally for the Boston Celtics.

Spector is a big Chicago Bears fan.