Andrew Surman

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Personal information
Andrew Surman

Full name	Andrew Ronald Edward Surman
Date of birth	20 August 1986 (1986-08-20) (age 21)
Place of birth	Johannesburg, South Africa
Height	5 ft 10 in (1.78 m)
Playing position	Midfielder
Club information
Current club	Southampton
Number	11
Youth clubs
	Southampton
Senior clubs¹
Years	Club	App (Gls)*
2004– 2005 2005–2006	Southampton → Walsall (loan) → Bournemouth (loan)	89 (8) 14 (2) 24 (6)
National team²
2007–	England U21	04 (1)
¹ Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 08:55, 05 May 2008 (UTC). ² National team caps and goals correct as of 22:39, 5 February 2008 (UTC). * Appearances (Goals)

Andrew Ronald Edward Surman (born August 20, 1986 in Johannesburg, South Africa) is a South African born English footballer who currently plays as a midfielder for English side Southampton.

Surman was born in South Africa, where his British parents had moved whilst his father worked for an insurance company. His parents returned to Southampton in 1995, and he joined tyro-league club Hedge End Rangers, where he was spotted by Southampton scouts and invited to join the Saints academy.

He was the youngest player ever to play for the Saints Reserves until Theo Walcott took his record. He scored on his league debut when on loan to Walsall during the 2004-05 season, and, when he rejoined the Saints at the beginning of the 2005-06 season, he performed well on their pre-season tour of Scotland. He then enjoyed a successful loan spell with Bournemouth between August 2005 and January 2006, playing in every league game for the team, and scoring six goals. He might have figured in Southampton's FA Cup tie against MK Dons, but was cup-tied having played earlier in the season for Bournemouth against Tamworth.

He made his full team debut for Southampton on 25 January 2006 under new manager George Burley at home to Crystal Palace, and in the next league game scored his first Southampton goal in a 2-1 defeat against Plymouth Argyle. On 17 February 2007, he scored a hat-trick (2 strikes from outside the penalty box and a penalty) in the 5-2 victory over Barnsley.

He became a vital part of the Southampton first team over the 2006-07 Season, and was a part of their unsuccessful play-off bid, losing on penalties to Derby County after a 4-4 aggregate draw, where his great strike wasn't enough to take Saints to Wembley.

Although qualified to play for South Africa, he was selected for the England U21 team on 30 August for the European Championship qualifiers away to Montenegro on September 7 and Bulgaria on September 11.^[1] In the match against Montenegro he came on as a second half-substitute and scored the final goal in a 3-0 victory, tapping the ball home in stoppage time from a knock-down by former Saints' trainee Dexter Blackstock.^[2]