Matt Jansen
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| Matt Jansen | ||
| Personal information | ||
|---|---|---|
| Full name | Matthew Brooke Jansen | |
| Date of birth | October 20, 1977 | |
| Place of birth | Carlisle, England | |
| Height | 5 ft 11 in (1.80 m) | |
| Playing position | Striker | |
| Club information | ||
| Current club | Free agent | |
| Youth clubs | ||
| 19??–95 | Carlisle United | |
| Senior clubs1 | ||
| Years | Club | App (Gls)* |
| 1995–1998 1998–1999 1999–2006 2003 2006 |
Carlisle United Crystal Palace Blackburn Rovers → Coventry City (loan) Bolton Wanderers |
42 (10) 26 (10) 153 (44) 9 (2) 6 (0) |
| National team2 | ||
| 1999–2000 2002 |
England U21 England |
6 (0) 0 (0) |
|
1 Senior club appearances and goals |
||
Matthew Brooke "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 £1 million, where his impressive displays earned him a move to Premier League side Blackburn Rovers for £4.1 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 second top scorer, after Fulham's Louis Saha, with 23 goals. He continued to impress in the following season, scoring the first goal in Blackburn's 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 (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' contract 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 six 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 led to nothing permanent due to rival team Columbus Crew allegedly exercising a loophole in transfer rules to block any move. Bolton manager Sam Allardyce invited the player back to England and he continued to train with Bolton.
In the summer of 2007 he returned to his original club, Carlisle United, to train in an attempt to regain his fitness.
Jansen is currently playing for Blackburns Premier League Allstars team.
