Richard Garcia

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This article is about the Australian sport figure. For the American bishop, see: Richard John Garcia
Richard Garcia
Personal information
Full name Richard Garcia
Date of birth September 4, 1981 (1981-09-04) (age 26)
Place of birth    Perth, Australia
Height 1.80 m (5 ft 11 in)
Playing position Striker, Right Winger
Club information
Current club Hull City
Number 14
Youth clubs
Kingsway Olympic
Senior clubs1
Years Club App (Gls)*
1999-2004
2000
2004-2007
2007–		 West Ham United
→ Leyton Orient (loan)
Colchester United
Hull City		 16 0(0)
18 0(4)
82 (16)
35 0(5)   
National team2
Australia U-23

1 Senior club appearances and goals
counted for the domestic league only and
correct as of 20:24, 8 June 2008 (UTC).
2 National team caps and goals correct
as of 30 December 2007 (UTC).
* Appearances (Goals)

Richard Garcia (born September 4, 1981 in Perth) is an Australian football player, currently playing for Hull City. He has previously played for West Ham United and Colchester United.

Contents

[edit] Club career

[edit] West Ham United

Garcia was a product of the famed West Ham United youth academy, and was a key member of the team that won the FA Youth Cup and FA Premier Youth League double in 1998-99, alongside current England Internationals Joe Cole and Michael Carrick.[1]. Despite his team mates going on to achieve bigger things in their careers so far, Garcia was one of the most vital players in the team, scoring in every round of West Ham's run to the Youth Cup Final, eight in total. He signed professional terms at West Ham in August 1999, and went out on loan to local side Leyton Orient in August 2000, making 21 appearances in League and Cup competitions and scoring four goals.[2] Injury to his knee ligaments ended his season and he returned to West Ham in November 2000.[3] He made his first team debut for West Ham in a League Cup match away at Reading in September 2001, but failed to gain a regular place in the team. After West Ham were relegated to the First Division in 2003, Garcia featured a few more times for the first-team, but made only 16 league appearances for the club before moving on to Colchester United in 2004.[2]

[edit] Colchester United

Garcia signed for Colchester United in September 2004 for an undisclosed fee, and made his debut in the same month against Swindon Town. He went on to make 30 appearances in the 2004-05 season, scoring six goals.[2] The following season Garcia played an important part in helping the club to second place in League One and promotion to the Championship,[4] and to the fifth-round of the FA Cup where they were beaten by English champions Chelsea, although Colchester were at one point winning the match after Garcia's cross was put into his own net by Ricardo Carvalho.[5] Garcia's season was cut short by a knee injury in March 2006, which later required surgery.[6] Following the end of the season, Garcia signed a new contract with the club.[7] In August 2006, he scored Colchester's first goal of the 2006-07 season in the Championship on the opening game against Birmingham City,[8] going on to make 36 league appearances, scoring seven goals,[2] as Colchester pushed for a place in the end of season promotion playoff positions.[9] At the end of the season, Garcia had made a total of 96 appearances in all competitions for Colchester, scoring 21 goals.[2]

[edit] Hull City

Despite the offer of a new deal at Colchester, Garcia signed a three year contract with Hull City on 2 July 2007, on a free transfer under the Bosman ruling.[10] He made his league debut for Hull against Plymouth Argyle in August 2007 and scored his first goal in the next game in the 3–0 win over Crewe Alexandra.[11] He played a leading role in the club's push for promotion in the 2007-08 season, despite a shoulder injury suffered in April 2008.[12] Garcia returns to the Premiership a seasoned professional after Hull City's promotion play-off victory over Bristol City in May 2008.

[edit] International career

In an interview with Australia's Sun-Herald newspaper in April 2008, Garcia said he had ambitions to play for the Socceroos, Australia's national team, and hoped that his good form for Hull in their push for promotion to the Premier League would help him to achieve this.[13] Despite his impressive form in helping Hull City achieve promotion to the English Premiership, national team head coach Pim Verbeek has yet to select the right-sided winger.

[edit] References

  1. ^ Barber, David (2006-04-01). The class of '99. TheFA.com. Retrieved on 2007-07-01.
  2. ^ a b c d e Richard Garcia. Soccerbase. Racing Post. Retrieved on 2007-07-01.
  3. ^ "Striking problems at Brisbane Road", BBC Sport, 2000-11-16. Retrieved on 2007-07-01. 
  4. ^ Richard Garcia. Player Profiles. Colchester United F.C. Official Site. Retrieved on 2007-07-01.
  5. ^ "Chelsea 3-1 Colchester", BBC Sport, 2006-02-19. Retrieved on 2007-07-01. 
  6. ^ "Surgery for Colchester ace Garcia", BBC Sport, 2006-04-24. Retrieved on 2007-07-01. 
  7. ^ "Garcia pens new Colchester deal", BBC Sport, 2006-06-01. Retrieved on 2007-07-01. 
  8. ^ "Birmingham 2-1 Colchester", BBC Sport, 2006-08-05. Retrieved on 2007-07-01. 
  9. ^ "Garcia primed for play-off push", BBC Sport, 2007-04-22. Retrieved on 2007-07-01. 
  10. ^ "Garcia leaves Colchester for Hull", BBC Sport, 2007-07-02. Retrieved on 2008-03-25. 
  11. ^ "Crewe 0-3 Hull", BBC Sport, 2007-08-15. Retrieved on 2008-03-25. 
  12. ^ "Garcia determined to return", Hull Daily Mail, 2008-04-24. Retrieved on 2008-05-23. 
  13. ^ Hall, Matthew. "Garcia who? Quiet Australian ready to star", The Age, 2008-04-13. Retrieved on 2008-04-13. 

[edit] External links

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Hull City A.F.C. – current squad

1 Myhill • 2 Doyle • 3 Dawson • 4 Ashbee • 5 Walton • 6 Turner • 8 Barmby • 9 Windass • 11 Hughes • 12 Duke • 13 France • 14 Garcia • 15 W. Brown • 17 Bridges • 18 Folan • 19 Welsh • 20 Pedersen • 21 Ricketts • 22 Marney • 25 Campbell • 26 Woodhead • 27 Featherstone • 29 Plummer • 31 Atkinson • 32 Bennett • 35 Tyler • 37 Cooper • Manager: P. Brown