Emile Heskey | ||
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Personal information | ||
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Full name | Emile William Ivanhoe Heskey | |
Date of birth | 11 January 1978 | |
Place of birth | Leicester, England | |
Height | 1.88 m (6 ft 2 in)[1] | |
Playing position | Striker | |
Club information | ||
Current club | Wigan Athletic | |
Number | 9 | |
Senior clubs1 | ||
Years | Club | App (Gls)* |
1994–2000 2000–2004 2004–2006 2006– |
Leicester City Liverpool Birmingham City Wigan Athletic |
154 (40) 150 (39) 68 (14) 75 (14)[2][3] |
National team2 | ||
1998 1999– |
England U18 England U21 England B England |
[4] 17 (6)[5][6] 1 (1)[7] 50 (5)[8] |
8 (5)
1 Senior club appearances and goals |
Emile William Ivanhoe Heskey[4] (born 11 January 1978)[2] is an English footballer. Known for his strength, although frequently criticised by the media for not scoring enough goals,[9] he is a striker who plays for Premier League side Wigan Athletic. He also has the ability to play down the left flank.[10]
Born in Leicester, England, Heskey started his career with Leicester City in 1994. He made an £11 million move to Liverpool in 2000, which at that time was a record transfer fee paid by the club. At Liverpool, he won multiple honours, including the FA Cup in 2001. He moved to Birmingham City in 2004 and to current club Wigan Athletic in 2006.
Heskey is an England international, of Antiguan descent. He made his international debut against Hungary in a 1–1 draw in 1999 and has gone on to attain 50 caps and score five goals for the team. He lost his place in the squad after Euro 2004, during which he failed to shine and was the subject of much criticism. After a long lay-off from international duty, Heskey was recalled to the England squad for UEFA Euro 2008 qualifiers in September 2007.
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Heskey was born into a family of Antiguan descent on 11 January 1978 in Leicester, Leicestershire, England, the son of Tyrone Heskey.[2][11][12] Heskey was a keen footballer in his childhood and began playing for Ratby Groby Juniors, a local youth team in Leicester.[13] He stood out amongst his peers and at the age of nine he accepted a place at Leicester City's football academy.[14][15] Progressing through the youth ranks, he signed a professional contract and made his debut shortly after in an FA Premier League match against Queens Park Rangers in 1995 at the age of 17.[16][17] He then became a first-team regular in the 1995–96 season, making 30 appearances for the club, helping them earn promotion to the Premier League. During this season, Heskey scored his first goal as a professional footballer, which came in a 1–0 victory of Norwich City, in a season he managed to score a total of seven goals.[18]
During the 1996–97 season, his first in the Premier League, Heskey scored 10 goals in 35 appearances, and also scored the equaliser in the 1997 League Cup final against Middlesbrough, which Leicester won in a replay.[18] The following season saw interest from Leeds United and Tottenham Hotspur for Heskey, as he again managed to score 10 Premier League goals. However, the 1997–98 season saw Heskey score only six top-flight goals, and he was criticised for not scoring enough goals and going to ground too easily.[16]
In the 1998–99 season, Heskey forged an effective strike partnership with Tony Cottee, who benefited from Heskey's unselfish style of play,[16] which manager Martin O'Neill claimed kept the club in the Premier League.[19] He went on to win the League Cup again in 2000 with a 2–1 win against Tranmere Rovers in the final.[20]
Heskey joined Liverpool in March 2000 in a long-anticipated £11 million move, which, at the time, set the record transfer fee for the Merseyside club.[21] Liverpool manager Gérard Houllier looked forward to working with him, but stated that "at his age he is not the finished product".[21] The press saw the move as expensive and risky as Heskey was relatively inexperienced and was not a prolific goalscorer.[22] However, he was held in high regard by both the England under–21 manager, Peter Taylor, and England and Liverpool teammate Michael Owen.[22] Veteran Liverpool striker Ian Rush approved of the signing, noting that Heskey would "give Liverpool a different dimension", bringing strength to the Liverpool strikeforce and complementing Owen and Robbie Fowler's pacy play.[22] Heskey made his home debut in a Premier League clash with Sunderland and played well, but the season finished with continuing doubts about his goalscoring prowess.[20] During the 2000–01 season Heskey put an end to those scoring worries by scoring 23 goals for Liverpool and moving up the England pecking order.[20]
Heskey was linked with a £12m move to Tottenham Hotspur in 2002, but Houllier insisted Heskey was a part of his long-term plans and the player remained at Liverpool.[23] The same year, Heskey made a six-figure donation to aid a consortium led by Gary Lineker in their bid to buy-out his former club, cash-strapped Leicester City.[24]
In the 2003–04 season Heskey faced increasing competition from Milan Baroš for a place in the Liverpool starting line-up.[20] Nevertheless, he scored 12 goals and secured a place in the England squad for the Euro 2004 tournament in Portugal.[20][25]
At the end of the 2003–04 season, Heskey signed for Birmingham City for an initial fee of £3.5m, which could rise to £6.25m,[26] thus becoming Birmingham's most expensive player. He made his Birmingham debut against Portsmouth, which ended as a 1–1 draw.[20]
Despite Birmingham's mediocre 2004–05 season, Heskey won four club awards at the end of the season - Player's Player of the Season, Fan's Player of the Season, Top Goalscorer (11) and most Man of the Match Awards. Birmingham's poor 2005–06 season, during which Heskey scored only 4 goals in 34 league appearances, culminated in relegation to the Championship. During this season, Heskey gave inconsistent performances and received abuse from Birmingham fans.[20]
Heskey was signed by Wigan Athletic for £5.5m during July 2006.[27] He made his debut for Wigan against Newcastle United in August 2006, which his new club lost 2–1.[28] On his 500th league appearance, Heskey scored his first goal for Wigan in a 1–0 Premier League victory over Reading on 26 August 2006.[29] He scored eight goals in 36 appearances during the 2006–07 season,[30] as Wigan avoided relegation on goal difference over Sheffield United, against whom Heskey played well for Wigan on 13 May 2007, where he nearly scored an overhead kick.[31] He suffered a suspected broken metatarsal in September,[32] and made his return for Wigan in a 2–0 defeat to Arsenal in November.[33] He picked up an ankle injury during Wigan's 5–3 victory against Blackburn Rovers in December 2007.[34] On 14 April 2008, Heskey scored a 90th minute equalising goal against Chelsea, which damaged their hopes of winning the Premier League.[35] He went on to score Wigan's equaliser against Tottenham in the following game to give them a 1–1 draw,[36] which proved to be his last goal of the 2007–08 season, which he finished with four goals in 28 appearances.[37]
His first goal of the 2008–09 season came in Wigan's fourth game,[38] a 5–0 victory against Hull City at the KC Stadium.[39] He hinted in October that he would be interested in leaving Wigan to play in the Champions League,[40] with former club Liverpool believed to be interested in signing him in the January transfer window.[41] Although, Wigan manager Steve Bruce hoped to persuade him to sign a new contract at the club.[42] Heskey commented on reports of interest from Liverpool by saying "It would be lovely. We'll see how it goes."[43] He scored his 100th goal in the Premier League against Portsmouth on 1 November, which secured a 2–1 victory for Wigan.[44] Dave Whelan, the Wigan chairman, hinted that Heskey could be transferred by Wigan in January 2009, as a fee would be received, whereas he would move on for free in the summer, which came after he had stalled on talks over a new contract.[45] However, Steve Bruce said he would only accept an offer for Heskey if it was "outrageous".[46]
Heskey starred alongside Michael Owen in the England under-18 team which finished third in the European Championships in France.[20] Heskey was capped once by the England B team, against Chile in February 1998, in which he scored a goal.[7] Heskey went on to gain recognition with the England under-21 team,[47] for whom he gained a total of 16 caps, scoring three goals.[5][6]
Heskey was given his first call-up to the senior England team for a friendly against the Czech Republic in 1998, but did not play. Heskey made his debut for England in a friendly against Hungary in Budapest in a 1–1 draw in 1999 and made his first start against Argentina at Wembley Stadium in 2000.[8] That showing ensured he was in the England squad for the Euro 2000 tournament.[48] However, his two substitute performances in the tournament could not help England, as the team went out in the group stage.[8] Heskey was selected in the squad for the 2002 World Cup in Korea and Japan,[49] and was used as a make-shift option to play in England's left-wing role in the game against Sweden, but did not perform well out of his regular position.[9] He scored against Denmark in England's 3–0 victory, which saw England reach the quarter-finals of the tournament.[50]
Heskey's place in the England squad had been placed under scrutiny in 2003 with the emergence of Wayne Rooney into the England squad.[51] However, despite being criticised for his lack of international goals,[52] Heskey continued to be an integral part of the international squad and took over the captaincy from Michael Owen after he was substituted when England beat Serbia and Montenegro 2–1 in his hometown of Leicester in June 2003.[53] Heskey was named in the England squad for UEFA Euro 2004,[54] but failed to perform well, and was the subject of much criticism.[20] He came on as a substitute while England were leading 1–0 against France and gave away a free kick from which France equalised and England eventually lost 2–1.[55] Heskey was recalled into the England squad for the World Cup qualifiers against Northern Ireland and Azerbaijan in 2005, after having been dropped following the game against Ukraine in August 2004.[56] Since the emergence of Peter Crouch in the England squad, the possibility of a recall receded further.
Heskey was recalled to the England squad for the UEFA Euro 2008 qualifiers against Israel and Russia in September 2007.[57] He started the game against Israel and became Wigan Athletic's first ever England player as a consequence.[58] Heskey also started the next match against Russia, during which he created an assist for Michael Owen's second goal.[59] After these two matches, former England international Alan Shearer said, "Never in a million years did I expect to be discussing whether Emile Heskey should keep his place ahead of Wayne Rooney but the Wigan striker was outstanding over both games."[60]
He was called into manager Fabio Capello's first squad against Switzerland,[61] but had to withdraw due to an injury.[62] He was called into the squad for the friendly against Czech Republic in August 2008 and came on as a 46th minute substitute, in a match that finished 2–2.[63] He featured in the following 2010 FIFA World Cup qualification victories Andorra and Croatia.[64][65] Heskey was alleged to have been racially abused during the match against Croatia, with monkey chants being heard from sections of the Croatia support,[66] after which FIFA opened an investigation,[67] and eventually fined the Croatian Football Federation £15,000 for the incident.[68] He played his 50th game for England in the 2010 World Cup qualifier against Belarus on 15 October 2008,[69] after which he was credited as helping Wayne Rooney's improved form in international matches.[70]
Heskey is a pacy forward, and a powerful target man with strength for both club and country.[9][71] He impressed the England set-up with his versatility, as he can also play down the left wing.[72] Heskey has been criticised for his lack of goals,[10] although his main contributions to the team lie in the way that he holds the ball up and draws defenders out, leaving space behind him for another player to score.[9]
Heskey was the partner of Kylee Pinsent but he left her in 2004 and is now engaged to Chantelle Tagoe.[73] His fiancée was held at knifepoint at their home in Hale, Greater Manchester in July 2008, while he was at a training session.[74] Heskey is the father of five children, three of them with former partner Pinsent and two with Tagoe.[75]
Club performance | League | Cup | League Cup | Continental | Total | |||||||
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Season | Club | League | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals |
England | League | FA Cup | Football League Cup | Europe | Total | |||||||
1994–95 | Leicester City | Premier League | 1 | 0 | - | - | - | 1 | 0 | |||
1995–96 | First Division | 30 | 7 | - | 2 | 0 | - | 32 | 7 | |||
1996–97 | Premier League | 35 | 10 | 3 | 0 | 9 | 2 | - | 47 | 12 | ||
1997–98 | 35 | 10 | 2 | 0 | - | - | 37 | 10 | ||||
1998–99 | 30 | 6 | 2 | 0 | 8 | 3 | - | 40 | 9 | |||
1999–2000 | 23 | 7 | 4 | 0 | 8 | 1 | - | 35 | 8 | |||
1999–2000 | Liverpool | Premier League | 12 | 3 | - | - | - | 12 | 3 | |||
2000–01 | 36 | 14 | 5 | 5 | 4 | 0 | 10 | 3 | 55 | 22 | ||
2001–02 | 35 | 9 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 16 | 4 | 54 | 13 | ||
2002–03 | 32 | 6 | 3 | 0 | 5 | 0 | 11 | 3 | 51 | 9 | ||
2003–04 | 35 | 7 | 4 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 6 | 2 | 47 | 12 | ||
2004–05 | Birmingham City | Premier League | 34 | 10 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 0 | - | 38 | 11 | |
2005–06 | 34 | 4 | 3 | 0 | 3 | 1 | - | 40 | 5 | |||
2006–07 | Wigan Athletic | Premier League | 34 | 8 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | - | 36 | 8 | |
2007–08 | 24 | 3 | 2 | 0 | - | - | 26 | 3 | ||||
2008–09 | ||||||||||||
Total | England | 411 | 102 | 31 | 7 | 45 | 9 | 43 | 12 | 559 | 132 | |
Career Total | 411 | 102 | 31 | 7 | 45 | 9 | 43 | 12 | 559 | 132 |
# | Date | Venue | Opponent | Score | Result | Competition |
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1 | 3 June 2000 | Ta'Qali, Malta | ![]() |
2–1 | 2–1 | Friendly match |
2 | 28 February 2001 | Birmingham, England | ![]() |
2–0 | 3–0 | Friendly match |
3 | 1 September 2001 | Munich, Germany | ![]() |
5–1 | 5–1 | 2002 FIFA World Cup Qual. |
4 | 15 June 2002 | Niigata, Japan | ![]() |
3–0 | 3–0 | 2002 FIFA World Cup |
5 | 22 May 2003 | Durban, South Africa | ![]() |
2–1 | 2–1 | Friendly match |
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