Danny Higginbotham

Danny Higginbotham
Personal information
Full name Daniel John Higginbotham
Date of birth 29 December 1978 (1978-12-29) (age 33)
Place of birth Manchester, England
Height 6 ft 1 in (1.85 m)[1]
Playing position Left back / Centre back
Club information
Current club Stoke City
Number 3
Youth career
Manchester United
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
1997–2000 Manchester United 4 (0)
1998–1999 Royal Antwerp (loan) 29 (3)
2000–2003 Derby County 86 (3)
2003–2006 Southampton 94 (4)
2006–2007 Stoke City 45 (7)
2007–2008 Sunderland 22 (3)
2008– Stoke City 64 (4)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 17:58, 19 November 2011 (UTC).
† Appearances (Goals).

Daniel John "Danny" Higginbotham (born 29 December 1978) is an English footballer who plays as a defender for Premier League club Stoke City.

Higginbotham started his career at his local side Manchester United he made seven appearances at Old Trafford as well as a loan spell with Belgium side Royal Antwerp before joining Derby County in order to play more matches. He spent three years at The Rams but handed in a transfer request when the club was relegated from the Premiership. Southampton moved to sign Higginbotham for £1.5 million in February 2003, and he help the South Coast side reach the 2002–03 FA Cup final. When Southampton were relegated in 2005 Higginbotham rejected a new contact and was placed on the transfer list.

He joined fellow Championship side Stoke City for £225,000 in August 2006. He was made captain when Michael Duberry left in January 2007 and Stoke went on to narrowly missed out on a play-off place. With Stoke not being promoted Higginbotham again decided to hand in a transfer request to help force through a move to Sunderland. He spent one season at the Stadium of Light before returning to Stoke in 2008.

Contents

Playing career

Manchester United

Higginbotham started his career at Manchester United but he was unable to break into the first team and was sent to Royal Antwerp on a loan spell. During this time, Higginbotham was banned from football for a year after an alleged attack on a referee. A Belgian court reduced Higginbotham's ban to four months.[2]

Derby County

Higginbotham's desire to play regular first team football led to him making a £2m move to Derby County – a large sum for a young player with just four top flight games to his name.[3] His decision to leave Manchester United was praised by the player he failed to displace, Denis Irwin.[4] Higginbotham made his Derby debut in a 2–2 draw against Southampton, and went on to help Derby avoid relegation at the end of the 2000–01 season. The 2001–02 season was less successful, as although he won the fans' Player of the Year Award, Derby were relegated at the end of the traumatic campaign in which they were managed by three different men Jim Smith, Colin Todd and John Gregory. It was always expected that Higginbotham would eventually move, unless Derby did well enough to gain promotion back to the Premier League. In January 2003, with Derby struggling in Division One, he moved to Southampton on loan, joining permanently in February. Higginbotham had made 86 appearances for Derby, scoring 3 times.

Southampton

Following Derby's relegation from the Premier League, Higginbotham moved to Southampton in January 2003 on loan until the end of the 2002–03 season. The move was made permanent in February 2003 for a fee of £1.5 million.[5] He featured in the Saints' FA cup run in 2002–03, but was an unused substitute for the final against Arsenal. After two and a half seasons at Southampton he rejected a new contract and as a result was placed on the transfer list.[6]

Stoke City

Higginbotham joined Stoke City on 3 August 2006 for an initial fee of £225,000,[7] and quickly cemented a regular place in the starting line-up. Higginbotham has played left back on numerous occasions, however the majority of his appearances have been as a centre back (his preferred position). In February 2007, he was awarded the club captaincy following Michael Duberry's departure to Reading.[8]

Sunderland

On 28 August 2007 it was announced that a bid from Sunderland had been accepted by Stoke City, after Higginbotham had handed a transfer request to the club.[9] Higginbotham signed a four year deal with Sunderland the following day, moving for a fee of £2.5 million, possibly rising to £3 million dependent on appearances.[10] On 10 November 2007, Higginbotham scored the opening goal for Sunderland which was believed to come off his ear in a 1–1 draw with arch-rivals Newcastle United at the Stadium of Light. Higginbotham re-joined Premier League newcomers Stoke on transfer deadline day.

Return to Stoke City

Higginbotham rejoined Stoke, on 1 September 2008 for a fee of £2.5 million.[11] On 19 October Higginbotham scored his first goal after rejoining them, against Tottenham Hotspur. The goal came when Tom Soares was brought down in the penalty area by left-back Gareth Bale. Bale was given a straight red card for the offence and Higginbotham scored the resulting penalty. Stoke went on to win the match 2–1.[12] Higginbotham praised the Stoke support after the win.[13] He was the first choice at left-back for manager Tony Pulis, playing in 28 league matches as the team successfully fought for survival. However he missed the final five games of the season due to a slipped disc.[14] He later underwent Surgery.[15]

With the summer signing of Danny Collins Higginbotham was dropped to the bench however he regained his place in the Stoke side, mainly being utilised in his more natural position in the centre of defence, and scored the first goal in a 3–0 win over Blackburn Rovers on the 8 February 2010.[16][17] He was praised by first team coach Mark O'Connor for reclaiming his place in the side.[18]

He started the first game of the 2010–11 season away at Wolverhampton Wanderers but was dropped for the next match in favour of Collins. He scored in the League Cup against Fulham in September 2010.[19]

Higginbotham signed a contract extension in October 2010 for a further 12 months keeping at Stoke until 2013.[20] Higginbotham has been a key figure in the Club's success since he returned to City for his second spell following promotion to the Barclays Premier League in 2008 and he made his 200th top-flight appearance against Manchester United on 24 October. Manager Tony Pulis expressed his delight at Higginbotham's decision in an interesting way.

"We wanted to cement Danny's future with the Club because he is such a good professional and it is important we look after certain players at the Football Club who started all this off. I've got a lot of time for Danny because he is one who falls into that category. He may not be in the side on a regular basis at the moment, but he still has a crucial role to play, as do a number of other players in a similar situation. The fabric of a Football Club is made up of the whole cloth, not bits and pieces, so we are delighted Danny will remain a part of that"
—Stoke manager Tony Pulis on Danny Higginbotham's new contract.[21]

Following his contract extension Higginbotham has stated that he wants to end his career at Stoke.[22] He scored a rare league goal in January 2011 against Bolton Wanderers.[23] He scored his first FA Cup goal of his career in a Quarter final against West Ham United.[24] It proved to be the winning goal thus earning Stoke their first semi-final appearance for 39 years.[25] He scored an identical goal against Newcastle United the following week.[26] However in the next League match against Chelsea Higginbotham sustained a cruciate knee ligament injury ruling him out for six months.[27][28] Pulis spoke of his disappointment in losing Higginbotham but has also stressed he will play a key role in the final few games of the season due to his influence in the dressing room.[29][30] He later admitted that missing the Final made him 'jealous' of his team mates.[31]

Higginbotham targeted to return from his knee injury by October 2011.[32] He marked his return from his knee injury by scoring the only goal in a 1–0 reserve team win over Sheffield United on 11 October 2011.[33]

Career statistics

Club Season League FA Cup League Cup Europe Other[A] Total
Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals
Manchester United 1997–98 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0
1998–99 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
1999–2000 3 0 0 0 1 0 1 0 1 0 6 0
Total 4 0 0 0 1 0 1 0 1 0 7 0
Royal Antwerp (loan) 1998–99 29 3 0 0 0 0 0 0 29 3
Total 29 3 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 29 3
Derby County 2000–01 26 0 3 0 4 0 33 0
2001–02 37 1 1 0 2 0 40 1
2002–03 23 2 0 0 2 1 25 3
Total 86 3 4 0 8 1 0 0 0 0 98 4
Southampton 2002–03 9 0 1 0 0 0 10 0
2003–04 27 0 1 0 2 0 1 0 31 0
2004–05 21 1 4 0 1 0 26 1
2005–06 37 3 1 0 1 0 39 3
Total 94 4 7 0 4 0 1 0 0 0 106 4
Stoke City 2006–07 44 7 2 0 0 0 46 7
2007–08 1 0 0 0 1 0 2 0
Total 45 7 2 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 48 7
Sunderland 2007–08 21 3 0 0 0 0 21 3
2008–09 1 0 0 0 0 0 1 0
Total 22 3 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 22 3
Stoke City 2008–09 28 1 0 0 2 0 30 1
2009–10 24 1 3 0 2 1 29 2
2010–11 10 2 3 1 3 1 16 4
2011–12 2 0 0 0 0 0 3 0 5 0
Total 64 4 6 1 7 2 3 0 0 0 80 7
Career total 344 24 19 1 21 3 5 0 1 0 390 28

Footnotes

A. ^ The "Other" column constitutes appearances and goals in the Football League play-offs and The Intercontinental Cup.

Honours

Club

Manchester United
Southampton
Stoke City

Individual

References

  1. ^ "Danny Higginbotham". Player Profile. Stoke City FC. http://www.stokecityfc.com/page/ProfilesDetail/0,,10310~5651,00.html. Retrieved 7 April 2011. 
  2. ^ "Wallwork life-ban dropped". BBC Sport. 1999-09-17. http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/sport/football/450437.stm. Retrieved 2008-01-11. 
  3. ^ "Higginbotham moves to Derby for £2m". BBC Sport. 5 July 2000. http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/teams/m/man_utd/820824.stm. Retrieved 28 October 2010. 
  4. ^ "Irwin backs Higginbotham". BBC Sport. 16 July 2000. http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/teams/d/derby_county/836269.stm. Retrieved 28 October 2010. 
  5. ^ "Saints seal Higginbotham deal". BBC Sport. 2003-02-13. http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/teams/s/southampton/2712493.stm. Retrieved 2007-08-28. 
  6. ^ "Higginbotham is listed by Saints". BBC Sport. 26 July 2006. http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/teams/s/southampton/5217832.stm. Retrieved 28 October 2010. 
  7. ^ "Stoke joy at Higginbotham signing". BBC Sport. 2006-08-02. http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/teams/s/stoke_city/5240230.stm. Retrieved 2007-08-28. 
  8. ^ "Higginbotham is new Stoke skipper". BBC Sport. 6 February 2007. http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/teams/s/stoke_city/6334949.stm. Retrieved 28 October 2010. 
  9. ^ "Official Club Statement". Stoke City Official Website. 2007-08-28. http://www.stokecityfc.premiumtv.co.uk/page/NewsDetail/0,,10310~1100779,00.html. Retrieved 2007-08-29. 
  10. ^ "Sunderland seal Higginbotham deal". BBC Sport. 2007-08-29. http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/teams/s/sunderland/6967059.stm. Retrieved 2007-08-29. 
  11. ^ "Danny Signs". Stoke City FC. 1 September 2008. http://www.stokecityfc.com/page/NewsDetail/0,,10310~1382057,00.html. Retrieved 18 July 2009. 
  12. ^ Hughes, Ian (19 October 2008). "Stoke 2-1 Tottenham". BBC Sport. http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/eng_prem/7665101.stm. Retrieved 27 February 2011. 
  13. ^ "Higginbotham hails Stoke support". BBC Sport. 21 October 2008. http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/teams/s/stoke_city/7682383.stm. Retrieved 27 February 2011. 
  14. ^ "Stoke suffer double injury blow". BBC Sport. 23 April 2009. http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/teams/s/stoke_city/8014072.stm. Retrieved 27 February 2011. 
  15. ^ "Higginbotham eyes summer return". BBC Sport. 5 May 2009. http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/teams/s/stoke_city/8033985.stm. Retrieved 27 February 2011. 
  16. ^ "Stoke City 3–0 Blackburn Rovers". BBC (BBC Sport). 6 February 2010. http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/eng_prem/8493573.stm. Retrieved 6 February 2010. 
  17. ^ "Higginbotham eager to take chance". BBC Sport. 27 October 2009. http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/teams/s/stoke_city/8327280.stm. Retrieved 27 February 2011. 
  18. ^ "Stoke defender Danny Higginbotham earns praise". BBC Sport. 28 January 2010. http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/teams/s/stoke_city/8482799.stm. Retrieved 27 February 2011. 
  19. ^ "Stoke 2 - 0 Fulham". BBC Sport. 21 September 2010. http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/league_cup/9009908.stm. Retrieved 27 February 2011. 
  20. ^ "Danny Higginbotham signs new one-year Stoke contract". BBC Sport. 28 October 2010. http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/teams/s/stoke_city/9136874.stm. Retrieved 28 October 2010. 
  21. ^ "New Deal For Higginbotham". stokecityfc.com. http://www.stokecityfc.com/page/NewsDetail/0,,10310~2199768,00.html. Retrieved 28 October 2010. 
  22. ^ "Danny Higginbotham wants to end career with Potters". thisisstaffordshire.co.uk. http://www.thisisstaffordshire.co.uk/sport/Stoke-City-Higginbotham-wants-end-career-Britannia/article-2824766-detail/article.html. Retrieved 2 November 2010. 
  23. ^ "Stoke 2 - 0 Bolton". BBC Sport. 15 January 2011. http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/eng_prem/9358228.stm. Retrieved 27 February 2011. 
  24. ^ "Stoke 2 - 1 West Ham". BBC Sport. 13 March 2011. http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/fa_cup/9421244.stm. Retrieved 14 March 2011. 
  25. ^ "City Pair Pay Tribute To Supporters". stokecityfc.com. http://www.stokecityfc.com/page/NewsDetail/0,,10310~2314877,00.html. Retrieved 14 March 2011. 
  26. ^ "Stoke 4 - 0 Newcastle". BBC Sport. 19 March 2011. http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/eng_prem/9426553.stm. Retrieved 20 March 2011. 
  27. ^ "Heartache For Higginbotham". stokecityfc.com. http://www.stokecityfc.com/page/NewsDetail/0,,10310~2330948,00.html. Retrieved 5 April 2011. 
  28. ^ "Stoke defender Danny Higginbotham faces long lay-off". BBC Sport. 5 April 2011. http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/12971351.stm. Retrieved 7 April 2011. 
  29. ^ "Higginbotham's Crucial Role". stokecityfc.com. http://www.stokecityfc.com/page/NewsDetail/0,,10310~2333066,00.html?. Retrieved 7 April 2011. 
  30. ^ "Stoke manager Tony Pulis sad to lose Danny Higginbotham". BBC Sport. 7 April 2011. http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/teams/s/stoke_city/9450445.stm?. Retrieved 7 April 2011. 
  31. ^ "Missing FA Cup final made Danny Higginbotham 'jealous'". BBC Sport. 13 October 2011. http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/15280720.stm?. Retrieved 13 October 2011. 
  32. ^ "Stoke City's Danny Higginbotham targets October return". BBC Sport. 8 July 2011. http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/14068814.stm. Retrieved 18 July 2011. 
  33. ^ "Higgy is back with a bang". The Sentinel. http://www.thisisstaffordshire.co.uk/story-13539493-detail/story.html?. Retrieved 12 October 2011. 

External links

Sporting positions
Preceded by
Michael Duberry
Stoke City F.C. captain
2007
Succeeded by
Dominic Matteo
Awards and achievements
Preceded by
Chris Riggott
Derby County Player of the Year
2001–2002
Succeeded by
Georgi Kinkladze
Preceded by
Carl Hoefkens
Stoke City F.C. Player of the Year
2006–07
Succeeded by
Liam Lawrence