| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Sylvan Agustus Ebanks-Blake[1] | ||
| Date of birth | 29 March 1986 | ||
| Place of birth | Cambridge, England | ||
| Height | 5 ft 10 in (1.78 m)[2][3] | ||
| Playing position | Striker | ||
| Club information | |||
| Current club | Wolverhampton Wanderers | ||
| Number | 9 | ||
| Youth career | |||
| Cambridge United | |||
| Manchester United | |||
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps† | (Gls)† |
| 2004–2006 | Manchester United | 0 | (0) |
| 2006 | → Royal Antwerp (loan) | 9 | (4) |
| 2006–2008 | Plymouth Argyle | 66 | (21) |
| 2008– | Wolverhampton Wanderers | 123 | (47) |
| National team | |||
| 2008 | England U21 | 1 | (0) |
| * Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 18:17, 31 December 2011 (UTC). † Appearances (Goals). |
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Sylvan Agustus Ebanks-Blake (born 29 March 1986) is an English footballer of Jamaican descent who plays as a striker for Premier League club Wolverhampton Wanderers.
Ebanks-Blake is a product of the Manchester United academy, but failed to make a league appearance for the club, before leaving for Plymouth Argyle in 2006. After two promising seasons he moved to fellow Championship side Wolverhampton Wanderers in 2008, where he won twice the division's Golden Boot Award, helping the club to promotion into the Premier League. Ebanks-Blake has represented England at Under-21 level, but he also has a parental qualification to play for Jamaica.
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Born in Cambridge, Ebanks-Blake attended The Netherhall School and his first clubs were Cherry Hinton Lions and Fulbourn Falcons in the Cambridge area. He was also on schoolboy terms with Cambridge United, but declined an offer to become a scholar there when a much larger club showed their interest. Despite being a boyhood Liverpool fan, he started his professional career at Manchester United as a youth team player. He played his first match at senior level for the club on 26 October 2004 against Crewe Alexandra in the League Cup. One year later, he scored his first senior level goal for the club against Barnet in another League Cup tie,[4] and was starting to show some good form to prove his potential.
Towards the end of the 2004–05 season, he fractured his leg and was ruled out for the remainder of the season. He recovered and scored a hat-trick on his return for the Manchester United reserves. However, he was never called on for a first team league game again, although he was an unused substitute in several Champions League games. In January 2006, he moved on loan to Royal Antwerp in Belgium to gain first team experience, where he scored four goals in nine matches.
Ebanks-Blake returned to England in the summer and signed a three year deal with Championship club Plymouth Argyle on 14 July 2006. The fee paid to Manchester United was an initial £200,000, potentially rising to over £300,000 due to clauses. Ebanks-Blake was new manager Ian Holloway's first signing and became a first team regular.
The striker notched up 10 goals in his first season at Argyle, many of which came at the end of the season. He cemented his status as a fan favourite and top prospect with 11 league goals by New Year in the 2007–08 season, despite starting the season on the substitutes bench.
His form attracted the attention from Wolverhampton Wanderers, who activated a buy-out clause in his contract for £1.5m, and he signed for them on the 11 January 2008, on a four-and-a-half year contract. Ebanks-Blake started well at Wolves scoring seven goals in his first eight games, and being named Championship Player of the Month for March 2008. He scored his first league goal for Wolves against Scunthorpe United, on 19 January 2008. The season ended with him winning the Championship Golden Boot for the 2007–08 season, scoring a total of 23 goals, 12 for Wolves and 11 for Plymouth Argyle.
Ebanks-Blake started the 2008-09 in excellent form, scoring nine goals in the opening 13 league games. He scored a hat-trick, the first in his professional career, against Norwich City on 3 February 2009 at Molineux, to once again reach the 20 goal mark. Ebanks-Blake ended the season with a total of 25 goals to his name, and retained the Championship Golden Boot for 2008-09 season. At the end of the season Ebanks-Blake was named Championship Player of the Year at the 2009 Football League Awards. He was also rewarded with the Goal of the Year Award for his solo effort against Charlton Athletic on 28 March 2008. His final goal of the campaign came against Queens Park Rangers at Molineux on 18 April 2009, which gave the team a 1–0 win that secured promotion to the Premier League. Ebanks-Blake successful season for Wolves also earned him a cap for the England under-21 side, when he came on as a substitute against Czech Republic U21s on 18 November 2008. After the end of the season Wolves rewarded him with a new deal, where he signed a new four-year contract on the 20 June 2009, which will see him stay at Molineux until the summer of 2013.
Ebanks-Blake struggled to rediscover his goal scoring form in the 2009–10 Premier League season. After struggling with injuries in early stages of the season, he returned but only managed to score one goal, from the penalty spot. That goal came against Aston Villa on 24 October 2009 at Molineux, to earn his side a 1–1 draw. He was then dropped from the side as Mick McCarthy preferred to play the 4-5-1 formation, with Kevin Doyle playing the lone striker role. Later on in the season, Ebanks-Blake found his second and final league goal in the campaign, heading in against Blackburn Rovers on 24 April 2009 to secure a 1–1 draw for his side at Molineux, and guaranteed Wolves their Premier League survival.
Ebanks-Blake had a bright start to the 2010–11 Premier League season, scoring four league goals before Christmas. These goals came against Everton, Newcastle United, Manchester United and Sunderland. He scored two more goals for Wolves, coming off the bench and scoring twice against Blackpool at Molineux, winning the game 4–0. Ebanks-Blake got himself on the score sheet again, scoring a consolation goal in the 4–1 loss to Newcastle United at St James' Park.
On 8 October 2008, Ebanks-Blake was approached by manager John Barnes to play for Jamaica. Although he left the door open to play for Jamaica in the future he wanted to try and get himself into the England squad. A month later Ebanks-Blake got a call up to the England under-21 side and got his first cap for them against Czech Republic U21s on 18 November 2008.
| Club | Season | League | FA Cup | League Cup | Total | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | ||
| Manchester United | 2004–05 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| 2005–06 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | |
| Royal Antwerp (loan) | 2005–06 | 9 | 4 | - | - | - | - | 9 | 4 |
| Plymouth Argyle | 2006–07 | 41 | 10 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 45 | 10 |
| 2007–08 | 25 | 11 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 1 | 29 | 13 | |
| Wolverhampton Wanderers | 2007–08 | 20 | 12 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 20 | 12 |
| 2008–09 | 39 | 25 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 42 | 25 | |
| 2009–10 | 23 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 26 | 2 | |
| 2010–11 | 30 | 7 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 33 | 7 | |
| Career Total | 187 | 71 | 8 | 1 | 11 | 2 | 206 | 74 | |
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