Chris Gunter

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Chris Gunter

Gunter representing Wales in 2007
Personal information
Full nameChristopher Ross Gunter[1]
Date of birth (1989-07-21) 21 July 1989[1]
Place of birthNewport, Wales
Height5 ft 11 in (1.80 m)[1]
Playing positionDefender
Club information
Current clubReading
Number2
Youth career
000?–2006Cardiff City
Senior career*
YearsTeamApps†(Gls)†
2006–2008Cardiff City28(0)
2008–2009Tottenham Hotspur5(0)
2009→ Nottingham Forest (loan)8(0)
2009–2012Nottingham Forest133(2)
2012–Reading43(0)
National team‡
2005–2006Wales U1711(2)
2006Wales U193(0)
2006–Wales U218(0)
2007–Wales51(0)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 17:03, 12 January 2014 (UTC).

† Appearances (Goals).

‡ National team caps and goals correct as of 22.42, 17 November 2013 (UTC)

Christopher Ross "Chris" Gunter (born 21 July 1989) is a Welsh footballer who plays for Reading, and the Wales national team, as a defender. Born in Newport,[1] he joined Cardiff City's youth system. An attacking full back, he is capable of playing on both flanks but usually plays on his preferred right side.

Gunter has been a Welsh international since the U17 level and holds the record as the second youngest debutant for the U21 team. In 2007 he became the youngest Cardiff City player ever to play for the full Welsh team until Aaron Ramsey broke his record.

Club career

Cardiff City

Gunter started out as a striker when he played for Durham Colts and Albion Rovers junior teams in Newport but switched to full-back at a young age and signed for the Cardiff City youth side at the age of eight. He signed his first professional contract with the club on 1 August 2006 along with fellow Cardiff academy graduate Darcy Blake.

Primarily a right-sided defender, Gunter made his debut for Cardiff City on 22 August 2006 against Barnet in the League Cup. His league debut came in a 1–0 home loss to QPR on 17 November 2006.[2] Gunter was praised for his performance by manager Dave Jones.[3]

In March 2007 he won the Football League's Apprentice of the Year award[4] after impressing in the first team squad due to injuries to some regular players and during the summer of 2007, Gunter was the subject of two bids from Premier League club Everton. Both, however, were rejected.[5]

Tottenham Hotspur

According to reports on 21 December, Cardiff agreed a substantial fee with Tottenham Hotspur and therefore allowed Gunter to enter into talks with the club. Cardiff also stated that Tottenham had "met their valuation of the player" which had previously been reported at £4m.[6] On 22 December, Gunter passed a medical at White Hart Lane with a view to a £2 million move. The move was made official on 24 December and he joined the club after the transfer window opened on 1 January 2008.[7] Gunter made his debut for Spurs in an FA Cup 3rd Round Replay against Reading at the Madejski Stadium.

On 12 March 2009, Gunter moved on loan to Nottingham Forest for the rest of the 2008–09 season.[8]

Nottingham Forest

Gunter playing for Nottingham Forest in 2011

On 17 July 2009 Tottenham Hotspur accepted a bid of £1.75 million from Nottingham Forest.[9] Forest completed the signing of Gunter on 20 July on a four-year contract.[10] He scored his first goal for the club in a 1–0 victory over Plymouth Argyle on 27 September 2009.[11][12] It was also Gunter's first goal in senior football. In the recent match between Nottingham Forest and Crystal Palace on 23 March 2010, Gunter made his 100th senior club appearance. In May 2010 he was selected in the Championship PFA Team of the Year for the 2009–10 season.[13] Gunter received a three match ban for violent conduct following an altercation with Sanchez Watt during Forest's league game against Leeds United. Gunter has been a regular member of the Forest team since joining the club, normally playing at right-back. Gunter scored his first goal of the 2011–12 season against Doncaster Rovers.[14]

Reading

Gunter completed a move to Reading on 17 July 2012, signing a 3-year deal.[15] The fee was undisclosed but has been reported to have been between £2.3m[16] and £2.5m.[17] He scored his first goal for Reading against Peterborough in the League Cup on 28 August 2012.[18]

International career

Youth teams

Gunter started his Wales career during the 2003–04 season, making four appearances for the schoolsunder-15 development squad before moving up to the Welsh Schools under-16 squad and played in a friendly against Republic of Ireland plus three Victory Shield internationals. He then made 11 appearances at Wales under-17 level during 2005–06, playing in two rounds of the UEFA Championships as Wales qualified from the opening group to reach the elite stage. His next step was playing for the Wales U19 squad in the Milk Cup.[19]

At age 16 years and 299 days, Gunter was the youngest player to play for the Wales Under-21 team when he played against Cyprus Under-21 until former club mate Aaron Ramsey broke the record in August 2007.

Senior team

He eventually made his full international debut for Wales in a friendly match against New Zealand on 26 May 2007 at the Racecourse Ground, Wrexham; in doing so he became the youngest ever Cardiff City player to play for the senior Wales team. Gunter started as a left-back in a young and inexperienced Wales team in the teams' Euro 2008 qualifiers against the Republic of Ireland and Germany giving very impressive performances in the games which ended 2–2 and 0–0. He was ever present at right back during 2010 World Cup qualifying and is the only player in the squad to have played in all ten matches. He was called up for a November friendly against Scotland but withdrew due to illness. On 8 October 2010, Gunter was sent off in the 94th minute for a last-man foul against Dimitar Rangelov in the 0–1 home loss against Bulgaria in a Euro 2012 qualifying match. Despite being barely 24 years old, Gunter won his 50th cap for Wales in the 1–1 away draw with Belgium on the 10th October 2013.[20]

Career statistics

As of match played 11 January 2014.[21]
Club Season League FA Cup League Cup Other Total
DivisionAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoals
Cardiff City 2006–07 Championship 1500010— 160
2007–08 1300040— 170
Total 2800050— 330
Tottenham Hotspur 2007–08 Premier League 20200000 40
2008–09 3010107[lower-alpha 1]0 120
Total 50301070 160
Nottingham Forest (loan) 2008–09 Championship 800000— 80
Nottingham Forest 2009–10 44120202[lower-alpha 2]0 501
2010–11 43020002[lower-alpha 2]0 470
2011–12 4612020— 501
Total 1412604040 1552
Reading 2012–13 Premier League 2001021— 231
2013–14 Championship 230101000 250
Total 430203100 481
Career total 2172110131110 2523
  1. ↑ Appearances in the UEFA Cup
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 Appearances in the Championship play-offs

Personal life

As a youngster Gunter attended Durham Road Junior School before moving on to St Julian's High School as a teenager. He also followed Cardiff City, along with his brother Marc, as a supporter and continued to go to away games on supporters coaches up until 2006. Gunter also holds a BTEC National Diploma in sports Studies.[22] Gunter was a former flatmate of fellow Welshman Aaron Ramsey who plays for Spurs' London rivals Arsenal.[23]

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 Hugman, Barry J., ed. (2010). The PFA Footballers' Who's Who 2010–11. Mainstream Publishing. p. 181. ISBN 978-1-84596-601-0. 
  2. ↑ "Cardiff 0–1 QPR". BBC Sport. 17 November 2006. Retrieved 15 August 2012. 
  3. ↑ "Debutant Gunter wins Jones praise". BBC Sport. 18 November 2006. Retrieved 15 August 2012. 
  4. ↑ "Gunter and Ledley secure prizes". BBC Sport. 5 March 2007. 
  5. ↑ McKenzie, Andrew (22 June 2007). "Everton fail in bids for Gunter". BBC Sport. Retrieved 26 November 2007. 
  6. ↑ "Gunter agrees to Tottenham talks" BBC Sport Retrieved on 22 December 2007
  7. ↑ "Tottenham confirm Gunter transfer" BBC Sport Retrieved on 24 December 2007
  8. ↑ Forest loan for Gunter TottenhamHotspur.com 12 March 2009
  9. ↑ "Gunter: Fee and terms agreed". Nottingham Forest F.C. 18 July 2009. Retrieved 18 July 2009. 
  10. ↑ "Gunter & McKenna sign for Forest". BBC Sport. 20 July 2009. Retrieved 20 July 2009. 
  11. ↑ "Plymouth 0 – 1 Nottm Forest". BBC Sport. 27 September 2009. Retrieved 11 January 2010. 
  12. ↑ "Forest looking for revenge in Watford". Nottingham Evening Post. 26 December 2009. 
  13. ↑ "Rooney is PFA player of the year". BBC Sport. 25 April 2010. Retrieved 16 July 2012. 
  14. ↑ Moxley, Neil (16 August 2011). "Doncaster 0 Nottingham Forest 1: Gunter gets McClaren off the mark at last". Daily Mail. Retrieved 1 November 2011. 
  15. ↑ Nicholson, Fraser (17 July 2012). "Gunter Completes Reading Switch". nottinghamforest.co.uk (Nottingham Forest F.C.). Retrieved 15 August 2012. 
  16. ↑ "Reading land Forest star Chris Gunter". Reading Chronicle (Berkshire Media Group). 17 July 2012. Retrieved 23 July 2012. 
  17. ↑ Burns, Kenny (23 July 2012). "Sean O'Driscoll is a good choice for Nottingham Forest". thisisnottingham.co.uk (Nottingham Post). Retrieved 23 July 2012. 
  18. ↑ "Reading 3 – 2 Peterborough". BBC. 28 August 2012. Retrieved 28 August 2012. 
  19. ↑ Phillips, Terry (20 July 2007). "'Cardiff is a great place to be now' – Gunter". South Wales Echo (Media Wales). Retrieved 26 November 2007. 
  20. ↑ http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/football/24439786
  21. ↑ "Chris Gunter career statistics". Soccerbase. Retrieved 4 May 2013. 
  22. ↑ Phillips, Terry (21 July 2007). "Birthday boy is still in touch with roots". South Wales Echo (Media Wales). Retrieved 26 November 2007. 
  23. ↑ Thomas, Graham (30 October 2009). "Gunter hails super tenant Ramsey". BBC Sport. Retrieved 16 July 2012. 

External links

Reading F.C. – current squad
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