Christophe Berra

Christophe Berra

Berra playing for Scotland in 2011
Personal information
Full name	Christophe Didier Berra[1]
Date of birth	(1985-01-31) 31 January 1985[1]
Place of birth	Edinburgh, Scotland
Height	1.90 m (6 ft 3 in)[2]
Playing position	Centre back
Club information
Current club	Ipswich Town
Number	6
Youth career
000?–2003	Heart of Midlothian
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps†	(Gls)†
2003–2009	Heart of Midlothian	123	(4)
2009–2013	Wolverhampton Wanderers	141	(0)
2013–	Ipswich Town	25	(2)
National team‡
2005–2006	Scotland U21 [3]	5	(0)
2007	Scotland B	1	(0)
2008–	Scotland	28	(2)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 16:50, 29 January 2014 (UTC). † Appearances (Goals). ‡ National team caps and goals correct as of 20:42, 2 January 2014 (UTC)

Christophe Didier Berra (born 31 January 1985) is a Scottish international footballer who plays for Ipswich Town as a centre back.

Berra began his professional career with Heart of Midlothian in his home city of Edinburgh, playing 146 times for them before he moved to England in 2009 in a £2.5 million transfer to Wolverhampton Wanderers. He was part of their promotion to the Premier League months later and played in the top flight with the team for three seasons before relegation. His contract was not renewed in 2013, allowing him to sign for Ipswich Town and be reunited with his former Wolves manager Mick McCarthy.

Club career

Hearts

Berra joined Hearts on 26 April 2002 from their youth development system.^[4] He is one in a long line of young defenders, particularly central defenders, to have progressed through the Hearts youth system,^[5] including Paul Ritchie and Alan McLaren.

After impressive performances in the youth and Under-21 teams, Berra made his first team debut on 30 November 2003 as a substitute in a 2–1 defeat at Dundee United. He made only a handful of further appearances during the remainder of the 2003–04 season, but continued his development over the following campaigns, becoming an important member of the first team squad.

He scored in a 2–0 victory against Kilmarnock^[6] in season 2005–06 which aided the Tynecastle club's push towards UEFA Champions League qualification. That season also saw him gain a Scottish Cup winner's medal after being a non-playing substitute in the 2006 Scottish Cup Final win against Gretna.

In July 2006, Berra signed a five-year deal with Hearts, before going on to play in the club's European ties in Champions League qualifiers and the UEFA Cup during a season that saw the club finish fourth. The following season, he became the youngest captain in the SPL^[7] after the departure of the previous Hearts captain Craig Gordon to Sunderland in August 2007.

Wolverhampton Wanderers

Berra won international recognition at the end of the 2007–08 season and, during the close season, his growing reputation attracted the attention of Championship club Wolverhampton Wanderers. They made a reported £1.5 million bid to sign him,^[8] but it was not considered as Hearts were without a manager at the time. Wolves returned with an improved offer – reportedly £2million – on 27 January 2009, but it was again rejected.^[9] However, he eventually signed for Wolves for an undisclosed fee – believed to be around £2.5m^[10] – in a four-and-a-half-year deal on transfer deadline day.^[10] He made his club debut on 7 February 2009 in a 1–2 defeat at Coventry.^[11]

Berra helped Wolves complete the season at the top of the Championship and so enter Premier League. He went on to play regularly during their three seasons in the top division, being partnered at centre back by a collection of players including Jody Craddock, Richard Stearman and Roger Johnson.^[12] After three seasons Berra was a mainstay of the Wolves team that finished bottom of the 2011–12 Premier League and so were relegated back to the Championship.

Following relegation, Berra had a transfer request accepted by Wolves.^[12] but this did not lead to any move away from the club and he remained part of the first team during the season. Then-Wolves manager Ståle Solbakken stated that Berra's game had improved and stated that he hoped the club could agree a new contract with Berra.^[13] However, Solbakken was soon fired and Berra dropped out of first team contention under Dean Saunders. At the end of the campaign, which again saw the team relegated, it was announced that Berra would leave the club.^[14] In total he made 154 appearances for the club, without scoring.

Ipswich Town

On 20 July 2013, Mick McCarthy confirmed that Berra had signed for Ipswich Town.^[15]

International career

Berra was eligible to play for both Scotland (through his mother) and France (through his father), although having been born and growing up in Scotland, he has always committed to Scotland, and has been capped at different age levels right up to the senior side. He made his senior international debut as a substitute, on 30 May 2008 in a 3–1 defeat against the Czech Republic at the AXA Arena in Prague. Berra made his first start for the national team in the Amsterdam ArenA on 28 March 2009 in the match against the Netherlands.^[16]

Berra scored his first goal for Scotland on 25 May 2011 against Wales in the 2011 Nations Cup.^[17] He scored his second goal for Scotland on 29 February 2012, in a 1–1 draw against Slovenia.

International goals

Goal	Date	Venue	Opponent	Score	Result	Competition
1.	25 May 2011	Aviva Stadium, Dublin	Wales	1–3	1–3	2011 Nations Cup
2.	29 February 2012	Bonifika Stadium, Koper	Slovenia	1–1	1–1	Friendly

Career statistics

Club

As of match played 1 January 2014.

International

As of match played 19 November 2013.^[29]

Honours

Heart of Midlothian

• Scottish Cup: 2005–06

Wolverhampton Wanderers

• Football League Championship: 2008–09

References

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Christophe Berra.

• Christophe Berra career stats at Soccerbase
• Christophe Berra at scottishfa.co.uk
• Hearts appearance stats at londonhearts.com