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Emile Heskey

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Emile Heskey
Personal information
Full name Emile William Ivanhoe Heskey
Height 1.88 m (6 ft 2 in)
Position(s) Striker
Team information
Current team
 Wigan Athletic
Number 9
‡ National team caps and goals, correct as of 19:18, 10 September 2008 (UTC)

Emile William Ivanhoe Heskey[3] (born 11 January 1978 in Leicester, England)[1] is an English footballer. Known for his strength, although berated by the media for not scoring enough goals,[8] he is a striker currently playing for Premier League side Wigan Athletic. He also has the versatility to play down the left flank.[9]

Heskey started his career with Leicester City in 1994. He then made a £11 million move to Liverpool in 2000, which was a record transfer fee paid by the club at that time. At the club, he won multiple honours, including an FA Cup win in 2001. He then moved to Birmingham City in 2004 and moved 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. He has gone on to attain 48 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.

Career

Leicester City

Heskey started his career at home-town club Leicester City, where he made his debut against Queens Park Rangers in 1995 at the age of 17.[10] 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.[11]

During the 1996–97, his first in the Premier League, Heskey managed to score 10 goals in 35 appearances in this league, and also scored the equaliser in the 1997 League Cup final against Middlesbrough, which was won by Leicester in the replay.[11] The following season saw interest from Leeds United and Tottenham Hotspur for Heskey, as he again managed to net 10 Premier League goals. However, the 1997–98 season saw Heskey score only six top-flight goals, and had been criticised for not scoring enough goals and going to ground too easily.[10]

In the 1998–99 season, Heskey forged an effective strike partnership with Tony Cottee, who benefited from Heskey's unselfish style of play.[10] He went on to win the League Cup again in 2000 with a 2–1 win against Tranmere Rovers.[12]

Liverpool

Heskey joined Liverpool in March 2000 in a long-anticipated £11m move, which, at the time, set the record transfer fee for the Merseyside club.[13] Heskey made his home debut in the Premier League clash with Sunderland and played well, but the season finished with continuing doubts about his goalscoring prowess.[12] During the 2000–01 season Heskey put an end to those scoring worries by scoring 23 goals for Liverpool and rocketing himself up the England pecking order.[12]

"Some people like to criticise Emile, but I can produce plenty of facts and figures to back up how important he is to us, and how many goals we have scored that he has been involved in."

Gérard Houllier[14]

Heskey had been linked with a £12m move to Tottenham Hotspur in 2002, but Liverpool manager Gérard Houllier insisted Heskey was a part of his long-term plans.[14]

Heskey made a six-figure donation in 2002 to aid a consortium led by Gary Lineker in their bid to buy-out his former club, cash-strapped Leicester City.[15]

In the 2003–04 season Heskey faced increasing competition from Milan Baroš for a place in the Liverpool starting line-up.[12] Despite this, he scored 12 goals and secured a place in the England squad for the Euro 2004 tournament in Portugal.[16][12]

Birmingham City

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,[17] thus becoming Birmingham's most expensive player. He made his Birmingham debut against Portsmouth, which ended as a 1–1 draw.[12]

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 fans had started to get on his back.[12]

Wigan Athletic

Heskey was signed by Wigan Athletic for £5.5m during July 2006.[18] He made his debut for Wigan against Newcastle United in August 2006, which his new club lost 2–1.[19] 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.[20] He managed to scored 8 goals in 36 appearances during the 2006–07 season,[21] as Wigan avoided relegation on goal difference with Sheffield United, against whom Heskey proved to be a handful for Wigan on 13 May 2007, where he nearly scored an overhead kick.[22] After this match, Heskey was described as "A man possessed", after playing at the heart of the Wigan defence, a position not suited to his play.[23]

He suffered a suspected broken metatarsal in September 2007,[24] and made his return for Wigan in a 2–0 defeat to Arsenal in November.[25] He picked up an ankle injury during Wigan's 5–3 victory against Blackburn Rovers in December 2007.[26] On 14 April 2008, Heskey scored a 90th minute equalising goal against Chelsea, whuch damaged their hopes of winning the Premier League.[27] He went on to score Wigan's equaliser against Tottenham in the following game to give them a 1–1 draw,[28] which proved to be his last goal of the 2007–08 season, which he finished with four goals in 28 appearances.[29] His first goal of the 2008–09 season came in Wigan's fourth game,[30] a 5–0 victory against Hull City at the KC Stadium.[31] Heskey and best friend John Higgins, were arrested in a Wigan night club after the recent match with Birmingham City. Higgins was accused of assaulting two female Brummie fans and he was subsequently punched by a member of staff. Heskey retaliated by smashing a bottle over the bar man. All charges were later dropped.

International

Heskey starred alongside Michael Owen in the England Under-18 team which finished third in the European Championships in France.[12] Heskey was capped once by the England B team, against Chile in February 1998, in which he scored a goal.[6] Heskey went on to gain recognition with the England U21 team.[32] He gained a total of 16 caps for the team, and scored three goals.[4][5]

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.[7] That showing ensured he was in the England squad for the Euro 2000 tournament.[33] However, his two substitute performances in the tournament could not help England, as the team went out in the group stage.[7]

Heskey was selected in the squad for the 2002 World Cup in Korea and Japan.[34] Heskey was used as a make-shift option to play in England's left-wing role in the game against Sweden, but this performance showed he is not natural in that position.[8] Heskey netted against Denmark in England's 3–0 victory, which saw England reach the quarter-finals of the tournament.[35]

Heskey's place in the England squad had been placed under scrutiny in 2003 with the emergence of Wayne Rooney into the England squad.[36] Despite being criticised for his lack of goals for England,[37] 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.[38] Heskey was named in the England squad for UEFA Euro 2004,[39] but failed to shine and was the subject of much criticism.[12] 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.[40] Heskey was recalled into the England squad for the World Cup qualifiers against Northern Ireland and Azerbaijan in 2005, after having being dropped following the game against Ukraine in August 2004.[41] 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.[42] He started the game against Israel and became Wigan Athletic's first ever England player as a consequence.[43] Heskey also started the next match against Russia, during which he created an assist for Michael Owen's second goal.[44] 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."[45] He was called into manager Fabio Capello's first squad against Switzerland,[46] but had to withdraw due to an injury.[47] 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.[48] He featured in the following 2010 FIFA World Cup qualification victories Andorra and Croatia.[49][50] Heskey was alleged to have been racially abused during the match against Croatia, with monkey chants being heard from sections of the Croatia support,[51] after which FIFA opened an investigation.[52] FIFA eventually fined the Croatian Football Federation £15,000 for the incident.[53]

Style of play

At Leicester City, Heskey’s pace and power was a huge factor in the club’s most successful era under Martin O’Neill. He was employed primarily as a striker but often found himself on the wing where he would out-muscle defenders, get into the 18-yard-box and create chances for other players such as Tony Cottee, Muzzy Izzet and Steve Claridge. Although his goal scoring record was far from prolific, it was his goal-assists and industrious work rate that made him invaluable and he was seen as a player with a lot of raw talent.

At Liverpool, he was able to adopt to their style of play. Still known for his power and for his pace. He notched up over 20 goals and became one of the most explosive strikers in the FA Barclaycard Premiership in his first season alongside Michael Owen. Heskey was soon united with his Liverpool striker partner in the England national football team set-up, replacing the retired Alan Shearer and ageing Teddy Sheringham as a target man and creative foil[8][54]. In subsequent seasons Heskey's goal contributions dwindled, and he came under increasing criticism. Injuries played some part in his decline, as well as a maturing of his game. Primarily becoming more of a traditional target man and centre forward, using his height and strength to hold the ball up and bring other men into the game. For this reason Heskey maintained his England role despite the persistent criticism, and more recently was rewarded with a recall by Fabio Capello to the England squad[55].

Career honours

Leicester City
Liverpool

Career stats

Club performance

As of 3 September 2007.

Template:Football player statistics 1

|- |1994-95||rowspan="6"|Leicester City||Premier League||1||0||colspan="2"|-||colspan="2"|-||colspan="2"|-||1||0 |- |1995-96||First Division||30||7||colspan="2"|-||2||0||colspan="2"|-||32||7 |- |1996-97||rowspan="4"|Premier League||35||10||3||0||9||2||colspan="2"|-||47||12 |- |1997-98||35||10||2||0||colspan="2"|-||colspan="2"|-||37||10 |- |1998-99||30||6||2||0||8||3||colspan="2"|-||40||9 |- |1999-00||23||7||4||0||8||1||colspan="2"|-||35||8 |- |1999-00||rowspan="5"|Liverpool||rowspan="5"|Premier League||12||3||colspan="2"|-||colspan="2"|-||colspan="2"|-||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||rowspan="2"|Birmingham City||rowspan="2"|Premier League||34||10||2||1||2||0||colspan="2"|-||38||11 |- |2005-06||34||4||3||0||3||1||colspan="2"|-||40||5 |- |2006-07||rowspan="3"|Wigan Athletic||rowspan="3"|Premier League||34||8||1||0||1||0||colspan="2"|-||36||8 |- |2007-08||24||3||2||0||colspan="2"|-||colspan="2"|-||26||3 |- |2008-09|||||||||||||||||||| Template:Football player statistics 3411||102||31||7||45||9||43||12||559||132 Template:Football player statistics 5411||102||31||7||45||9||43||12||559||132 |}

International goals

As of 11 July 2007.[7] Scores and results list England's goal tally first.
# Date Venue Opponent Score Result Competition
1 2000-06-03 Ta'Qali, Malta  Malta 2-1 2-1 Friendly match
2 2001-02-28 Birmingham, England  Spain 2-0 3-0 Friendly match
3 2001-09-01 Munich, Germany  Germany 5-1 5-1 2002 FIFA World Cup Qual.
4 2002-06-15 Niigata, Japan  Denmark 3-0 3-0 2002 FIFA World Cup
5 2003-05-22 Durban, South Africa  South Africa 2-1 2-1 Friendly match

Notes

  1. ^ a b "Emile Heskey". Soccerbase. Retrieved 2007-06-18.
  2. ^ "Hesk strike chalked off!". Wigan Athletic FC. 2007-05-23. Retrieved 2007-06-18. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  3. ^ a b "Emile Heskey". Playerhistory. Retrieved 2007-06-18.
  4. ^ a b "England U21 Caps, 1976-present". The FA. Retrieved 2007-11-22.
  5. ^ a b "England U21 Scorers, 1976-2005". The FA. Retrieved 2007-11-22.
  6. ^ a b "England - International Results B-Team - Details". RSSSF. Retrieved 2007-07-01.
  7. ^ a b c d "England Players". England Football Online. Retrieved 2007-06-18.
  8. ^ a b c "England emile has just started a plc course and at htis moment in time, he is currently trying to add the title of MR PLC 2009 to his collection. we wish him the best. be champion emile". BBC Sport. 2002-06-09. Retrieved 2007-06-18. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help); line feed character in |title= at position 8 (help)
  9. ^ "21. Emile Heskey". BBC Sport. 2004-05-24. Retrieved 2007-06-18. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  10. ^ a b c "Emile Heskey". Football-heroes. Retrieved 2007-07-04.
  11. ^ a b "Emile Heskey". Football-heroes. Retrieved 2007-07-04.
  12. ^ a b c d e f g h i "11 Emile Heskey". ESPNsoccernet. Retrieved 2007-05-14. {{cite web}}: Text "Forward" ignored (help)
  13. ^ "Heskey shrugs off record fee". BBC News. 2000-03-10. Retrieved 2007-05-16. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  14. ^ a b "Heskey staying at Liverpool". BBC Sport. 2002-12-06. Retrieved 2007-06-18. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  15. ^ "Heskey digs deep for Leicester". BBC Sport. 2002-10-25. Retrieved 2007-06-18. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  16. ^ "Liverpool 2003/2004 player appearances". Soccerbase. Retrieved 2007-06-24.
  17. ^ "Birmingham sign Heskey". BBC Sport. 2004-05-18. Retrieved 2007-05-17. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  18. ^ "Wigan seal £5.5m move for Heskey". BBC Sport. 2006-07-07. Retrieved 2007-06-18. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  19. ^ "Newcastle 2-1 Wigan". BBC Sport. 2006-08-19. Retrieved 2007-07-04. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  20. ^ "Wigan 1-0 Reading". BBC Sport. 2006-08-26. Retrieved 2007-05-15. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  21. ^ "Wigan 2006/2007 player appearances". Soccerbase. Retrieved 2008-06-15.
  22. ^ "Sheff Utd 1-2 Wigan". BBC Sport. 2007-05-14. Retrieved 2007-05-14. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  23. ^ "Two for the price of one isn't always a bargain". Telegraph. 2007-05-23. Retrieved 2007-06-29. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  24. ^ "Heskey has suspected broken toe". BBC Sport. 2007-09-15. Retrieved 2007-09-15. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  25. ^ "Emile Heskey". Soccerbase. Retrieved 2008-06-15.
  26. ^ "Heskey faces weeks out of action". BBC Sport. 2007-12-16. Retrieved 2007-09-15. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  27. ^ Fletcher, Paul (2008-04-14). "Chelsea 1-1 Wigan". BBC Sport. Retrieved 2008-06-16. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  28. ^ Lewis, Aimee (2008-04-19). "Wigan 1-1 Tottenham". BBC Sport. Retrieved 2008-09-01. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  29. ^ "Wigan 2007/2008 player appearances". Soccerbase. Retrieved 2008-09-01.
  30. ^ "Emile Heskey". Soccerbase. Retrieved 2008-09-01.
  31. ^ Barder, Russell (2008-08-30). "Hull 0-5 Wigan". BBC Sport. Retrieved 2008-09-01. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  32. ^ "PAST PLAYER PROFILE". Liverpool FC. Retrieved 2007-08-14.
  33. ^ "Emile Heskey". BBC Sport. Retrieved 2007-05-14.
  34. ^ "England squad in full". CBBC Newsround. Retrieved 2007-06-18.
  35. ^ "England brush Danes aside". BBC Sport. 2002-06-15. Retrieved 2007-05-14. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  36. ^ "Rooney puts pressure on Heskey". BBC Sport. 2003-03-13. Retrieved 2007-06-18. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  37. ^ "21 - Emile Heskey". CBBC Newsround. Retrieved 2007-06-18.
  38. ^ "England National Football Team Match No. 803". England Football Online. Retrieved 2008-06-15.
  39. ^ "Sven names squad for Euro 2004". CBBC Newsround. 2004-05-17. Retrieved 2008-06-15. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  40. ^ "France 2-1 England". BBC Sport. 2004-06-13. Retrieved 2008-06-15. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  41. ^ "Bruce ecstatic over Heskey recall". BBC Sport. 2005-03-21. Retrieved 2007-06-18. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  42. ^ "Heskey recalled to England squad". BBC Sport. 2007-09-02. Retrieved 2007-09-02. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  43. ^ "England 3-0 Israel". BBC Sport. 2007-09-08. Retrieved 2007-09-08. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  44. ^ Sanghera, Mandeep (2007-09-12). "England 3-0 Russia". BBC Sport. Retrieved 2008-06-15. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  45. ^ "BBC pundits on England". BBC Sport. 2007-09-12. Retrieved 2007-09-13. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  46. ^ "Beckham left out of England squad". BBC Sport. 2008-01-31. Retrieved 2008-06-15. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  47. ^ "Wright-Phillips fit for England". BBC Sport. 2008-02-05. Retrieved 2008-06-15. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  48. ^ Sanghera, Mandeep (2008-08-18). "England 2-2 Czech Rep". BBC Sport. Retrieved 2008-09-01. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  49. ^ Bevan, Chris (2008-09-06). "Andorra 0-2 England". BBC Sport. Retrieved 2008-09-10. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  50. ^ Stevenson, Jonathan (2008-09-10). "Croatia 1-4 England". BBC Sport. Retrieved 2008-09-10. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  51. ^ "FA wants probe into Heskey abuse". BBC Sport. 2008-09-11. Retrieved 2008-09-11. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  52. ^ "Fifa to probe Heskey racial abuse". BBC Sport. 2008-09-17. Retrieved 2008-09-17. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  53. ^ "Croatia fined over Heskey abuse". BBC Sport. 2008-09-25. Retrieved 2008-09-25. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  54. ^ "Player Profile". Premier League. Retrieved 2007-06-28.
  55. ^ "Emile Heskey, Birmingham City". The FA. Retrieved 2007-06-28.
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