Carl Fletcher

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Personal information
Carl Fletcher
Full name	Carl Neil Fletcher
Date of birth	7 April 1980 (age 27)
Place of birth	Surrey Heath, England
Height	5' 10"
Nickname	Fletch/ Crab
Playing position	Midfielder
Club information
Current club	Crystal Palace
Number	23
Senior clubs¹
Years	Club	App (Gls)*
1997-2004 2004-2006 2005 2006-	Bournemouth West Ham United → Watford (loan) Crystal Palace	218 (22) 053 0(3) 003 0(0) 033 0(3)
National team²
2004-	Wales	020 0(0)
¹ Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 14:37, 9 April 2007 (UTC). ² National team caps and goals correct as of 22:29, 28 March 2007 (UTC). * Appearances (Goals)

This page is on Crystal Palace's Welsh footballer. For the retired Canadian one of same name see Carl Fletcher (soccer). For the character on the British TV series Dream Team of a similar name, see Karl Fletcher.

Carl Fletcher (born 7 April 1980 in Surrey Heath, England) is a Welsh professional football player, who plays for Crystal Palace. He wears the number 23 shirt, plays as a midfielder, and is also Palace Captain.

Fletcher started his career at English club Bournemouth, making his debut in February 1998 as a 17-year-old. He made 185 league starts for the south-coast club, including captaining the side to a 5-2 victory over Lincoln City in the 2003 Division 3 playoff final and scoring 2 of the goals himself, before earning a move to West Ham United in 2004 for £275,000.

He is nicknamed "Fletch" by his fans, like his fictional namesake Karl Fletcher, a character on Sky One's Dream Team.

Fletcher then played in the Premiership after West Ham won promotion the season he signed for them. He also had a month-long loan spell at Watford. Upon his return from Watford in October 2005, he made 12 league appearances for West Ham. On 13 May 2006, Fletcher was drafted into the West Ham team to face Liverpool in the FA Cup Final due to the suspension of Hayden Mullins. Despite ending on the losing side, he still contributed to one of the best FA Cup finals of modern times.

The FA Cup final proved to be his last competitive match for the Hammers, however, as he signed for Crystal Palace in that summer, for £400,000. He was immediately appointed Captain by the Championship highflyers.

Fletcher has currently gained 20 caps for the Welsh national team.