Emile Heskey

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Emile Heskey
Personal information
Full name	Emile William Ivanhoe Heskey
Date of birth	January 11, 1978 (age 29)
Place of birth	Evington, Leicester, England
Height	6 ft 2 in / 1.89 m
Nickname	Emskey, Bruno,
Playing position	Striker
Club information
Current club	Wigan Athletic
Number	9
Youth clubs
1995–96	Leicester City
Senior clubs1
Years	Club	App (Gls)*
1995–2000 2000–04 2004–06 2006–	Leicester City Liverpool Birmingham City Wigan Athletic	154 (40) 150 (39) 068 (14) 029 0(8)
National team2
1999-2004	England	043 0(5)
1 Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 18:51, 9 April 2007 (UTC). 2 National team caps and goals correct as of 3 September 2006. * Appearances (Goals)

Emile William Ivanhoe Heskey born 11 January 1978 in Evington, Leicester, to an Antiguan father and Barbudan mother) is an is an English professional footballer currently playing for Wigan Athletic, he is a former England international. He is a powerful centre forward who can also play as a strong running left winger. His unusual middle name - Ivanhoe - is down to the fact that his father is a big fan of the film of the same name.

He made his league debut in 1995, and then made 30 appearances for the Foxes in 1995-96 - helping City earn promotion to the Premiership. He starred alongside Michael Owen in the England Under-18 team which finished third in the European Championships in France. Prior to his professional debut, he was a ball boy at the 1994 Football league Division 1 play-off final, which took place at The Empire Stadium, Wembley, between Leicester City and Derby County.

Don't step in Heskey! It stinks!

Heskey won his first major honour in English football when he helped Leicester to victory over Middlesbrough in the Worthington Cup final, repeated in 2000 with a 2-1 win against Tranmere Rovers and in 2001 when Liverpool defeated Birmingham City.

Heskey joined Liverpool in April 2000 in an £11 million move that set the record transfer fee for the Merseyside club and was one of the worst kept secrets in English football. Heskey made his Anfield debut in the Premiership clash with Sunderland and played well but the season finished with continuing doubts^{[attribution needed]} about his goalscoring prowess. During the 2000-01 season Heskey put an end to those scoring worries by smashing home 23 goals for the Reds and rocketing himself up the England pecking order.

Heskey's International Career

The big striker made his England debut in a friendly against Hungary in Budapest in a 1-1 draw and on his first start, against Argentina at Wembley, he gave a performance which won him the Man of the Match award.^{[citation needed]} That showing ensured he was in England's Euro 2000 squad. However his two substitute performances in the tournament were poor^{[citation needed]} as England crashed out.

One of Eriksson's favourites, he was selected in the squad for the 2002 World Cup in Korea and Japan, and started in the left-wing role against Sweden, but looked far more effective when moved back into the forward line to partner Michael Owen.^{[citation needed]} He netted against Denmark as England reached the quarter-finals, but many England fans^{[attribution needed]} do not believe he is the best option for England's attacking line. This is backed up by his strike rate statistic, the worst of any post-war regular England striker.^{[citation needed]} Conversely, Heskey's presence in the England team coincided with the best run of results achieved by an England side for many years;^{[citation needed]} some might conclude^{[attribution needed]} that Emile was and is crucial to any success England may have. Some argue^{[attribution needed]} that he is the English player with whom Michael Owen enjoys the best partnership.

Scoring just 9 goals in the 2002-03 season - only five in the Premiership - did not help his cause. However, despite his critics^{[attribution needed]} Heskey continued to be an integral part of the international squad and took over the captaincy from Michael Owen when England beat Serbia and Montenegro 2-1 in his hometown of Leicester in June 2003.

2003-04 Season

In the 2003-04 season Heskey faced increasing competition from Milan Baroš as Owen's strike partner. Despite this he scored 7 league goals and secured a place in the England squad for the Euro 2004 tournament in Portugal. He came on as a sub when England were leading 1-0 against France. Within minutes he had given away a free kick (which France qualised from) and England lost 2-1. For many this sums up his entire contribution to the England cause.

At the end of the 2003-04 season, Heskey signed for Birmingham City for £6.25 million, as a replacement for the retiring Christophe Dugarry, thus becoming Birmingham's most expensive player. It is rumoured that only £3.5m was paid up front however,^{[citation needed]} with other add ons for goals scored, Birmingham reaching Europe and additional England caps, so the actual price paid is unclear.

Despite Birmingham's mediocre 2004-05 season, Heskey is considered^{[attribution needed]} to have been probably the most prominent and consistent player for the Blues, winning 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. Heskey had consistently failed to live up to expectations and was seen by many fans^{[attribution needed]} as an expensive White Elephant. During the summer of 2006 Heskey was sold to Wigan Athletic for £5.5m.

Since the emergence of Peter Crouch as England's "Plan B", the possibility of a recall has receded further on the horizon. Whilst offering pace and power, his poor international scoring record of just 5 goals in 43 appearances, coupled with his inconsistent domestic seasonal tallies, do not compare favourably to other English strikers in his mould.^{[citation needed]}

On his 500th League appearance Heskey scored his first goal for Wigan Athletic in a 1-0 Premiership victory over Reading FC on the 26th August 2006.

[edit] External links

• Emile Heskey career stats at Soccerbase

Wigan Athletic F.C. - Current Squad
1 Filan | 2 Granqvist | 4 Jackson | 5 Hall | 6 de Zeeuw | 7 Camara | 8 Kilbane | 9 Heskey | 10 McCulloch | 11 Johansson | 12 Pollitt | 13 Kirkland | 14 Landzaat | 15 Aghahowa | 16 Valencia | 17 Boyce | 18 Scharner | 19 Taylor | 20 Folan | 21 Cywka | 22 Cotterill | 24 Skoko | 25 Unsworth | 26 Baines | 28 Nash | 31 Montrose | 32 Owens | 36 Waterhouse | Manager: Jewell

	England squad - 2002 FIFA World Cup Quarter-finalists
1 Seaman | 2 Mills | 3 A. Cole | 4 Sinclair | 5 Ferdinand | 6 Campbell | 7 Beckham | 8 Scholes | 9 Fowler | 10 Owen | 11 Heskey | 12 Brown | 13 Martyn | 14 Bridge | 15 Keown | 16 Southgate | 17 Sheringham | 18 Hargreaves | 19 J. Cole | 20 Vassell | 21 Butt | 22 James | 23 Dyer | Coach: Eriksson