John Hartson

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John Hartson
Personal information
Full name	John Hartson
Date of birth	April 5, 1975 (age 32)
Place of birth	Swansea, Wales
Height	6 ft 1 in (1.85 m)
Playing position	Striker
Club information
Current club	West Bromwich Albion
Number	10
Senior clubs1
Years	Club	App (Gls)*
1992-1995 1995-1997 1997-1999 1999-2001 2001 2001-2006 2006-	Luton Town Arsenal West Ham United Wimbledon Coventry City Celtic West Bromwich Albion	054 (11) 053 (14) 060 (24) 049 (19) 012 0(6) 146 (88) 021 0(5)
National team2
1995-	Wales	050 (14)
1 Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 17:25, 26 February 2007 (UTC). 2 National team caps and goals correct as of 17:25, 26 February 2007 (UTC). * Appearances (Goals)

John Hartson (born April 5, 1975, in Swansea, Wales) is a professional footballer, currently playing for West Bromwich Albion. As of 2005, he had made 50 appearances for Wales in international football. On 6 February 2006 Hartson decided to retire from international football, only to take himself out of retirement in August 2006, if needed by Wales boss John Toshack. He is in the mould of a traditional centre forward and "target man".^{[citation needed]} Due to his size, he can effectively hold up opposition defenders, often with his back towards them, and creating chances for his teammates.^{[citation needed]} However, he has exceptional agility and amazing balance on the ball for someone of his bulk.^{[citation needed]} Headers are one of his strengths.^{[citation needed]}

[edit] Club career

His career began in 1992 as a trainee at Luton Town, and went on to play for Arsenal, joining in January 1995 for £2.5 million; he was one of George Graham's last signings before his sacking in February 1995, along with Chris Kiwomya. He made his Arsenal debut on January 14, 1995 and was a regular in his first season, the highlight of which was scoring Arsenal's 75th minute equaliser in the 1995 UEFA Cup Winners' Cup Final against Real Zaragoza; however a last-minute goal from 40 yards by Nayim meant Arsenal lost the game 2-1.

With the signing of Dennis Bergkamp, who was preferred up front to partner Ian Wright, Hartson featured less under Graham's successors Bruce Rioch and Arsène Wenger. With Wenger angling for the signing of Nicolas Anelka in early 1997, he made it clear Hartson was surplus to requirements and in February 1997 he was sold to West Ham United for £3.2 million. In total he played 70 times (15 as substitute) for Arsenal, scoring 17 goals.

For West Ham, Hartson scored 33 goals in 73 league and cup appearances for the East London club. There was a training ground incident when Hartson was playing for West Ham in 1998, where he kicked Eyal Berkovic in the head while in front of television cameras. No charges were brought forward, and Hartson has admitted in his biography that this was an error of judgement.

He has since played for Wimbledon and Coventry City, before a £6m transfer to Celtic allowed him to thrive in the Scottish Premier League, where he became one of the most feared^{[citation needed]} strikers in Scottish football. In March, 2004, he dropped out for the remainder of the football season for surgery to his back; however, he recovered in time for Wales' unsuccessful qualifying campaign for the 2006 World Cup.

In April 2005 he shared the Scottish PFA Players' Player of the Year award with Fernando Ricksen and a short time later in May he was voted the Scottish Football Writers' Association Player of the Year.

On 5 April 2006, Hartson scored the winning goal against Hearts on his 31st birthday to clinch the title for Celtic. On 26 June 2006, Hartson signed a two-year contract with English Football League Championship side West Bromwich Albion, hitting a double on his league debut, following a £500,000 move. [1].

West Brom have recently announced that Hartson will be available for loan during the upcoming loan window, and he has been linked with moves to Leeds United and Norwich City. His hometown club, Swansea City, are also rumoured to have expressed an interest in taking the striker on loan for the remainder of the season. However, although Hartson has always made people aware of his desire to finish his playing days in Swansea, there are doubts about whether the current wage structure at the South Wales club could take on his reputed £50,000 a week wages, and it is unlikely that Hartson would want to drop down a division to play at Swansea's Coca-Cola League One level at this stage in his career.

[edit] Controversy

Hartson will always be remembered for his 'hardman' attitude, as well as his brilliant goalscoring. He had a few controversial moments in his career, with the major one coming in his West Ham days. In a training ground incident, Hartson kicked team-mate Eyal Berkovic in the face, after the Israeli midfielder had attempted a tackle. Hartson was fined for the incident, and the two made up. He was also given a few red cards in his time, one being a notable dismissal towards the end of an Old Firm derby, when he was sent-off for violent conduct, along with Celtic team-mate Johan Mjallby, and Rangers star Fernando Ricksen.

[edit] External links

• John Hartson career stats at Soccerbase

Preceded by Chris Sutton	Scottish PFA Players' Player of the Year 2005	Succeeded by Shaun Maloney
Preceded by Jackie McNamara	Scottish Football Writers' Association Player of the Year 2005	Succeeded by Craig Gordon

West Bromwich Albion F.C. - Current Squad
3 Robinson | 4 Perry | 5 Clement | 6 C. Davies | 8 Greening | 9 Ellington | 10 Hartson | 11 Gera | 12 Chaplow | 14 Albrechtsen | 15 Kamara | 16 Koren | 17 Carter | 19 Koumas | 20 McShane | 21 Phillips | 23 Forsyth | 24 Wallwork | 26 R. Davies | 27 Elvins | 28 Hodgkiss | 30 Daniels | 31 Kiely | 32 MacDonald | 33 Nardiello | 34 Sodje | Manager: Mowbray