Matthew Upson
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| Matthew Upson | ||
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| Personal information | ||
|---|---|---|
| Full name | Matthew James Upson | |
| Date of birth | 18 April 1979 | |
| Place of birth | Hartismere, England | |
| Height | 1.85 m (6 ft 1 in) | |
| Playing position | Central defender | |
| Club information | ||
| Current club | West Ham United | |
| Number | 15 | |
| Youth career | ||
| 1994–1996 | Luton Town | |
| Senior career1 | ||
| Years | Club | App (Gls)* |
| 1996–1997 1997–2003 2000 2001 2002 2003–2007 2007– |
Luton Town Arsenal → Nottingham Forest (loan) → Crystal Palace (loan) → Reading (loan) Birmingham City West Ham United |
1 (0) 35 (0) 1 (0) 7 (0) 14 (0) 113 (5) 68 (1) |
| National team2 | ||
| 1998–2000 2002– |
England U21 England |
12 (2) 15 (1) |
|
1 Senior club appearances and goals |
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Matthew James Upson (born 18 April 1979) is an English football player who plays for West Ham United. He is a central defender.
Contents |
[edit] Club career
[edit] Luton Town
Upson was born in Hartismere, Suffolk. He joined Luton Town as a trainee in 1994.[1] He signed professional forms in April 1996,[2] making his sole appearance for the senior team against Rotherham United in August 1996.
[edit] Arsenal
He joined Arsenal in May 1997 in a £2 million deal.[1] However, faced with the longevity of Arsenal's existing centre backs, Tony Adams, Steve Bould and Martin Keown, and struck by injury problems of his own, Upson rarely had a chance to break into the first team. After spending a year out of the game recovering from an anterior cruciate ligament injury sustained in 1999, Upson only made a handful of first team appearance for Arsenal, in between loan spells at Nottingham Forest in 2000 and Crystal Palace in 2001.[3][4]
In 2001–02, his final full season at Arsenal however, Upson did make 22 appearances; these included 14 in the league, earning him a Premier League winners' medal, but a broken leg in February 2002 ruled him out for the rest of the season and Arsenal's FA Cup-winning run as they won the Double. After recovering from his broken leg, Upson joined Reading in September 2002 on a three-month loan.[5] With Arsenal's newly-established centre back pairing of Sol Campbell and Kolo Touré keeping him out of the side, he was bought by Birmingham City in January 2003. In total he played 56 times for Arsenal, never scoring.
[edit] Birmingham City
Birmingham City completed the signing of Upson from Arsenal in January 2003, for a fee of £1 million rising to £3 million depending on appearances.[6]
He suffered a leg injury whilst preparing for the local derby against Aston Villa in April 2006 and subsequently missed the rest of the season as Birmingham City were relegated to The Championship. Upson remained with the club while he worked on regaining his fitness and returned to action in December in the Blues' 3–0 victory over Plymouth Argyle, scoring the second of the three goals.
[edit] West Ham United
On 18 January 2007, Birmingham rejected West Ham United's bid for Upson of £4 million, also rejecting an improved bid of £6 million a few days later. An offer of £6 million, with the potential to rise to £7.5 million depending on appearances, was accepted on the last day of the transfer window, and Upson agreed a four-and-a-half-year contract with West Ham.[7] However, Upson suffered a calf injury less than 30 minutes into his West Ham United debut against Aston Villa, which West Ham lost 0–1.[8] He then lasted just 11 minutes of his comeback game before coming off injured against Tottenham Hotspur in a 4–3 loss at Upton Park in March 2007.[9]
Upson completed his first full game for West Ham in the 2–0 home defeat to Manchester City in August 2007. One week later he made his first appearance as West Ham captain in the 1–0 away win against former club Birmingham City.[10] On 29 December 2007 Upson scored his first goal in West Ham colours when he headed in the winning goal against Premier League champions Manchester United.[11]
In July 2008, Upson's squad number of 6 was retired by the club in memory of Bobby Moore, after which he took the number 15 shirt.[12]
[edit] International career
Upson won twelve caps for the England U21 team and scored two goals.[13][14] His performances for Birmingham City in the 2002–03 season led to his selection for the England senior squad and he made his debut for England against South Africa in May 2003. He won seven full caps while a Birmingham player.[2]
Upson was named in Fabio Capello's first provisional England squad for the February 2008 friendly against Switzerland at Wembley.[15] He was named in the starting line-up to partner Rio Ferdinand, winning his eighth England cap nearly four years after his last appearance. He was named in the starting line-up against Kazakhstan for his 10th cap, after John Terry picked up an injury, playing for the full 90 minutes.
Upson scored his first goal for England on 19 November 2008 in a friendly match against Germany.[16] The match finished 2–1 to England and Upson picked up ITV's man of the match award.
[edit] International goals
- Scores and results list England's goal tally first.
| # | Date | Venue | Opponent | Score | Result | Competition | Scored |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 19 Nov 2008 | Olympic Stadium, Berlin |  Germany |
1–0 | 2–1 | Friendly match | 1 |
[edit] References
- ^ a b "Matthew Upson". Soccerbase. The Racing Post. http://www.soccerbase.com/players_details.sd?playerid=8918. Retrieved on 13 June 2007.
- ^ a b "Matthew Upson Profile". England Football Online. http://www.englandfootballonline.com/TeamPlyrsBios/PlayersUV/BioUpsonM.html. Retrieved on 20 November 2008.
- ^ "Upson adds to Platt woes". BBC Sport. 20 December 2000. http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/teams/n/nottm_forest/1080274.stm. Retrieved on 29 June 2007.
- ^ "Upson in Palace move". BBC Sport. 28 February 2001. http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/teams/a/arsenal/1194744.stm. Retrieved on 23 June 2007.
- ^ "Reading secure Upson deal". BBC Sport. 5 September 2002. http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/teams/r/reading/2238300.stm. Retrieved on 26 June 2007.
- ^ "Birmingham sign Upson". BBC Sport. 11 February 2003. http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/teams/b/birmingham_city/2652803.stm. Retrieved on 23 June 2007.
- ^ "Matthew Upson signs for West Ham United". West Ham United F.C.. 31 January 2007. http://www.whufc.com/articles/article.php?page_id=8723. Retrieved on 31 January 2007.
- ^ Rutledge, Lewis (3 February 2007). "Curbs bemoans Upson injury". Sky Sports. http://www.skysports.com/story/0,19528,11685_2404497,00.html. Retrieved on 20 November 2008.
- ^ Buckingham, Mark (18 April 2007). "Curbs: Upson spell a disaster". Sky Sports. http://www.skysports.com/story/0,19528,11685_2411340,00.html. Retrieved on 20 November 2008.
- ^ Nursey, James (20 August 2007). "Birmingham 0–1 West Ham". Daily Mirror. http://www.mirror.co.uk/sport/football/2007/08/20/birmingham-0-1-west-ham-89520-19661265/. Retrieved on 20 August 2007.
- ^ Sanghera, Mandeep (29 December 2007). "West Ham 2–1 Man Utd". BBC Sport. http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/eng_prem/7157432.stm. Retrieved on 20 November 2008.
- ^ "Club to retire No6 shirt". West Ham United F.C.. 4 August 2008. http://www.whufc.com/page/News/0,,12562~1357842,00.html. Retrieved on 4 August 2008.
- ^ "England Under-21 Caps". The Football Association (The FA). http://www.thefa.com/England/U21s/Players/Postings/2005/01/AllTime_Caps.htm. Retrieved on 20 November 2008.
- ^ "England Under-21 Goalscorers". The FA. http://www.thefa.com/England/U21s/Players/Postings/2005/02/AllTime_Goalscorers.htm. Retrieved on 20 November 2008.
- ^ "Capello names squad". The FA. 31 January 2008. http://www.thefa.com/England/SeniorTeam/NewsAndFeatures/Postings/2008/01/EnglandSwitzerland_squad.htm. Retrieved on 20 November 2008.
- ^ McKenzie, Andrew (19 November 2008). "Germany 1–2 England". BBC Sport. http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/internationals/7737012.stm. Retrieved on 20 November 2008.
[edit] External links
- Matthew Upson career stats at Soccerbase
- [1] at whufc.com
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