Andy Townsend

Football player infobox


playername= Andy Townsend
fullname = Andrew David Townsend
height = height|ft=5|in=11
weight = 12 st 7 lb
dateofbirth = birth date and age|1963|7|23
cityofbirth = Maidstone, Kent
countryofbirth = England
currentclub =
clubnumber =
position = Midfielder
youthyears =
youthclubs = Welling United
years = 1980–1984
1984–1985
1985–1988
1988–1990
1990–1993
1993–1997
1997–1999
1999–2000
clubs =Welling United
Weymouth
Southampton
Norwich City
Chelsea
Aston Villa
Middlesbrough
West Bromwich Albion
caps(goals) = 105(??)

083 0(5)
071 0(8)
110 (12)
135 0(8)
077 0(3)
017 0(0)
nationalyears = 1989–1997
1994
nationalteam = Republic of Ireland
Republic of Ireland B
nationalcaps(goals) = 070 0(7)
001 0(0)
manageryears =
managerclubs =

Andrew David Townsend (born July 23 1963, Maidstone, Kent) is a former professional footballer who played in two World Cups for the Republic of Ireland and is now a television pundit. He grew up in Bexley Kent adjacent to the A2 and attended Upton Primary School Upton Road Bexleyheath, and Bexleyheath Comprehensive School, Graham Road, Bexleyheath.

Playing career

Early days

He began his playing career in August 1980 with Welling United in the Athenian League while working as a computer operator for Greenwich Borough Council in southeast London. After making 105 appearances for Welling, he was signed by Weymouth in March 1984 for £13500.

outhampton

In January 1985, he was signed by Lawrie McMenemy at Southampton for £35,000 and made his professional debut at home to Aston Villa on 20 April 1985 as Southampton qualified for Europe only to be banned in the aftermath of the Heysel Stadium disaster.

Over the next season, he was in and out of the team (then managed by Chris Nicholl) but in a pre-season friendly against his old club Weymouth in August 1986 he broke his leg. He fought his way back to fitness and rejoined the side in January 1987.

In the 1987-88 season he was a virtual ever-present playing alongside Jimmy Case and Glenn Cockerill in Southampton's midfield. He was a hard-tackling, hard-working midfielder with an eye for goal. It was a shock, therefore, when Chris Nicholl sold him to Division 1 rivals Norwich City in August 1988 for £300,000.

Norwich City

Under manager Dave Stringer, he was a member of the Canaries' 1988-89 side that finished 4th in Division 1 and reached the semi-final of the FA Cup.

He made his debut as a substitute against Middlesbrough on 3 September 1988 before replacing the suspended Trevor Putney for his first full appearance in a 3-1 win over Spurs on 22 October. He retained his place in the Norwich midfield and ended the season with 36 league appearances (5 as substitute) with 5 goals. He also made 6 FA Cup appearances with 2 goals against Port Vale in the Third Round on 7 January 1989. At the end of that 1988-89 season, Townsend was shortlisted for the PFA Players' Player of the Year award, which was won by Mark Hughes.

His contribution to Norwich's successful season saw Andy selected for the Republic of Ireland making his debut against France in February 1989.

Norwich made a handsome profit when they let Andy join Chelsea for £1,200,000 in July 1990 just a month after a successful World Cup in Italy where he played in all 5 of Ireland's matches. In 2002, Norwich supporters voted Townsend into the Norwich City F.C. Hall of Fame.

Chelsea

After making a total of 138 appearances for Chelsea, scoring 12 goals but winning no trophies, he transferred to Aston Villa in July 1993 for the sum of £2,100,000.

Aston Villa

He finally won some silverware when Villa won the Coca-Cola Cup final (League Cup) against Manchester United in 1994. He captained Villa when they reclaimed the trophy in 1996 with a 3-0 victory over Leeds United.

He was captain of the Republic of Ireland squad for the 1994 World Cup.

In August 1997, he transferred to Bryan Robson's Middlesbrough for £500,000 having made 134 league appearances for the Villains, scoring 8 league goals.

Middlesbrough

He made 37 appearances in his first season on Teesside scoring twice as Boro won promotion to the Premiership. In the 1998-99 season, he formed a useful partnership with Paul Gascoigne as Middlesbrough finished comfortably in mid-table in their first Premiership season.

In the following season, he found it harder to get in to the first team and in September 1999 he moved on to West Bromwich Albion for £50,000.

West Bromwich

In his one season at West Bromwich Albion he only made 17 league appearances before a recurrent knee injury forced his retirement in July 2000.

Career Honours

Aston Villa
*Football League Cup
**Winner (2): 1994, 1996

Middlesbrough
*"'Football League First Division
**Runner Up(1): 1997–98
*Football League Cup
**Runner Up(1): 1998

Charitable activities

He is patron of the George Coller Memorial Fund. He ran in the great north run in 2007 finishing in a time of 2 hours and 20 minutes. [http://www.georgecoller.pwp.blueyonder.co.uk/patronpage2.htm]

Football pundit

He can currently be seen as part of ITV Sport's live coverage, as well as on its Football League Championship highlights programme. He and Mike Parry host talkSPORT's Weekend Sports Breakfast programme, as well as its drive-time show on Fridays. He also hosts ITV1's regional programme "Soccer Night" alongside Peter Beagrie.

Townsend was vocal in his opposition to the development of the "new Wembley Stadium" stressing that the national stadium should be built in the Midlands.

Computer games

Townsend and Clive Tyldesley provide commentary in UEFA Champions League 2006-2007 football video game.

External links

*imdb name|1075477|Andy Townsend
*soccerbase|8017|Andy Townsend
* [http://www.itv-football.co.uk/Story/0,14272,6116_647382,00.html Andy Townsend] at itv.com
* [http://www1.talksport.net/presenters/presenter_detail.asp?pres_id=99971 Andy Townsend] at talkSPORT
* [http://www.ex-canaries.co.uk/players/townsend.htm Career information at ex-canaries.co.uk]
* [http://soccerscene.ie/sssenior/player.php?id=276 Republic of Ireland profile]