Gavin Peacock

Football player infobox
playername= Gavin Peacock


fullname = Gavin Keith Peacock
nickname =
dateofbirth = birth date and age|1967|11|18
cityofbirth = Eltham
countryofbirth = England
height = 1.73 m (5 ft 8 in)
weight = 173.5 kg
currentclub =
clubnumber =
position = Midfielder
youthyears = YMCA
years = 1984–1987
1987
1987–1989
1989–1990
1990–1993
1993–1996
1996
1996–2002
2001
clubs = Queens Park Rangers
→ Gillingham (loan)
Gillingham
Bournemouth
Newcastle United
Chelsea
→ Queens Park Rangers (loan)
Queens Park Rangers
→ Charlton Athletic (loan)
caps(goals) = 017 0(1)
006 0(0)
064 (11)
056 0(8)
105 (35)
103 (17)
005 0(2)
186 (34)
005 0(0)
nationalyears =
nationalteam =
nationalcaps(goals) =
pcupdate = 16 February 2007
ntupdate =

Gavin Keith Peacock (born 18 November 1967 in Eltham, London) is a former English professional football player who played primarily in midfield but often as a striker. He then worked in the media as a pundit, and from September 2008 will relocate to Canada to study Christianity in order to have a future career in the church.

Biography

Early life

The son of a former footballer, Peacock attended Bexley Grammar School as a child.citeweb|url=http://www.bbc.co.uk/pressoffice/biographies/biogs/sport/gavinpeacock.shtml|title=Gavin peacock|publisher=BBC Press Office|accessdate=2008-05-31] He played schoolboy international football for England.

Football career

Peacock started his career at Queens Park Rangers. He moved to fc|Gillingham in 1987 in a move which was started by his father, Keith, Gillingham's manager. Shortly after joining, his father was sacked by the club but Gavin remained on as a player. He was signed by Harry Redknapp for
Bournemouth in 1989 before moving to fc|Newcastle United a year later. He was handed an opportunity to play in the Premier League by fc|Chelsea.

Peacock famously scored both home and away for Chelsea in 1–0 victories over Manchester United in the 1993–94 season. Both sides met again in the FA Cup Final, and with the score at 0–0, Peacock hit the crossbar from 25 yards. Manchester United went on to win the FA Cup and achieve the double. Peacock finished joint top scorer that season with an impressive 14 goals from midfield.

Peacock returned to Queens Park Rangers in 1996. He made a cameo appearance in the Premiership in 2001 after going on loan to Charlton Athletic in 2001, where his father was now assistant manager. Peacock returned to QPR for the 2001/2 season, at the end of which he retired, having made 196 appearances in total for the club. In total he scored more than 100 goals in over 540 league appearances.

After football

After retiring, Peacock worked with the BBC, regularly appearing as a pundit on "Football Focus", "Score", "Match of the Day 2", and the BBC Radio 4 comedy show "One". He also hosted a weekly podcast on the official Chelsea website. [ [http://www.chelseafc.com/page/NewsHomePage/0,,10268~1303568,00.html NEW GAVIN PEACOCK SHOW PODCAST LIVE | Chelsea | News | Latest News ] ] [http://phobos.apple.com/WebObjects/MZStore.woa/wa/viewPodcast?id=208045854]

Influenced by the positive change he saw in his mother when she became a Christian, and already a believer in God, he started attending the local Methodist church at the age of 18. From then on, his Christian faith became central to his life. He presented a feature on "Football Focus" about faith in the game in December 2006. He also presented "Songs of Praise" on February 10, 2008, [citeweb|url=http://www.bbc.co.uk/religion/programmes/songsofpraise/presenters/gavin_peacock.shtml|title=Gavin Peacock|publisher=Songs of Praise|accessdate=2008-05-31] at the same time as his coverage of the African Cup of Nations final. Having studied theology from September 2006 at Ridley Hall, Cambridge, after completing his commentary duties at Euro 2008, he will move to Canada on a three-year masters course in Divinity at Ambrose Seminary. [citeweb|url=http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/sport/football/article4009538.ece|title=Gavin Peacock departs for religious journey|author=Dart, Tom|publisher=The Times|date=2008-05-7|accessdate=2008-05-31] Peacock's aim is to become a pastor, vicar or minister depending on which denomination he chooses to follow.

Personal life

Married to Amanda, the couple have two children: son, Jake (b 1993), and daughter, Ava (b 1996). They had a house in Kent before Peacock started his studies, and a small holiday home in Canada in the Rocky Mountains. [citeweb|url=http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/sport/football/article4036277.ece|title=Gavin Peacock convinced God is on his side|author=Cascarino, Tony|publisher=The Times|date=2008-05-31|accessdate=2008-05-31]

References

External links

* [http://www1.salvationarmy.org.uk/uki/www_uki.nsf/vw-issue/45A4751BB67F03888025736400390329?opendocument&id=1E5191B3E9F2F67F8025736400362457 Gavin Peacock talks about his Christian faith to Philip Halcrow of The War Cry]