- Darius Vassell
-
Darius Vassell 
Vassell playing for Leicester CityPersonal information Full name Darius Vassell[1] Date of birth 13 June 1980 Place of birth Sutton Coldfield, England Height 1.75 m (5 ft 9 in)[2] Playing position Striker / Winger Club information Current club Leicester City Number 13 Youth career 1996–1998 Aston Villa Senior career* Years Team Apps† (Gls)† 1998–2005 Aston Villa 162 (35) 2005–2009 Manchester City 103 (17) 2009–2010 Ankaragücü 22 (4) 2010– Leicester City 41 (6) National team‡ 2002–2004 England 22 (6) * Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 07:19, 18 October 2011 (UTC).
† Appearances (Goals).
‡ National team caps and goals correct as of 21 September 2008Darius Vassell (born 13 June 1980) is an English footballer who plays for Championship side Leicester City, having previously played for Aston Villa, Manchester City and Ankaragücü, as well as the England national team.
A striker, Vassell began his career at his home town club Aston Villa in the Premier League, being developed by their academy and making his first team debut in 1998. He was sold for £2m in 2005 to another Premier League club, Manchester City, staying for four seasons before being released in 2009, moving abroad to Turkey for a season to play for the Süper Lig team Ankaragücü. In October 2010 he was brought back to England by his former England manager Sven-Göran Eriksson to play for the Football League Championship side Leicester City.
Under Eriksson with England, Vassell scored six goals from 22 international caps awarded between 2002 and 2004, including appearances at the 2002 World Cup in Korea/Japan, and the 2004 European Championship in Portugal.
Contents
Club career
Early career
Vassell was raised in the Gravelly Hill area of Birmingham and went to the Yenton Primary School in Erdington and John Willmott School, in Falcon Lodge, Sutton Coldfield. He first played football with local junior team Romulus in the Birmingham Boys League scoring a record of 46 in a season and 6 in 1 match.[citation needed] Following this he signed for the Aston Villa youth team.[3]
Aston Villa
An Aston Villa fan, Vassell was taken on by the club's School of Excellence. While playing for the club's youth team Vassell set a club record by scoring 39 goals in a single season.[4] He made his first team debut as a substitute in a 3–1 win against Middlesbrough in August 1998.
Vassell's best qualities were his speed and agility.[5] Aston Villa fans lamented the fact that his best performances seem to come with England, where he has proved particularly useful as a "super sub", coming on for the last 15 to 20 minutes of a game to trouble a tired defence with his exceptional pace.[5] One oddity of his career was that he had never finished on the losing side in a league game in which he had scored.[6] This run ended on 22 April 2011 when he scored for Leicester City during the 3-2 defeat to Nottingham Forest.
Manchester City
Vassell playing for Manchester City
Vassell was transferred to Manchester City in July 2005 for £2m.[7] During his first season for Manchester City, Vassell scored eight league goals in 35 appearances, forming an effective partnership with Andrew Cole. Additionally, he helped the Blues to an FA Cup Quarter Final, scoring two goals in his five cup games. He played part of the season with a hernia problem, which required surgery in the close season.[8]
In the 2007–08 season, he was assigned the number 12, as team-mate Elano took the number 11 shirt. He generally struggled to find his best form. In the latter half of the season, many of his appearances were as a wide midfielder, as manager Sven-Göran Eriksson adopted a defensive 4–5–1 formation. Vassell was linked with a move away from Eastlands, with Turkish runners-up Besiktas having a £1m bid rejected and linked to other clubs, including Premier League rivals Bolton Wanderers and newly-promoted Derby County. Vassell scored his 50th Premier League goal on 10 February 2008, in the victory against local rivals Manchester United. On 20 April, Vassell scored the opening goal in City's 3–1 win over Portsmouth. Vassell only played 15 games in 2008–09[9] and was released at the end of the season as his contract expired.[10]
Ankaragücü
In July 2009 Vassell signed for the Turkish side Ankaragücü.[11] Around 3,000 fans turned out and celebrated his arrival.[12] He scored his first goal in the Turkish Süper Lig against Manisaspor in the second week of the season. He parted company with the club at the end of the 2009–10 season.[13]
Leicester City
On 20 October 2010, Vassell signed for English side Leicester City on a two-year deal until the end of 2011–12 season,[14] reuniting him with former Manchester City and England manager Sven-Göran Eriksson. He scored his first goal for Leicester in a 5-1 win over Doncaster Rovers on 11 December 2010. He scored his second goal against Hull City in a 1-0 away victory. His first goals in the 2011-12 season were against Southampton and Derby, winning both times. On 29 October he suffered a serious knee injury in a game against West Ham United which ruled him out for the rest of the season.[15]
International career
Vassell made his England debut on 13 February 2002, in a man of the match performance against Netherlands in a 1–1 draw. Fellow debutants in this game were Michael Ricketts and Wayne Bridge. He scored in the game with a 60th minute bicycle kick to equalise. He was subsequently included in England's 2002 World Cup campaign. He played in three games, starting just one: against Sweden in England's opening group game. The positive contribution of Vassell's England career has been somewhat overshadowed by his penalty shoot-out miss in the quarter-finals of Euro 2004 against hosts Portugal. Coming on for the injured Wayne Rooney early on in the game, Vassell missed England's last spot-kick in the penalty shoot-out, allowing Portugal goalkeeper Ricardo to knock England out of the tournament by scoring the final penalty. He has not appeared for England since.
Personal life
Vassell is a practising Christian, and credits his faith for his survival of a serious car accident.[3]
Career statistics
- As of 8 November 2011
Club performance League Cup League Cup Continental Total Season Club League Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals England League FA Cup League Cup Europe Total 1997–98 Aston Villa Premier League 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1998–99 6 0 1 0 1 0 3 2 11 2 1999-00 2 0 1 0 5 0 0 0 8 0 2000–01 21 4 3 1 1 0 3 0 28 5 2001–02 36 12 1 0 1 0 6 2 44 14 2002–03 33 8 1 0 3 3 1 0 38 11 2003–04 32 9 1 0 6 1 0 0 39 10 2004–05 21 2 0 0 1 1 0 0 22 3 2005–06 Manchester City Premier League 36 8 4 1 1 1 0 0 41 10 2006–07 32 3 4 2 0 0 0 0 37 5 2007–08 27 6 3 0 2 0 0 0 32 6 2008–09 2 0 0 0 0 0 2 1 4 1 2009–10 Ankaragücü Süper Lig 22 4 3 0 0 0 0 0 25 4 2010–11 Leicester City Championship 31 4 1 0 0 0 0 0 32 4 2011–12 12 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 12 2 Total England 291 58 20 4 21 6 15 5 347 73 Career total 313 62 24 4 21 6 15 5 373 77 International goals
- Scores and results list England's goal tally first.
Goal Date Venue Opponent Score Result Competition 1 13 February 2002 Amsterdam, Netherlands 
Netherlands1–1 1–1 Friendly match 2 17 April 2002 Liverpool, England 
Paraguay3–0 4–0 Friendly match 3 26 May 2002 Kobe, Japan 
Cameroon1–1 2–2 Friendly match 4 2 April 2003 Sunderland, England 
Turkey1–0 2–0 Euro 2004 Qualifier 5 5 June 2004 Manchester, England 
Iceland4–1 6–1 Friendly match 6 5 June 2004 Manchester, England Iceland6–1 6–1 Friendly match Honours
Aston Villa
- FA Cup: 2000 (runner-up)
- Intertoto Cup: 2001
England
References
- ^ Hugman, Barry J. (2005). The PFA Premier & Football League Players' Records 1946–2005. Queen Anne Press. p. 627. ISBN 1852916656.
- ^ "Manchester City Official Profile". http://www.mcfc.co.uk/default.sps?pagegid={439A001B-9F18-408E-BD8E-8466AB3C97FD}&bioid=12850&siteid=502.
- ^ a b "Baby delight for heartbroken Darius". Birmingham Evening Mail. http://icbirmingham.icnetwork.co.uk/0100news/0100localnews/tm_objectid=14365829&method=full&siteid=50002&headline=baby-delight-for-heartbroken-darius-name_page.html. Retrieved 29 April 2007.
- ^ "Darius Vassell". 4thegame. http://www.4thegame.com/club/manchester-city-fc/player-profile/94/dariusvassell.html. Retrieved 29 April 2007.
- ^ a b "TAYLOR TIPS VASSELL FOR `SUPER SUB' ROLE". 4thegame.com. http://www.4thegame.com/club/avfc/news/102259/. Retrieved 9 May 2007.
- ^ "Man City – Aston Villa Yahoo! Sport matchcast – Editorial Facts". Yahoo! UK & Ireland. http://uk.matchcast.sports.yahoo.net/yahoo/mc/en/8/f44841/facts.html. Retrieved 9 May 2007.
- ^ "Man City complete Vassell signing". BBC. 27 July 2005. http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/teams/m/man_city/4714653.stm. Retrieved 29 April 2007.
- ^ "Vassell op a success". Manchester Evening News. http://www.manchestereveningnews.co.uk/sport/football/manchester_city/s/215/215853_vassell_op_a_success.html. Retrieved 29 April 2007.
- ^ Darius Vassell career stats at Soccerbase
- ^ "Man City allow quartet to leave". BBC Sport. 1 July 2009. http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/football/teams/m/man_city/8129371.stm. Retrieved 1 July 2009.
- ^ "Vassell Ankara'da" (in Turkish). ankaragucu.org.tr. 30 June 2009. http://www.ankaragucu.org.tr/tr/haber/1593-Vassell_Ankarada.html. Retrieved 2 July 2009.
- ^ Wilson, Steve (2 July 2009). "Darius Vassell receives hero’s welcome at Turkish side Ankaragucu". Telegraph (London). http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/football/leagues/premierleague/mancity/5719963/Darius-Vassell-receives-heros-welcome-at-Turkish-side-Ankaragucu.html. Retrieved 2 July 2009.[dead link]
- ^ Walker, Andy (31 May 2010). "Ex-Aston Villa star Darius Vassell quits his Turkish club". Birmingham Mail. http://www.birminghammail.net/birmingham-sport/aston-villa-fc/aston-villa-news/2010/05/31/ex-aston-villa-star-darius-vassell-quits-his-turkish-club-97319-26555401/. Retrieved 27 August 2010.
- ^ "Vassell signs for City". www.LCFC.co.uk. Leicester City F.C.. 2010-10-20. http://www.lcfc.com/page/LatestNews/0,,10274~2190762,00.html. Retrieved 20 October 2010.
- ^ "Leicester City's Darius Vassell sidelined for six months". news.bbc.co.uk. BBC. 2011-11-08. http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/15642100.stm. Retrieved 8 November 2011.
External links
- Official website for Darius Vassell
- Darius Vassell at the Internet Movie Database
- Darius Vassell career stats at Soccerbase
- Career stats on TransferMarkt.co.uk
England Squad England squad – 2002 FIFA World Cup 
England squad – UEFA Euro 2004 1 James • 2 G. Neville • 3 A. Cole • 4 Gerrard • 5 Terry • 6 Campbell • 7 Beckham (c) • 8 Scholes • 9 Rooney • 10 Owen • 11 Lampard • 12 Bridge • 13 Robinson • 14 P. Neville • 15 King • 16 Carragher • 17 Butt • 18 Hargreaves • 19 J. Cole • 20 Dyer • 21 Heskey • 22 Walker • 23 Vassell • Coach: ErikssonLeicester City F.C. – current squad Categories:- 1980 births
- Living people
- People from Sutton Coldfield
- People from Birmingham, West Midlands
- English Christians
- English people of Jamaican descent
- English footballers
- English expatriate footballers
- England under-21 international footballers
- England international footballers
- Association football wingers
- Association football forwards
- Association football utility players
- Romulus F.C. players
- Aston Villa F.C. players
- Leicester City F.C. players
- Manchester City F.C. players
- Premier League players
- The Football League players
- 2002 FIFA World Cup players
- UEFA Euro 2004 players
- Black English sportspeople
- Ankaragücü footballers
- Süper Lig players
- Expatriate footballers in Turkey
Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.
