Steven George Gerrard Biography | Steven George Gerrard News

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Steven George Gerrard, MBE, is an English footballer who plays for English Premier League club Liverpool F.C. and the England national team. He is usually employed in the central midfield role, although he has also played as a right-sided midfielder and a second striker.


 

Overview

Steven Gerrard the football star of England was born in Whiston, Merseyside and was brought up in Huyton, Merseyside. He was quite curious and adventurous in his childhood days attending Cardinal Heenan Catholic High School in West Derby, Liverpool.

Gerrard or Stevie G as he is called, is a natural central midfielder who can play in other positions with equal aplomb. He loves to make darting runs from the centre of the park into the striking area and his long range passing and shooting, coupled with his tackling ability makes him a player every manager would love to have in their team. In 1994 at an age of 9 years he was part of the Liverpool YTS scheme and almost made it into the England Schoolboys team. This considered being an odd quirk considering his now massively successful career. He is regarded as one of the best English footballers of his era.

Unlike many other Liverpool legends such as Robbie Fowler, Michael Owen, and Jamie Carragher, Gerrard was actually a Liverpool fan as a youth.

 
 
Steven Gerrard
 
 
 
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Incidentally, his younger cousin, Anthony Gerrard, is a professional footballer who began his career with city-rivals Everton, and now is a highly-rated squad member at League Two side Walsall.

 
 
Steven Gerrard in an Everton shirt
 
 
 
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Gerrard joined Liverpool as a schoolboy in 1989 and has come up through the ranks to the first team, in the footsteps of fellow homegrown youth academy seniors like Steve McManaman and Robbie Fowler. Gerrard made his Reds debut on the 30 November 1998 as a second-half substitute for Vegard Heggem against Blackburn. His full debut came in the UEFA Cup against Celta Vigo and despite the Reds losing that night, Gerrard's widely-praised performance belied his tender years. He scored his first goal for the club on 5 December 1999 against Sheffield Wednesday in a match where Liverpool was inspired by their younger players when several of the more senior players missed the game through injury.

Gerrard was one of three Liverpool players that scored in the famous World Cup qualifying game in September 2001 against Germany (1–5 away victory), which was his first international goal. That season, he started all three of Liverpool's Cup Finals, scoring the second goal against Alaves in the UEFA Cup Final. At the end of the season he was named PFA Young Player of the Year.

Gerrard was approached by Chelsea to sign with them during the summer of 2004, but he eventually chose to stay at Liverpool. It is known that he was on the brink of signing with the London club but was persuaded to stay because of his family and friends. It was also alleged in the British tabloid press that Gerrard had been the target of death threats from aggrieved Liverpool fans. The arrival of new Liverpool manager Rafael Benítez also played a part in his decision.

A foot injury sustained against rivals Manchester United on 20 September 2004 ruled him out of football until late November 2004. In the final game of that year's Champions League group stage Gerrard scored a crucial twenty-five-yard strike against Greek team Olympiakos. Liverpool needed to win by two goals to progress to the last sixteen of the competition. They were 1–0 down at half-time, but scored two goals before Gerrard secured their place with their third. He has since claimed that this was his best, if not his most important, goal for Liverpool to date.

Another notable goal, and an example of his drive and inspirational ability, was his contribution during the 2005 Champions' League final against AC Milan in Istanbul. Unmarked by the opposition, he headed a goal that kick started Liverpool's comeback from a 3–0 deficit.

 
 
Steven Gerrard vs AC Milan
 
Created on: 5/20/2008
 
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Minutes later, former teammate, Vladimir Smicer, would score again for the Reds. Gerrard was also crucial in the winning of a penalty when he was fouled by Gennaro Ivan Gattuso in the penalty area. Xabi Alonso scored from a rebound, having his penalty saved initially, to make it 3–3.

Liverpool went on to win the match via a penalty shootout, making Gerrard the second youngest captain (after Didier Deschamps) ever to lift the European Cup. After the match he gave a hint of his future when he said to the press: "How can I leave after a night like this?" In July 2005, however, contract negotiations broke down between Gerrard and the club. Reports stated that Gerrard was about to leave Liverpool and Chelsea were again reported to have tabled a British record bid of thirty-two million pounds for the player, which was ultimately rejected. Throughout the episode, Liverpool remained insistent that they wanted Gerrard to stay. However on 5 July Gerrard stated publicly that he wished to leave the Reds.

To the delight of Liverpool fans, Gerrard changed his mind the next day and pledged his future to the club. He also apologized to the club's supporters and insisted that there were no get-out clauses in the new contract that he would be signing. He also offered to give up his captaincy, but was told by Rafael Benítez that it was not necessary. On the morning of 8 July, Gerrard signed a new four-year deal with Liverpool alongside teammate, Jamie Carragher.

At the end of the 2005–06 season Gerrard received his greatest personal accolade to date, when he was voted PFA Player of the Year by his fellow players, becoming the first Liverpool player to win the award since John Barnes in 1988.

Gerrard capped off what he called his most successful season to date by captaining Liverpool to victory in the FA Cup. He scored twice in the Final against West Ham, including a dramatic equalizer in injury time to send the game into extra-time. The 35-yard blast (past Shaka Hislop) has been called one of the greatest goals in FA Cup final history, and was Match of the Day's Goal of the Season for 2005–06. It had been reported that it took just one second for the 35-yard strike to hit the back of the net, which would mean that the ball was travelling at approximately 68 miles per hour (about 109 km/h) when it struck the goal.

 
 
Gerrard vs West Ham
 
Created on: 5/20/2008
 
By: dank
 
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Scoring in the 2006 FA Cup Final meant that Gerrard had managed the impressive feat of scoring in all four major cup finals: FA Cup (2006 vs West Ham), League Cup (2003 vs Manchester United), UEFA Cup (2001 vs Alaves), and European Cup (2005 vs AC Milan).

Gerrard suffered an injury scare days before the 2006 World Cup in Germany, when it was suggested that he might be ruled out of England's first game of the tournament. He was deemed fit to make his first ever World Cup appearance (having missed the entire 2002 tournament through injury), and started in the side that beat Paraguay 1-0. He then went on to score twice in the group stages of the tournament - first netting England's second goal in a 2-0 victory over Trinidad & Tobago with a long-range, curled strike (coincidentally, again past Hislop) in injury time. This victory, in which Gerrard's Liverpool team-mate Peter Crouch also scored, ensured England's progress to the second round of the tournament with a game to spare. Gerrard was then rested for the final group game against Sweden, as a precaution against picking up a second booking that would have ruled him out of the second round match (having already received one against Paraguay). He came off the bench to score a powerfully headed goal in the 85th minute, giving England the lead in a game that finished 2-2. Gerrard was one of three England players to see their penalty saved by Ricardo Pereira in the quarter-final penalty shoot-out which was won by Portugal.

Gerrard is married to Alex Curran from Merseyside. The couple started dating in 2002, got engaged in 2004, and married in the summer of June 2007. The live in Formby, and have two daughters: Lily-Ella (born 23 February 2004) and Lexie (born 9 May 2006).


 

Career Stats

Youth clubs

1989-1997         Liverpool

Senior clubs

Years                Club                   App (Gls)

1997-                ftghxf)  

National team

1999                 England U21        004 0(1)
2000-2006         England              062 (12)


Last edited by:
On: August 26, 2009
Version: 15