Paul Gerrard
| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Paul William Gerrard | ||
| Height | 6 ft 2 in (1.87 m) | ||
| Position(s) | Goalkeeper | ||
| Team information | |||
Current team | Sheffield United | ||
Paul William Gerrard (born January 22, 1973 in Heywood, near Rochdale, Lancashire), is an English football goalkeeper who plays for Sheffield United in the F.A. Premership.
Biography
Gerrard started his career as a goalkeeping apprentice at Oldham Athletic under Joe Royle and made his debut in the Premiership at the age of 19 on Saturday, 5th December 1992 in a 3-2 defeat at Queen's Park Rangers. In all, he made 118 League appearances for the Latics.
Nearly 2 years after Royle had left Oldham for Everton, he returned to buy Gerrard for £1 million in July 1996 and his made his debut as a half-time substitute for Neville Southall in a 7-1 win at home to Southampton on Saturday, 16th November 1996.
When Royle left Everton, Southall returned between the sticks for the Toffees and Gerrard decided to go on loan to Oxford United in 1997 for regular first team action. However, after Howard Kendall took over the reins for his second spell as manager at Goodison Park, Gerrard was recalled from Oxford but despite this, Gerrard only played a small number of games.
Royle, now at Ipswich, swooped to sign Gerrard on loan, although he returned to Everton after an injury to first choice goalkeeper Thomas Myhre in the 2002/2003 season. The following season, after playing 16 times for Sheffield United, the new Nottingham Forest boss Joe Kinnear signed him March 2004 for the final two months..
In the summer of 2004 Gerrard eventually signed permanently for Nottingham Forest despite Ipswich and Leeds being interested but the season proved to be a disaster with the club being relegated to League 1.
Despite ending the 2004/2005 season as first-choice goalie and Player of the Year, Gerrard found himself behind new signing Rune Pedersen in the pecking order at the start of the new season, which fuelled speculation about Gerrard's future. Although he handed in a transfer request, Gerrard returned to first team action at the end of August in a 3-1 win against Gillingham.
Gerrard was again dropped from the first team when manager Gary Megson signed Russell Hoult on loan from West Bromwich Albion. However, Russell Hoult was recalled by West Brom in October and Gerrard returned as number one at Forest.
By February 2006 Forest were a few points adrift of the play-offs, but on Wednesday 15th February Paul Gerrard limped off in a 3-0 defeat against former club Oldham Athletic and a day later Megson resigned as boss of Nottingham Forest. He played only 1 game under Ian McParland and Frank Barlow due to a knee injury.
Gerrard was released from Forest at the end of the 2005-06 season to free up some money on the wage bill.
On September 27 2006, he signed a four-month contract with the Blades to add depth to the goalkeeping department. The 33-year-old, who had a loan spell at Bramall Lane in 2003, has signed a deal which runs until January 2007. He will provide cover for Paddy Kenny and Ian Bennett.
Career Stats and Trivia
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Oldham: 1991-1992 Played 0 Scored 0 goals (Division 1)
1992-1993 Played 25 Scored 1 goals (Premiership)
1993-1994 Played 16 Scored 0 goals (Premiership)
1994-1995 Played 42 Scored 0 goals (Division 1)
1995-1996 Played 36 Scored 0 goals (Division 1)
Gerrard once hit the crossbar from a goal kick whilst playing for Oldham.
Transferred on 1/7/1996 for £1, 000, 000
Everton: 1996-1997 Played 5 Scored 0 goals (Premiership)
1997-1998 Played 4 Scored 0 goals (Premiership)
1998-1999 Played 0 Scored 0 goals (Premiership)
Oxford: 1998-1999 Played 16 Scored 0 goals (Division 1) (on loan)
Everton: 1999-2000 Played 34 Scored 0 goals (Premiership)
2000-2001 Played 32 Scored 0 goals (Premiership)
2001-2002 Played 13 Scored 0 goals (Premiership)
2002-2003 Played 2 Scored 0 goals (Premiership)
Ipswich: 2002-2003 Played 5 Scored 0 goals (Division 1) (on loan)
Everton: 2003-2004 Played 0 Scored 0 goals (Premiership)
Sheff Utd.: 2003-2004 Played 16 Scored 0 goals (Division 1) (on loan)
Nottm. F: 2003-2004 Played 8 Scored 0 goals (Division 1) (on loan)
Free transfer from Everton on 2/7/2004
Nottm. F: 2004-2005 Played 42 Scored 0 goals (Championship)
2005-2006 Played 21 Scored 0 goals (League 1)