Matthew Upson

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Matthew Upson
Personal information
Full name Matthew James Upson
Height 1.85 m (6 ft 1 in)
Position(s) Central defender
Team information
Current team
 West Ham United
Number 6
‡ National team caps and goals, correct as of 22:07, 14 November 2006 (UTC)

Matthew James Upson, (born 18 April 1979 in Hartismere, Suffolk), is an English football player who currently plays for West Ham United. He is a central defender.

Club career

Luton Town

Upson joined Luton Town as a trainee in 1994.[1] He signed professional forms in April 1996,[2] making his sole appearance for the senior team against Rotherham United in August 1996.[1]qusetions about his sexuality

Arsenal

He joined Arsenal in May 1997 in a £2 million deal.[1] However, faced with the longevity of Arsenal's existing centre backs, Tony Adams, Steve Bould and Martin Keown, and struck by injury problems of his own, Upson rarely had a chance to break into the first team. After spending a year out of the game recovering from an anterior cruciate ligament injury sustained in 1999, Upson only made a handful of first team appearance for Arsenal, in between loan spells at Nottingham Forest in 2000[3] and Crystal Palace in 2001[4]

In 2001–02, his final full season at Arsenal however, Upson did make 22 appearances; these included 14 in the league, earning him a Premier League winners' medal, but a broken leg in February 2002 ruled him out for the rest of the season and Arsenal's FA Cup-winning run as they won the Double. After recovering from his broken leg, Upson joined Reading in September 2002 on a three month loan[5] and with Arsenal's newly-established centre back pairing of Sol Campbell and Kolo Touré keeping him out of the side, he was bought by Birmingham City in January 2003. In total he played 56 times for Arsenal, never scoring.

Birmingham City

Birmingham City completed the signing of Upson from Arsenal for a fee of £1 million rising to £3 million depending on appearances in January 2003.[6]

He suffered a leg injury whilst preparing for the local derby against Aston Villa in April 2006 and subsequently missed the rest of the season. Following Birmingham City's relegation to The Championship, Upson was linked with a move to Tottenham Hotspur, Newcastle United or Reading.[7] He was also linked with a £7 million move to Chelsea,[8] but instead stayed with the club while he worked on regaining his fitness. He returned to action in December in the Blues' 3-0 victory over Plymouth Argyle, scoring the second of the three goals.

West Ham United

On January 18 2007, West Ham United had a bid for Upson of £4 million rejected, with a subsequent improved bid of £6 million rejected on January 23 2007. A £6 million offer for Upson from West Ham was finally accepted by Birmingham City on January 31 2007, with the potential to rise to £7.5million, depending on appearances. Upson agreed a four-and-a-half year contract.[9] However, Upson suffered a calf injury less than 30 minutes into his West Ham United debut against Aston Villa, which West Ham lost 0-1.[10][11]. He then lasted just 11 minutes of his comeback game before coming off injured against Spurs in a 4-3 loss at Upton Park on 5 March 2007.

Upson completed his first full game for West Ham in the 2-0 home defeat to Manchester City on August 11 2007. One week later he made his first appearance as West Ham captain in the 1-0 away win against former club Birmingham City.[12]

On 29 December 2007 Upson scored his first goal in West Ham colours when he headed in the winning goal against the current Premier League champions Manchester United[13].

International career

Upson has eleven caps for the England U21 team, scoring two goals.[14] His performances for Birmingham City in the 2002/03 season led to him being selected for the England senior squad and he made his debut for England against South Africa in May 2003. He has made seven appearances for England, all during his time at Birmingham City. His last appearance for England came in the away defeat to Spain in November 2004.[15]. He was named in Fabio Capello's first provisional England squad on 31 January 2008 for the friendly on 6 February 2008 against Switzerland at Wembley[16]. On the 2nd of February Upson survived the cut to be named in Capello's 23 man squad to play Switzerland.

References

  1. ^ a b c "Soccerbase: Matthew Upson". The Racing Post. Retrieved 2007-06-13.
  2. ^ "Player Profile: Matthew Upson". England Football Online. Retrieved 2007-06-13.
  3. ^ "Upson adds to Platt woes", BBC Sport, 20 December 2000. Retrieved 29 June 2007.
  4. ^ "Upson in Palace move", BBC Sport, 28 February 2001. Retrieved 23 June 2007.
  5. ^ "Reading secure Upson deal", BBC Sport, 5 September 2002. Retrieved 26 June 2007.
  6. ^ "Birmingham sign Upson", BBC Sport, 11 February 2003. Retrieved 23 June 2007.
  7. ^ "Blues deals Dunn and dusted". The Daily Mirror. 2006-11-14. Retrieved 2006-11-14. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  8. ^ "Thursday's football gossip". BBC Sport. 2006-12-28. Retrieved 2006-12-28. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  9. ^ "Matthew Upson signs for West Ham United". whufc.com. 2007-01-31. Retrieved 2007-01-31. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  10. ^ "Curbs bemoans Upson injury". Sky Sports. 2007-02-03. Retrieved 2007-02-03. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  11. ^ "Tactical Formation". Football-Lineups.com. Retrieved February 8. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |accessdate= (help); Unknown parameter |accessyear= ignored (|access-date= suggested) (help)
  12. ^ "Birmingham 0-1 West Ham". mirror.co.uk. 2007-08-20. Retrieved 2007-08-20. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  13. ^ West Ham 2-1 Man Utd
  14. ^ Squad profiles: Matthew Upson, BBC Sport. Retrieved 23 June 2007.
  15. ^ Player Profiles: Matthew Upson, TheFA.com. Retrieved 23 June 2007.
  16. ^ Capello names squad

External links

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