Matthew Upson

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Matthew Upson
Matthew-Upson-2009.jpg
Matthew Upson (2009)
Personnel
Surname Matthew James Upson
birthday April 18, 1979
place of birth Hartismere , Suffolk ,  England
position Central defender
Juniors
Years station
1994-1996 Luton Town
Men's
Years station Games (goals) 1
1996-1997 Luton Town 1 (0)
1997-2003 Arsenal FC 35 (0)
2000 →  Nottingham Forest  (loan) 1 (0)
2001 →  Crystal Palace  (loan) 7 (0)
2002 →  Reading FC  (loan) 14 (0)
2003-2007 Birmingham City 113 (5)
2007-2011 West Ham United 131 (4)
2011-2013 Stoke City 15 (2)
2013 →  Brighton & Hove Albion  (loan) 18 (1)
2013-2014 Brighton & Hove Albion 43 (2)
2014-2015 Leicester City 5 (0)
2015-2016 Milton Keynes Dons 3 (0)
National team
Years selection Games (goals)
1997-1998 England U18 9 (0)
1998-2000 England U-21 12 (2)
2003-2010 England 21 (2)
1 Only league games are given.
Status: end of season 2015/16

Matthew James Upson (born April 18, 1979 in Hartismere , Suffolk ) is an English football player . From May 2003 the central defender was used sporadically in the English national team , but was repeatedly plagued by injuries. His greatest success in 2002 was winning the " double " with Arsenal FC .

Club career

Luton Town

Matthew Upson began his career at Luton Town and joined the youth department there in 1994. In April 1996 he signed his first professional contract, but came for the newly relegated club only in August of the same year against Rotherham United for the course.

Arsenal FC

In April 1997 he moved to Arsenal for a fee of two million pounds . There he saw the Upson bought as a perspective player exposed to great competition in the form of the experienced Tony Adams , Steve Bould and Martin Keown . Since temporary injury problems also set him back, he was rarely able to assert himself in the team. After a cruciate ligament tear in 1999, which had put him out of action for almost a full year, he was loaned to Nottingham Forest and Crystal Palace on short notice for the rest of the 2000/01 season. The three-month loan in Nottingham had to be canceled after a few days because the injury had not yet been fully cured. At Crystal Palace, on the other hand, he gained match practice in seven games.

In his final 2001/02 season for Arsenal, Upson completed 22 games - including 14 league encounters - and won his first medal for an English league title. However, the season ended again with a setback, as a broken leg in February 2002 Upson sidelined until the end of the season. As a result, he also missed the further successes in the FA Cup and winning the double after a 2-0 cup final against Chelsea . After recovering from his injury, he was loaned out again for three months in September 2002 - now to Reading FC . Since the prospects continued to deteriorate after his return - the new central defender couple Sol Campbell and Kolo Touré had meanwhile developed into a regular formation - it was agreed in January 2003 that nothing stood in the way of a sale to Birmingham City . After a total of 56 games for Arsenal (he hadn't managed to score there), he left the club in the direction of the Premier League promoted.

Birmingham City

For a transfer fee of one million pounds, Upson moved to Birmingham City in September 2003, with the transfer volume staggered up to three million pounds - depending on the number of stakes. There he finally found good form again and recommended himself repeatedly for the England national team .

But also in Birmingham Upsons injured bad luck returned in April 2006 when he injured his leg again in the run-up to the local derby against Aston Villa and was out for the rest of the season. When his club finally relegated to the second-rate Football League Championship at the end of the 2005/06 season, it was speculated about Upson's move to Tottenham Hotspur , Newcastle United or Reading FC and there was also speculation about a 7 million deal with FC Chelsea. However, none of these transfer rumors were put into practice, so Upson continued to work on his fitness with the "Blues". In December 2006 he returned to the team and defeated Plymouth Argyle 3-0 - the second goal in this encounter he scored himself.

West Ham United

On January 18, 2007, the transfer poker between West Ham United and Birmingham City opened when the second division side initially rejected a 4 million offer from the Londoners. The offer was increased five days later to six million pounds, which the "Blues" finally accepted on January 31, 2007 (at the end of the winter transfer period) - the total could again, depending on the number of operations in West Ham, to a maximum of 7.5 Increase millions of pounds. After less than 30 minutes, Upson suffered a calf injury on his debut against Aston Villa (0-1) and on his comeback on March 5, 2007 - a 3-4 home defeat by Tottenham Hotspur - he was only on eleven minutes Matchfield.

It was not until the new 2007/08 season that Upson played his first full game for the "Hammers" and lost 2-0 at home to Manchester City . A week later, he led his team against his ex-club Birmingham City for the first time as team captain . Continuously and largely injury-free, Upson earned the status of a leading player in West Ham over the next two years and played 74 competitive games. Although rather cautious in nature, he took over the role of team captain in the 2009/10 season and led his team in a season characterized by constant relegation battle as head of defense to keep the league.

National team

Matthew Upson had already played eleven games for England's U-21 national team and scored two goals before his good performances in the 2002/03 season for Birmingham City promoted him to England's senior team. He played his first game on May 22, 2003 against the selection of South Africa . He made a total of seven appearances for England while under contract in Birmingham. Upson played his last game on November 17, 2004 as a substitute in the 1-0 defeat by Spain .

Only on February 6, 2008, after stable performances at West Ham United in the game against Switzerland, he was called up for the national team for the first time in over three years and was able to play through. In total, he played eleven games for the "Three Lions" in 2008 and 2009, although his role was limited to that of a substitute due to the normally "seeded" central defenders Rio Ferdinand and John Terry . In this role, Fabio Capello nominated him in May 2010 for the provisional squad for the 2010 World Cup in South Africa . He also made it into the final roster. There he was only used in the group game against Algeria and in the 4-1 defeat in the round of 16 against Germany . Against Germany, he scored the meanwhile 1: 2.

successes

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ "Player Profile: Matthew Upson" (England Football Online)
  2. ↑ "Upson adds to Platt woes" (BBC Sport)
  3. ^ "Upson in Palace move" (BBC Sport)
  4. ^ "Reading secure Upson deal" (BBC Sport)
  5. ^ "Birmingham sign Upson" (BBC Sport)
  6. ^ "Blues deals Dunn and dusted" (Daily Mirror)
  7. ↑ "Thursday's football gossip" (BBC Sport)
  8. ↑ "Matthew Upson signs for West Ham United" ( Memento of the original from April 1, 2007 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. (whufc.com) @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.whufc.com
  9. ↑ "Birmingham 0-1 West Ham" (mirror.co.uk)
  10. ^ "Squad profiles: Matthew Upson" (BBC Sport)
  11. ↑ "Player Profiles: Matthew Upson" (TheFA.com)

Web links

personal data
SURNAME Upson, Matthew
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Upson, Matthew James (full name)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION English soccer player
DATE OF BIRTH April 18, 1979
PLACE OF BIRTH Hartismere , Suffolk , England