Matthew Upson

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Matthew Upson
Personal information
Full name Matthew James Upson
Date of birth 18 April 1979 (1979-04-18) (age 29)
Place of birth    Hartismere, England
Height 1.85 m (6 ft 1 in)
Playing position Central defender
Club information
Current club West Ham United
Number 6
Youth clubs
1994–1996 Luton Town
Senior clubs1
Years Club App (Gls)*
1996–1997
1997–2003
2000
2001
2002
2003–2007
2007–		 Luton Town
Arsenal
→ Nottingham Forest (loan)
→ Crystal Palace (loan)
→ Reading (loan)
Birmingham City
West Ham United		 001 (0)
035 (0)
001 (0)
007 (0)
014 (0)
113 (5)
031 (1)   
National team2
1998–2000
2002–		 England U21
England		 011 (2)
008 (0)

1 Senior club appearances and goals
counted for the domestic league only and
correct as of 23:28, 27 May 2008 (UTC).
2 National team caps and goals correct
as of 22:23, 6 February 2008 (UTC).
* Appearances (Goals)

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.

Contents

[edit] Club career

[edit] 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.

[edit] 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.

[edit] 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 as Birmingham City were relegated to The Championship. Upson remianed with the club while he worked on regaining his fitness and returned to action in December in the Blues' 3-0 victory over Plymouth Argyle, scoring the second of the three goals.

[edit] 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.[7] 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.[8][9]. 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.[10]

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[11].

[edit] International career

Upson has eleven caps for the England U21 team, scoring two goals.[12] 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.[13].

Upson 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[14]. After surviving the cut to be named in Capello's 23 man squad, he was named in the starting line-up to partner Rio Ferdinand, for his 8th England cap, nearly four years after his last cap.

[edit] References

  1. ^ a b "Soccerbase: Matthew Upson", The Racing Post. Retrieved on 2007-06-13. 
  2. ^ "Player Profile: Matthew Upson", England Football Online. Retrieved on 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. ^ "Matthew Upson signs for West Ham United", whufc.com, 2007-01-31. Retrieved on 2007-01-31. 
  8. ^ "Curbs bemoans Upson injury", Sky Sports, 2007-02-03. Retrieved on 2007-02-03. 
  9. ^ Tactical Formation. Football-Lineups.com. Retrieved on February 8, 2007.
  10. ^ "Birmingham 0-1 West Ham", mirror.co.uk, 2007-08-20. Retrieved on 2007-08-20. 
  11. ^ West Ham 2-1 Man Utd
  12. ^ Squad profiles: Matthew Upson, BBC Sport. Retrieved 23 June 2007.
  13. ^ Player Profiles: Matthew Upson, TheFA.com. Retrieved 23 June 2007.
  14. ^ Capello names squad

[edit] External links

v • d • e
West Ham United F.C. – current squad

1 Green • 2 Neill • 3 McCartney • 4 Gabbidon • 5 Ferdinand • 6 Upson • 7 Ljungberg • 8 Parker • 9 Ashton • 10 Bellamy • 11 Etherington • 12 Cole • 14 Paintsil • 16 Noble • 17 Mullins • 18 Spector • 19 Collins • 20 Faubert • 21 Wright • 23 Walker • 25 Zamora • 26 Quashie • 27 Davenport • 29 Bowyer • 30 Tomkins • 32 Dyer • 34 Boa Morte • 35 Štěch • 39 Collison • 40 Sears • Manager: Curbishley
Persondata
NAME Upson, Matthew
ALTERNATIVE NAMES
SHORT DESCRIPTION Footballer
DATE OF BIRTH 18 April 1979
PLACE OF BIRTH Suffolk
DATE OF DEATH
PLACE OF DEATH