Sylvan Ebanks-Blake

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Sylvan Ebanks-Blake
Personal information
Date of birth March 29, 1986 (1986-03-29) (age 22)
Place of birth    Cambridge, England
Height 5 ft 10 in (1.78 m)
Playing position Striker
Club information
Current club Wolverhampton Wanderers
Number 27
Youth clubs

Fulbourn Falcons
Cherry Hinton Lions
Manchester United
Senior clubs1
Years Club App (Gls)*
2004–2006
2006
2006–2008
2008–
Manchester United
Royal Antwerp (loan)
Plymouth Argyle
Wolverhampton Wanderers
00 0(0)
09 0(4)
66 (21)
20 (12)   

1 Senior club appearances and goals
counted for the domestic league only and
correct as of 16:21, 14 May 2008 (UTC).
* Appearances (Goals)

Sylvan Ebanks-Blake (born March 29, 1986 in Cambridge) is an English football striker who plays for Wolverhampton Wanderers in the English Championship.

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[edit] Playing career

Ebanks-Blake's first clubs were Cherry Hinton Lions and Fulbourn Falcons in the Cambridge area. Despite being a boyhood Liverpool fan, he started his professional career at Manchester United as a youth team player. He played his first match at senior level for the club on 26 October 2004 against Crewe Alexandra in the League Cup. One year later, he scored his first senior level goal for the club against Barnet in another League Cup tie.

Towards the end of the 2004/05 season, he fractured his leg and was ruled out for the remainder of the season. He recovered and scored a hat-trick on his return for the Manchester United reserves. However, he was never called on for a first team league game, although he was an unused substitute in several Champions League games. In January 2006, he moved on loan to Royal Antwerp in Belgium to gain first team experience, where he scored 4 goals in 9 matches.

Ebanks-Blake returned to England in the summer and signed a three year deal with Championship club Plymouth Argyle on 14 July 2006. The fee paid to Manchester United was an initial £200,000, potentially rising to over £300,000 due to clauses. Ebanks-Blake was new manager Ian Holloway's first signing and became a first team regular.

The striker notched up 10 goals in his first season at Argyle, many of which came in a strong finish to the season. He cemented his status as a fan favourite and top prospect with 11 league goals by New Year in the 2007/08 season, despite starting the season on the substitutes bench.

This form attracted Wolverhampton Wanderers to bid £1.5million in the January transfer window, and he duly signed for them on 11 January 2008.[1] He started well at his new club, scoring 7 goals in his first 8 games, and being named Championship Player of the Month for March 2008.[2] He finished the season as winner of the Golden Boot for the Championship with 23 goals.

[edit] Nightclub incident

In November 2007 he was questioned by police over a bottle attack on a nightclub bouncer and released on bail initially until 3 January 2008.[3] He was then rebailed until 7 February,[4] when he was formally charged with actual bodily harm. On 20 February, the case was referred to trial at Plymouth Crown Court.[5] He appeared in court on 11 April for committal hearings after pleading not guilty, during which he was given a parking ticket for his car outside the court. After the prosecution said they were not ready to proceed yet at this date, the proceedings were adjourned until 24 April and the footballer released on unconditional bail until then.[6] He will next appear in Crown Court on 20 June after being committed to stand trial.[7]

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