James Milner

Profile Football Stars | James Milner | Milner's talent in football, cricket, and long-distance running was at a very young recognized age. While at Leeds United, he spent time on loan at Swindon Town to gain experience as a first-team player. Following his move to Newcastle United, he was loaned to Aston Villa for a season. Milner was born in Wortley, and raised in Horsforth, Leeds, he played most of his childhood football for Westbrook Lane Primary School in Horsforth. Graeme Coulson, a coach from Rawdon, recognized Milner's talent and persuaded him to play for Rawdon in Several tournaments, Including a tournament at Rawdon Meadows, where Milner scored four goals in their victory in the final.

The appearance made him the second youngest player ever to play in the Premier League, at the age of 16 years and 309 days. Milner made his first appearance for Newcastle United during Their pre-season tour of Asia, scoring his first goal for the club in a 1-1 draw against Kitchee, in Hong Kong. At the start of the 2005-06 season, Milner scored in Newcastle's 3-1 away win against FK ZTS Dubnica in the Intertoto Cup, and also set up Shearer for the team's third goal. Villa manager David O'Leary, who had managed Milner at Leeds, was happy to acquire Milner in this deal, saying he believed That Villa got the better of the deal and that 'he hoped to improve him as a player.

Milner made his Villa debut on 12 September 2005 in a Premiership match against West Ham. Throughout the season Milner was positive about his team. Newcastle's players and manager Glenn Roeder reacted Positively to Milner's return at the start of the 2006-07 season. Milner Roeder praised for the way he had handled the failed Villa transfer, although Roeder's own handling of the Negotiations was criticized. That Roeder confirmed he would play Milner in "plenty of games" during the season. This proved to be the case, as Milner was a starter in the Newcastle side for the entire season.  Newcastle made a poor start in the Premier League, but in European competition, Milner played a key role in Newcastle Helping advance through the group stage of the UEFA Cup.

On 17 August 2010 it was reported Agreed That Aston Villa had a deal with Manchester City to sell Milner subject to a medical. Milner made his debut for City on 23 August 2010 in a 3-0 win against Liverpool , where he set up the first goal for former Villa teammate Gareth Barry. Milner scored his first competitive goal for Manchester City in an FA Cup third-round match at Leicester City the which ended in a 2-2 draw. Milner scored his first Premier League goal for Manchester City against Everton on 24 September. Two matches later, he scored his second Premier League goal for Manchester City against former club Aston Villa in a 4-1 win after initially starting the attack with a 60-yard diagonal cross-field pass and then ending with a curling finish from 25 yards out .

On 3 January 2012, Milner scored his third goal of the season, a penalty, against Liverpool. Manchester City won the match 3-0. During a Champions League away match against Napoli, Milner played as right-back after Manchester City's manager Roberto Mancini bought on Johnson for Zabaleta.

After representing England at the U-15 and U-17 levels, Milner was Promoted to the U-20 level and called up for the 2003 World Youth Championship. Milner scored his first goal for the England Under-21 side during the 2004-05 season in a qualification game for the 2007 European Under-21 Championship, against Wales. Despite club's domestic troubles, he continued to make-progress at international level, scoring the winning goal for the England Under-21 side in a 3-2 win over Switzerland.  In August 2009, Milner made his debut for the full England team, when he came on as a substitute in a friendly match against the Netherlands for the final 23 minutes. England won the match 5-1 to secure latter qualification for the 2010 World Cup. In England's third match against Slovenia, he set up the only goal of the match with a cross for Jermain Defoe.

Personal information
Full name James Philip Milner
Date of birth 4 January 1986 (age 26)
Place of birth Wortley, Leeds, England
Height 1.76 m (5 ft 9 1/2 in)
Playing position Midfielder

Club information
Current club Manchester City
Number 7

Youth career
1996-2002 Leeds United

Senior career
years Team
2002-2004 Leeds United 48 (5)
2003 Swindon Town (loan) 6 (2)
2004-2008 Newcastle United 94 (6)
2005-2006 Aston Villa (loan) 27 (1)
2008-2010 Aston Villa 73 (11)
2010-Manchester City 57 (3)

National team
2001-2002 England U16 6 (5)
2002-2003 England U17 11 (8)
2003 England U19 1 (0)
2003-2004 England U20 6 (4)
2004-2009 England U21 46 (9)
2009-England 24 (0)

Honours

Club
Manchester City
     FA Cup (1): 2010-11

Aston Villa
     League Cup Runner-Up: 2009-10

England
     UEFA European Under-21 Championship Runner-Up: 2009

Individual
     PFA Young Player of the Year (1): 2009-10
     PFA Premier League Team of the Year (1): 2009-10

Gabriel Agbonlahor

Profile Football Stars | Gabriel Agbonlahor | Agbonlahor's Premier League debut for Villa came on 18 March 2006 at the age of 19, under manager David O'Leary, against Everton at Goodison Park. Agbonlahor had played every minute of Aston Villa's campaign in 2006-07, until he was replaced by Patrik Berger, in the 2-0 away fixture against Reading, on 10 February 2007. The Following was the first match of the season did not start Agbonlahor That-he instead Appeared from the bench, Replacing new Villa signing Shaun Maloney.  Following this break, Agbonlahor went on a scoring spree. He scored from the right-wing against Everton on 2 April, to gain Villa a valuable point. Following this match, Agbonlahor signed a new four-year contract at Aston Villa. Agbonlahor made it three in a row on Easter Monday, again scoring an equalizer, adjudged to have crossed the line by Assistant referee Dave Richardson.

However, this was a high point in a dismal run of form in the which he scored just one goal in 12 league games. After the heavy defeat to Liverpool and Despite his lack of form Agbonlahor was recalled to the starting 11 and went on to score a goal against Manchester United on 5 April in a 3-2 defeat for Villa. Gabriel Agbonlahor was nominated for the PFA Young Player of the Year with team mate Ashley Young winning the honor. Agbonlahor scored his first goal of the 2011-12 season in Aston Villa's 3-1 home win over Blackburn Rovers on 20 August 2011, and Followed this up with the Levellers in a 2-2 away draw against Everton 10 days later. This Meant That Agbonlahor had equaled his Premier League goals tally from 2010-11 after just five games in to the new season. Meanwhile on the pitch Agbonlahor continued to impress, scoring the first goal and setting up Darren Bent for the second in a man of the match performance against Wigan Athletic on 1 October. On 3 April 2012, after Aston Villa captain Stilyan Petrov's diagnosis with acute leukemia, Agbonlahor was named club captain upon Petrov's diagnosis.

Agbonlahor's Ancestry qualifies him to play for Scotland or Nigeria at international level, but he chose to play for his Homeland of England. On 20 September 2006, Agbonlahor was penciled in as a player in the Nigeria U-20 team for the match against Rwanda. On 28 September 2006, Agbonlahor received his first call-up to the England Under-21 squad, and won his first U21 cap as a substitute against Germany on 6 October. Agbonlahor was then omitted from the England's Under-21 Championship squad, by manager Stuart Pearce, on 30 May 2007, as a result of missing the England U21 training camp in Spain.

On 1 February, Agbonlahor was named in Fabio Capello's 23-man England squad to play Switzerland in February 2008, although a hamstring injury forced him to withdraw from the game.  On 15 November 2008, he was called up to Capello's squad for the upcoming match against Germany in Berlin, joining three other players in the Aston Villa squad: Ashley Young, Curtis Davies and Gareth Barry.

Personal information
Full name Gabriel Agbonlahor Imuetinyan
Date of birth 13 October 1986 (age 25)
Place of birth Birmingham, England
Height 5 ft 11 in (1.80 m)
Playing position Striker, Winger

Club information
Current club Aston Villa
Number 11

Youth career
1994-2005 Aston Villa

Senior career
years Team
2005-Aston Villa 216 (53)
2005 Watford (loan) 2 (0)
2005 Sheffield Wednesday (loan) 8 (0)

National team
2006-2009 England U21 16 (5)
2008-England 3 (0)

Honours

Club
Aston Villa
     Football League Cup Runner-Up: 2009-10

Individual
     Premier League Player of the Month (1): November 2007

Gary Cahill

Profile Football Stars | Gary Cahill | Cahill began his career playing for the AFC Dronfield youth set-system in Derbyshire. In January 2012, Cahill signed for Chelsea for approximately £ 7 million. Cahill is an English international. Gary James Cahill, is an English footballer who  plays as a central defender for Chelsea and the England national team. On 4 June 2009, Cahill was called up to the England squad for the match against Kazakhstan.

On 19 September 2007, Cahill joined Sheffield United on a three month loan deal. Cahill scored his first goal for Sheffield United in a 1-0 win at Stoke City on 10 November 2007. Under the terms of his loan agreement, Cahill returned to Villa Park in mid December 2007 having played sixteen games and scoring two goals. Speculation surrounded Cahill's future in the January 2008 transfer window, with Birmingham City, Bolton Wanderers and Turkish club Beşiktaş JK all reportedly showing an interest.

Bolton Wanderers scout Colin Harvey was impressed by Cahill and on 30 January 2008, Cahill joined Bolton Wanderers on a three-and-a-half year deal. On 2 February 2008 Cahill made his league debut for Bolton in their 2-0 victory over Reading. On 5 October 2008, Cahill scored his first goal in a 3-1 Bolton victory at West Ham United. In August 2009, 18 months after joining Bolton, Cahill signed a new three year contract with the club. On 30 December 2011, Coyle Revealed That They Agreed a transfer fee for Cahill with Chelsea and that 'They Could start negotiating personal terms. Despite being on the Brink of joining Chelsea, Cahill played against Wolves and scored Bolton's winner in the 2-1 win against Everton at Goodison Park.

Cahill of toll the club's official website: "Chelsea is a massive club, it is a club looks to win trophies That season in season out and it is a big opportunity for me to be a part of that. On 28 January 2012 , Cahill was one of Chelsea's unused substitutes in their 1-0 victory in the FA Cup against Queens Park Rangers On 5 February, Cahill made his debut for Chelsea in the 3-3 draw against Manchester United at Stamford Bridge . In netting the opening goal, Cahill Bolton Wanderers Became the first player to score for England since Ray Parry against Northern Ireland in 1959.

Personal information
Full name Gary James Cahill
Date of birth 19 December 1985 (age 26)
Place of birth Sheffield, England
Height 1.88 m (6 ft 2 in)
Playing position Central defender

Club information
Current club Chelsea
Number 24

Youth career
2000-2004 Aston Villa

Senior career
years Team
2004-2008 Aston Villa 28 (1)
2004-2005 Burnley (loan) 27 (1)
2007 Sheffield United (loan) 16 (2)
Bolton Wanderers 2008-2012 130 (13)
2012-Chelsea 4 (0)

National team
2004-2005 England U20 3 (1)
2007 England U21 4 (0)
2010-England 8 (2)

Honours

Club
Aston Villa
     Goal of the Season Winner: 2005-06

Burnley
     Player of the Year Winner: 2004-05
     Young Player of the Year Winner: 2004-05

Bolton Wanderers
     Players' Player of the Year: 2008-09

Darren Bent

Profile Football Stars | Darren Bent | He was Charlton Athletic's top goalscorer for two consecutive seasons and joined Tottenham Hotspur for a club record fee of £ 16.5 million in 2007. After two seasons at Tottenham he joined Sunderland. After a Successful 18 months at Sunderland, he joined Aston Villa in 2011. He has represented England at under-15, under-16, under-17, under-19, under-21 and senior levels. Bent started his career with Ipswich Town. After progressing through Their youth system he made his first team debut in 2001. He made 122 appearances and scored 48 goals in the league for Ipswich, before joining Charlton Athletic for a fee of £ 2.5 Million in 2005. He made 14 appearances and scored nine goals for the under-21 side, after making his debut against Italy in 2003. He made his debut for the senior England side in 2006 against Uruguay, and has since made 11 appearances for England, scoring four goals. He scored his first goal on 7 September 2010 in a 3-1 UEFA Euro 2012 qualifying victory against Switzerland match.

On the opening day of the 2005-06 FA Premier League season, Bent scored two goals on his Charlton debut against Sunderland, and was named the Premier League player of the month for August. He scored in his first four games for the club, one of only six players to perform this feat in the Premier League. Bent was the highest scoring Englishman in the Premier League in the 2005-06 season, with 18 goals (22 overall) the which made him third highest scorer and was given Charlton's Player of the Season award. He signed an extension to his contract at Charlton in July, the which him contracted until June 2010. Bent finished the 2006-07 season with 13 goals in the Premier League, again finishing as Charlton's top goalscorer, but was Unable to Prevent them from being relegated to the Championship after seven successive seasons of Premier League football.

Bent scored his first competitive goal for Tottenham in a 4-0 home victory over Derby County in August 2007. Bent scored his 100th career goal on 9 March 2008 in the added time of a 4-0 league win over West Ham United. He also scored the 100th goal to be scored at White Hart Lane during the 2007-08 season on 22 March in a 2-0 win over Portsmouth. Bent went on to score one more goal That season, against Newcastle United, the which he finished with 36 appearances and eight goals. Negotiations to sign Sunderland Bent opened in July 2009.

On 17 January 2011, Bent submitted a transfer request, Amid reports That Aston Villa had made a club record £ 18 million bid for him, the which was rejected. Bent scored his second Villa goal in his third appearance for his side when he completed the full 90 minutes against Manchester United at Old Trafford in a 3-1 away defeat. Bent scored both of Villa's goals in their 2-1 away victory over Arsenal in the Penultimate game of the season on 15 May.  In scoring England's second goal he took his tally to three goals in his last three matches.

Personal information
Full name Darren Ashley Bent
Date of birth 6 February 1984 (age 28)
Place of birth Tooting, England
Height 5 ft 11 in (1.80 m)
Playing position Striker

Club information
Current club Aston Villa
Number 9

Youth career
Godmanchester Rovers 1998
Ipswich Town 1998-2001

Senior career
years Team
Ipswich Town 2001-2005 122 (48)
2005-2007 Charlton Athletic 68 (31)
Tottenham Hotspur 2007-2009 60 (18)
2009-2011 Sunderland 58 (32)
2011-Aston Villa 38 (18)

National team
England U15
2000-2001 England U16 10 (3)
England U17
2002 England U19 3 (3)
2003-2005 England U21 14 (9)
2006-England 13 (4)

Honours

Club
Tottenham Hotspur
     Football League Cup: 2007-08

Individual
     Charlton Athletic F.C. Player of the Year: 2006

Ashley Young

 

Profile Football Stars | Ashley Young | Young continued to play well for Watford in the Premier League, and in January 2007 he transferred to Aston Villa for a fee of £ 8 million, rising to £ 9.65 million with add-ons. He established Himself in the first team at Villa Park, and has since earned 19 caps for England, scoring five goals. On 23 June 2011, Young signed for Manchester United for an undisclosed fee. Ashley Simon Young is an English footballer who as a winger plays for Manchester United and the English national team

Young Came to prominence in the 2004-05 season, playing a part in 34 of Watford's league matches as They struggled to survive in the Championship. Although he failed to find the net, his performance during this season earned him the club's Young Player of the Season award.  Young began Watford's 2006-07 Premier League season well, scoring three times in the league, Including a last minute strike in a 3-3 draw with Fulham (he had also scored Watford's second goal in the match), and a goal against Middlesbrough, in Watford's first win of the season in October.

Young underwent a medical on 21 January and the signing was confirmed on 23 January 2007. On 31 January, he scored in his debut for Villa at St James' Park against Newcastle United, but Villa went on to lose 3-1. Ashley Young started the 2007-08 season well, receiving Several Man of the Match awards. Young scored his first goal of the 2010-11 season with a direct free-kick in the Premier League game at home to Bolton Wanderers on 18 September 2010.

Young made his debut in the UEFA Champions League on the 27 September 2011, scoring a headed goal in the 90th minute to help Manchester United to a 3-3 draw against FC Basel. On 16 February, he scored a goal for the lead in a Europa League 2-0 away win against Ajax at the Amsterdam Arena. On 4 March 2012, Young scored two goals against Tottenham at White Hart Lane in a 3-1 Premier League win.

As a result of his form for Watford during the 2005-06 season, in February 2006 Young earned a call-up to Peter Taylor's England U21 League squad to face an Italian Serie B squad alongside team-mate Chris Eagles. Young started alongside Eagles in the 1-0 win, playing the first half. Young played the last 15 minutes of the match as England scored a late goal to win 3-2, topping Their group, and reaching a playoff for a place in the 2007 UEFA European Under-21 Football Championship. At the finals Young played three times. On 6 September 2011, Young scored the only goal for England in a Euro 2012 qualifying win against Wales 1-0. On 7 October, he scored England's first away goal against Montenegro, and set up Darren Bent for the second. On 29 February 2012. Young scored his fifth international goal in a 2-3 home loss to Netherlands in a friendly match played at Wembley Stadium.

Personal information
Full name Ashley Simon Young
Date of birth 9 July 1985 (age 26)
Place of birth Stevenage, England
Height 1.75 m (5 ft 9 in)
Playing position Winger
attacking midfielder

Club information
Current club Manchester United
Number 18

Youth career
2000 - 2003 Watford

Senior career
years Team
2003 - 2007 Watford 98 (19)
2007 - 2011 Aston Villa 157 (30)
2011 Manchester United 18 (4)

National team
2006 - 2007 England U21 10 (1)
2007 England 19 (5)

Honours

Club
Watford
     Football League Championship play-offs (1): 2006

Manchester United
     FA Community Shield (1): 2011

Individual
     Watford Young Player of the Season (1): 2004-05
     PFA Championship Team of the Year (1): 2005-06
     PFA Premier League Team of the Year (2): 2007-08, 2008-09
     PFA Young Player of the Year (1): 2008-09
     Premier League Player of the Month (3): April 2008, September 2008, December 2008