Steven Gerrard

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{{Football player infobox | playername = Steven Gerrard | image = Image:Gerrard.jpg | fullname = Steven George Gerrard | height = 6'1 (185 cm) | nickname = Stevie G | dateofbirth = 30 May 1980 | cityofbirth = Whiston | countryofbirth = England | currentclub = Liverpool F.C. | clubnumber = 8 | position = Midfielder | youthyears = 1989-1998 | youthclubs = Liverpool F.C. | years = 1998- | clubs = Liverpool F.C. | caps(goals) = 230 (35) | nationalyears = 2000- | nationalteam = England | nationalcaps(goals) = 40 (6) | ntupdate = 30 March 2006 | pcupdate = 30 March 2006 }}

Steven George Gerrard (born May 30, 1980 in Whiston, Merseyside) is an English football player with Liverpool F.C.. He is widely regarded as one of the best and the most complete midfield players in the world, and became the second youngest captain ever to lift the European Cup when Liverpool won the competition in 2005.

1 Biography
- 1.1 Childhood
- 1.2 Personal life
2 Career
3 Club Statistics
4 Career Honours
- 4.1 Liverpool
- 4.2 Individual Honours
5 Notes

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Biography

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Childhood

He was raised in Huyton, Merseyside. While attending Cardinal Heenan Catholic High School in West Derby, Liverpool, Gerrard was known to go on scouting trips to check out rival school teams. In 1994 whilst in Year 9, he was part of the Liverpool YTS scheme and almost made it into the England Schoolboys team, a small blemish on his now successful career.

Unlike many other Liverpool legends such as Robbie Fowler, Michael Owen, and Jamie Carragher, Gerrard was actually a Liverpool fan as a youth.

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Personal life

Steven Gerrard is currently engaged to Alexandra "Alex" Curran, who is also from Merseyside. They have been engaged since 2004 and have been seeing each other since 2002. They plan to marry in the summer of 2007. They currently have one daughter called Lilly-Ella (born 23 February, 2004) and are expecting their second child in May 2006.

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Career

Gerrard is widely regarded as one of the best players in the current Liverpool squad, if not the best. To date, Liverpool has been his only club. He joined as a boy in 1989 and has come up through the ranks to the first team, in the footsteps of fellow homegrown youth academy seniors like Steve McManaman and the recently re-signed Robbie Fowler.

Gerrard made his Reds debut in November 1998 as a second-half substitute for Vegard Heggem against Blackburn. His full debut came in the UEFA Cup against Celta Vigo and despite the Reds losing on the night, Gerrard's widely-praised performance belied his tender years.

Gerrard is usually employed in a central midfield role, although he also sometimes plays as a right-sided midfielder and, occasionally, right back. He is currently the captain of Liverpool and has previously captained the English national team. Former Liverpool team mate, Michael Owen, expressed relief at Gerrard being named captain in 2003/04 in his autobiography, as it took some pressure off his own shoulders.

He wears the number 8 shirt for Liverpool and the number 4 for England. It is widely thought that the club captaincy was handed to Gerrard in 2003/4 season so that he could inspire his teammates, and to compel him to take responsibility for his own indifferent disciplinary record, which apparently worked as in the 2003/2004 season, he was only booked twice. Nevertheless, Steven Gerrard is an exceptionally complete football midfielder with great vision and indefatigable energy. Often credited for his blistering shots from long range, he excels in both the defensive and offensive sectors of the game.

Gerrard was one of three Liverpool players that scored in the famous World Cup qualifying game in September 2001 against Germany (1-5 away victory), which was his first international goal.

Although approached by Chelsea to sign for them during the summer of 2005, after initially issuing a transfer request he eventually chose to stay at Liverpool. It is known that he was on the brink of signing for the Premier league Champions but was persuaded to stay because of his family and friends. It was also alleged that Gerrard had been the target of death threats from aggrieved Liverpool fans, amongst whom many burned their shirts as a sign of protest at the proposed move. [1]The arrival of new Liverpool manager, Rafael Benitez, also played a part in his decision.

A foot injury sustained against rivals Manchester United on 20 September 2004 ruled him out of first team football until late November 2004.

On 8 December 2004, Gerrard scored a crucial 25-yard strike against Greek team Olympiakos in the Champions' League. Liverpool needed to win by two clear goals to progress to the last 16 of the competition. They were 1-0 down at half-time, but scored two goals before Gerrard secured their place with their third. He has since claimed that this was his best, if not his most important, goal for Liverpool to date.

Another notable goal, and an example of his drive and inspirational ability, was his contribution during the Champions' League final in Istanbul on 25 May 2005. Unmarked by the opposition, he headed a goal that kickstarted Liverpool's comeback from a 3-0 deficit. Minutes later, former teammate, Vladimir Smicer, would score again for the Reds. Gerrard was also crucial in the winning of a penalty against AC Milan when he was fouled by Gattuso in the penalty area. Xabi Alonso scored from a rebound, having his penalty saved initially, to make it 3-3.

After going on to win the match on penalties, he gave a hint of his future when he stated to the press: "How can I leave after a night like this?"

However, in July 2005, contract negotiations broke down between Gerrard and the club. Reports stated that Gerrard was about to leave Liverpool and Chelsea were reported to have tabled a British record bid of £32 million for the player, which was ultimately rejected. Throughout the episode, Liverpool remained insistent that they wanted Gerrard to stay. However on 5 July Gerrard stated publicly that he wished to leave the Reds.

To the delight of Liverpool fans, Gerrard changed his mind the next day and pledged his future to the club. He also apologised to the club's supporters and insisted that there were no get-out clauses in the new contract that he would be signing. He also offered to give up his captaincy, but was told by Rafael Benitez that it was not necessary. On the morning of 8 July, Gerrard signed a new four-year deal with Liverpool alongside teammate, Jamie Carragher.

On 25 August 2005, Gerrard was named as UEFA's Most Valuable Player for the 2004/05 Champions' League season. As of 14 November 2005, he has played for England 39 times and scored 6 international goals.

He was also in the running for French sport newspaper L'Equipe's prestigious Ballon D'Or award. He finished second behind Barcelona's Ronaldinho and ahead of England team-mate Frank Lampard who finished third.

Gerrard also gave a terrific performance during the friendly against Argentina, which England won 3-2 thanks to two late Michael Owen goals. On 11 December 2005, Gerrard came third in the BBC Sports Personality of the Year behind Ellen MacArthur (2nd) and Andrew "Freddie" Flintoff (1st). Note must be made that his club and England team mate Peter Crouch was initially the early runner for the award.

More honours came to Gerrard, when he finished second in the 'Best England Player' competition, which is chosen by the fans. The winner was Frank Lampard and 3rd place was for Wayne Rooney .

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Club Statistics

**Club Performance**
Club	Season	Premiership		FA Cup		League Cup		Europe		Others		Total
Club	Season	App	Goals	App	Goals	App	Goals	App	Goals	App	Goals
Liverpool FC	2005-06	30	8	4	2	1	1	12	7	2	1	49	19
	2004-05	30	7	0	0	3	2	10	4	0	0	43	13
	2003-04	34	4	3	0	2	0	8	2	0	0	47	6
	2002-03	34	5	2	0	6	2	11	0	1	0	54	7
	2001-02	28	3	2	0	0	0	15	1	0	0	45	4
	2000-01	33	7	4	1	4	0	9	2	0	0	50	10
	1999-00	29	1	2	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	31	1
	1998-99	12	0	0	0	0	0	1	0	0	0	13	0
Total		230	35	17	3	16	5	66	16	3	1	332	60