Jonathan Woodgate is a footballer who played in the Premier League for Middlesbrough Club. His playing style was distinguished by a good vision of the field and relatively good technique for the central defender, however, during his career, Jonathan often suffered from serious injuries, which greatly impeded the development of his career.
Club career: Leeds United
Woodgate started playing football professionally at Middlesbrough, but moved to Leeds United at the age of fifteen. Together with Leeds, he won the FA Youth Cup in 1997, and in October 1998 made his debut for the main team. Woodgate has been a consistent and ambitious player for Leeds United. He competed with Rio Ferdinand, Lucas Radebe and Dominic Matteo for the starting place in the team.
Newcastle United
Jonathan Woodgate signed an agreement with Newcastle United for £ 9 million in January 2003. He impressed the coaches with his game and quickly won the hearts of fans. One of his best games took place in the semifinal match of the UEFA Cup in 2004 with the “Olympic” from Marseille. Woodgate’s game nullified all the efforts of forward “Olympic” D. Drogba.
"Real Madrid"
Woodgate signed an agreement with Real Madrid in August 2004. He did not play for Real Madrid in his first season in Spain and ultimately won the first game only on September 22, 2005 against Athletic from Bilbao. The game failed for him, as he scored a goal against his own goal, and then was sent to the bench for a second yellow card.
Middlesbrough
In August 2006, Jonathan Woodgate signed a one-year deal at Middlesbrough's home club. He made his debut in the starting lineup against the London Arsenal on September 9.
Tottenham Hotspur
On January 20, 2008, Woodgate moved to Tottenham Hotspur, rejecting an offer to re-sign the agreement with Newcastle. He made his Tottenham debut with Everton a few days later and scored a goal on January 24, 2008. Woodgate forgot his league debut goal for Tottenham on March 19, 2008 against retirees. Then the match ended with a score of 4: 4.
"Stoke City"
In July 2011, Jonathan Woodgate signed a one-year deal with a Stoke-on-Trent Stoke City club with the option of renewing the agreement for next year if he proves his professional aptitude. After moving to Stoke City, Woodgate said he wanted to get his game level back on track. He made his debut in the Stoke City T-shirt in a preseason friendly against Aldershot Town, playing for the first 62 minutes.
Despite a very good start to his career at Stoke, the following games were not the best for Woodgate, after which he admitted that he needed to work on his game. His agreement with Stoke expired on June 30, 2012, but despite being offered a new deal, he decided to return to his former club, Middlesbrough.
International career
During his stay at Leeds United, Woodgate was first assigned to England, where he played until the age of 21. He played his first game under the leadership of coach Kevin Keegan on June 9, 1999 against Bulgaria and became the first player born in the 80s to come to a full-fledged international match of the England team. Unfortunately, a promising career has declined due to injury problems.
Only after the tournament finale did Woodgate again enter three international matches in September-October 2002, followed by another one and a half year break before the next game with Sweden on March 31, 2004. Constant problems with injuries interfered with his career in the national team and did not allow him to become a candidate for the team at the 2006 World Cup in Germany.
Football Achievements
During his career as a football player, Woodgate played 383 matches, scoring just 11 goals against the opponent. This ratio of matches and goals scored in the statistics of Jonathan Woodgate is explained by his role as a defender on the field. Due to numerous injuries, his career in the England team was not the best, so he managed to play only 8 matches for the team, without scoring a single goal.
As part of the Tottenham Hotspur, he won the English Football League Cup in the 2007–2008 season. Woodgate also became the owner of individual achievements:
- Player of the Year 2006-07 season as part of Middlesbrough.
- "Alan Hardecker Prize in 2008 as part of Middlesbrough.
Woodgate Trial
In 2000, the footballer went on trial as a defendant along with teammate Lee Boyer in a lawsuit because of his participation in an incident near the Majestic nightclub in Leeds, during which the victim was seriously injured.
The initial trial was discontinued. Following the conclusion of the second trial in December 2001, Boyer was charged with serious bodily harm. However, Woodgate could not escape responsibility - he was convicted and sentenced by the court to one hundred hours of correctional labor. Moreover, the English Football Association banned Woodgate from playing for some time and prevented him from playing for the national team.