Ben Watson
Personal information
Full name	Benjamin Watson
Date of birth	9 July 1985 (1985-07-09) (age 24)
Place of birth	London, England
Height	5 ft 10 in (1.78 m)
Playing position	Midfielder
Club information
Current club	Queens Park Rangers (on loan from Wigan Athletic)
Number	15
Senior career1
Years	Club	App (Gls)*
2003–2009 2009– 2009–	Crystal Palace Wigan Athletic → Queens Park Rangers (loan)	169 (18) 010 0(2) 006 0(2)
National team2
2004–2006	England U21	002 0(0)
1 Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 21 October 2009. 2 National team caps and goals correct as of 2006-11-06. * Appearances (Goals)

Benjamin "Ben" Watson (born 9 July 1985 in London) is an English footballer who currently plays in midfield for QPR on loan from Wigan Athletic.

Contents 1 Club career 1.1 Crystal Palace 1.2 Interest from other clubs 1.3 Wigan 1.4 QPR 2 Club career statistics 3 References 4 External links

[edit] Club career

[edit] Crystal Palace

Watson made his debut aged 17 towards the end of the 2002–03 season, giving a good performance to keep his place in the side for the final four games of the season, slowly becoming a fixture in the Palace side over the next few seasons, surpassing 150 appearances for the Eagles before his 23rd birthday.

He has also represented England in the under-21 team.

This was all capped by being named as Palace's "Young Player of The Year" for 2007, as well as being one of six nominees for the "Carling Cup New Talent Award" in 2006, drawn up by the Football Writers' Association.

[edit] Interest from other clubs

At the outset of the 2008–09 season, Watson had one year left on his contract at Palace. The club reportedly offered him a new contract that would have made him Palace's highest-paid player, which was subsequently turned down. He also turned down a move to Nottingham Forest amidst rumours that he was seeking an offer from Queens Park Rangers. However a move never materialised before the end of the summer, and Watson returned to the Palace side, scoring five times in just 18 appearances before suffering an injury in early December. This turned out to be Watson's last appearance for the Eagles.

[edit] Wigan

In late January, Middlesbrough offered £2m for Watson^[1] and were expected to sign the midfielder, but Wigan Athletic entered the race to sign him late on, and were successful in securing the deal after matching Boro's offer.

Watson scored his first league goal for Wigan in the 1–2 away victory over Sunderland at the Stadium of Light.^[2] On 23 March 2009 he followed this up with a goal in his next game at home against Hull City. This goal meant that Wigan gained all three points and their European bid was back on.

[edit] QPR

On 1 September 2009, Watson signed for Championship side QPR on loan until January 2010. He scored his first goal for QPR in a 5-2 win over Barnsley on 26 September 2009.^[3]

[edit] Club career statistics

(correct as of 1 October 2009)

Club	Season	League			Cup[4]			Europe			Play-Offs			Total
		Apps	Goals	Assists	Apps	Goals	Assists	Apps	Goals	Assists	Apps	Goals	Assists	Apps	Goals	Assists
Crystal Palace	2002–03	5	0	0	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	5	0	0
Crystal Palace	2003–04	16	2	0	2	0	0	-	-	-	-	-	-	18	1	0
Crystal Palace	2004–05	21	0	1	3	0	0	-	-	-	-	-	-	24	0	1
Crystal Palace	2005–06	42	4	2	4	0	0	-	-	-	2	0	0	48	4	2
Crystal Palace	2006–07	25	3	3	1	0	0	-	-	-	-	-	-	26	3	3
Crystal Palace	2007–08	42	5	10	2	0	0	-	-	-	2	2	0	46	7	10
Crystal Palace	2008–09	18	5	2	1	0	0	-	-	-	-	-	-	19	5	2
Total	2003-2009	170	18	18	13	0	0	-	-	-	4	2	0	187	20	18
Wigan Athletic	2008-09	10	2	0	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	10	2	0
Wigan Athletic	2009-10	0	0	0	1	0	1	-	-	-	-	-	-	1	0	1
Total	2009-present	10	2	0	1	0	1	-	-	-	-	-	-	11	2	1
QPR (loan)	2009-10	4	2	1	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	4	2	1
Career totals		184	22	19	14	0	1	-	-	-	4	2	0	201	23	20

[edit] References

[edit] External links

• Ben Watson Official Website at officialplayerwebsites.com
• Player profile on Crystal Palace F.C. website
• Ben Watson career stats at Soccerbase

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