Christophe Berra
Personal information
Full name	Christophe Michael Berra
Date of birth	31 January 1985 (1985-01-31) (age 24)
Place of birth	Edinburgh, Scotland
Height	6 ft 3 in (1.91 m)
Playing position	Centre Back
Club information
Current club	Wolverhampton Wanderers
Number	16
Senior career1
Years	Club	App (Gls)*
2003–2009 2009–	Heart of Midlothian Wolverhampton Wanderers	123 (4) 021 (0)
National team2
2007 2008–	Scotland B Scotland	001 (0) 006 (0)
1 Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 12:56, 24 October 2009 (UTC). 2 National team caps and goals correct as of 21:41, 15 October 2009 (UTC). * Appearances (Goals)

Christophe Michael Berra (born 31 January 1985 in Edinburgh), is a Scottish international footballer who plays as a defender for English Premier League side Wolverhampton Wanderers.

Contents 1 Club career 1.1 Hearts 1.2 Wolves 2 International career 3 Honours 4 References 5 External links

[edit] Club career

[edit] Hearts

Berra joined Hearts on 26 April 2002 from their youth development system after previously having a spell at Edina Hibs.^[1] He is one in a long line of young defenders, particularly central defenders, to have progressed through the Hearts youth system,^[2] including Paul Ritchie and Alan McLaren.

After impressive performances in the youth and Under-21 teams, Berra made his first team debut on 30 November 2003 as a substitute in a 2-1 defeat at Dundee United. He made only a handful of further appearances during the remainder of the 2003–04 season, but continued his development over the following campaigns, becoming an important member of the first team squad.

He scored the important second goal in a 2-0 victory against Kilmarnock^[3] in season 2005–06 which was pivotal in the Tynecastle club's push towards UEFA Champions League qualification. That season also saw him gain a Scottish Cup winner's medal after being a non-playing substitute in Hearts' 2006 Cup Final win over Gretna.

In July 2006, Berra signed a five-year deal with Hearts, before going on to play in the club's European ties in Champions League qualifiers and the UEFA Cup during a season that saw the club finish fourth. The following season, he became the youngest captain in the SPL^[4] after the departure of the previous Hearts captain Craig Gordon to Sunderland in August 2007.

[edit] Wolves

Berra won international recognition at the end of the 2007–08 season and, during the close season, his growing reputation attracted the attention of Premier League side Wolverhampton Wanderers. They made a reported £1.5 million bid to sign him,^[5] but it was not considered as Hearts were without a manager at the time. Wolves returned with an improved offer — reportedly £2million — on 27 January 2009, but it was again rejected.^[6] However, he eventually signed for Wolves for an undisclosed fee — believed to be around £2.5m^[7] — in a four-and-a-half-year deal on transfer-deadline day, 2 February 2009.^[8]

[edit] International career

Berra has been capped by Scotland at different age levels and also for the senior squad. He made his international debut as a substitute, on 30 May 2008 in Scotland's 3–1 friendly match defeat to the Czech Republic at the AXA Arena in Prague. He was also eligible to play for France, through his father's French lineage.

Berra made his first start for the national team in the Amsterdam ArenA on 28 March 2009 in the match against the Netherlands.^[9] The match finished 3-0 to the Netherlands with Berra giving away a penalty which resulted in the third goal.

[edit] Honours

• Scottish Cup: 2006
• Football League Championship (II): 2009

[edit] References

[edit] External links

• Official club profile
• Christophe Berra career stats at Soccerbase
• Christophe Berra profile at scottishfa.co.uk
• Hearts appearance stats at londonhearts.com

v • d • e Wolverhampton Wanderers F.C. – current squad 1 Hennessey · 3 Elokobi · 4 Edwards · 5 Stearman · 6 Craddock · 7 Kightly · 8 Henry · 9 Ebanks-Blake · 10 Keogh · 11 S. Ward · 12 Surman · 13 Hahnemann · 14 David Jones · 15 Halford · 16 Berra · 17 Jarvis · 19 Iwelumo · 20 Milijaš · 23 Zubar · 26 Hill · 27 Mancienne · 29 Doyle · 31 Murray · 32 Foley · 33 Maierhofer · 35 Castillo · 36 Dunleavy · 37 Bennett · 39 Winnall · 41 Hemmings · 42 Malone · 43 Spray · 44 Mendez-Laing · Manager: McCarthy

Persondata
NAME	Berra, Christophe Didier
ALTERNATIVE NAMES	Berra, Christophe
SHORT DESCRIPTION
DATE OF BIRTH	1985-1-31
PLACE OF BIRTH	Edinburgh, Scotland
DATE OF DEATH
PLACE OF DEATH