| Danny Higginbotham |
 |
| Personal information |
| Full name |
Daniel John Higginbotham |
| Date of birth |
29 December 1978 (1978-12-29) (age 30) |
| Place of birth |
Manchester, England |
| Height |
6 ft 1 in (1.85 m) |
| Playing position |
Left back |
| Club information |
| Current club |
Stoke City |
| Number |
3 |
| Senior career1 |
| Years |
Club |
App (Gls)* |
1997–2000
1998–1999
2000–2003
2003–2006
2006–2007
2007–2008
2008– |
Manchester United
→ Royal Antwerp (loan)
Derby County
Southampton
Stoke City
Sunderland
Stoke City |
04 (0)
36 (4)
86 (3)
94 (4)
45 (7)
22 (3)
28 (1) |
|
1 Senior club appearances and goals
counted for the domestic league only and
correct as of 11:10, 29 December 2008 (UTC).
* Appearances (Goals)
|
Daniel John "Danny" Higginbotham (born 29 December 1978 in Manchester, Greater Manchester) is an English footballer who currently plays as a defender for Stoke City.
[edit] Playing career
[edit] Manchester United
Higginbotham started his career at Manchester United but he was unable to break into the first team and was sent to Royal Antwerp on a loan spell. During this time, Higginbotham, was banned from football for a year after an alleged attack on a referee. A Belgian court reduced Higginbotham's ban to four months.[1]
[edit] Derby County
Higginbotham's desire to play regular first team football led to him making a £2m move to Derby County - a large sum for a young player with just four top flight games to his name. Higginbotham made his Derby debut in a 2-2 draw against Southampton, and went on to help Derby avoid relegation at the end of the 2000-01 season. The 2001-02 season was less successful, as although he won the fans' Player of the Year Award, Derby were relegated at the end of the traumatic campaign in which they were managed by three different men - Jim Smith (who resigned in October), Colin Todd (promoted from assistant manager after Smith's resignation) and John Gregory (brought in as Todd's successor).
It was always expected that Higginbotham would eventually move, unless Derby did well enough to gain promotion back to the Premier League. In January 2003, with Derby struggling in Division One, he moved to Southampton on loan, joining permanently in February. Higginbotham had made 86 appearances for Derby, scoring 3 times.
[edit] Southampton
Following Derby's relegation from the Premier League, Higginbotham moved to Southampton in January 2003 on loan until the end of the 2002–03 season. The move was made permanent in February 2003 for a fee of £1.5 million.[2] He featured in the Saints' FA cup run in 2002–03, but was an unused substitute for the final against Arsenal. After two and a half seasons at Southampton he rejected a new contract and as a result was placed on the transfer list.
[edit] Stoke City
Higginbotham joined Stoke City on 3 August 2006 for an initial fee of £225,000,[3] and quickly cemented a regular place in the starting line-up. Higginbotham has played left back on numerous occasions, however the majority of his appearances have been as a centre back (his preferred position). In February 2007, he was awarded the club captaincy following Michael Duberry's departure to Reading.
[edit] Sunderland
On 28 August 2007 it was announced that a bid from Sunderland had been accepted by Stoke City, after Higginbotham had handed a transfer request to the club.[4] Higginbotham signed a four year deal with Sunderland the following day, moving for a fee of £2.5 million, possibly rising to £3 million dependent on appearances.[5]
On 10 November 2007, Higginbotham scored the opening goal for Sunderland which was believed to come off his ear in a 1–1 draw with arch-rivals Newcastle United at the Stadium of Light. Higginbotham re-joined Premier League newcomers Stoke on transfer deadline day.
[edit] Return to Stoke City
Higginbotham rejoined Stoke, now playing in the Premier League, on 1 September 2008 for a fee of £2.5 million. On 19 October Higginbotham scored his first goal after rejoining them, against Tottenham Hotspur. The goal came when Tom Soares (on his Stoke debut) was brought down in the penalty area by left-back Gareth Bale. Bale was given a straight red card for the offence and Higginbotham scored the resulting penalty. Stoke went on to win the match 2–1.
[edit] Honours
- Manchester United
- Southampton
[edit] References
[edit] External links
| Persondata |
| NAME |
Higginbotham, Danny |
| ALTERNATIVE NAMES |
|
| SHORT DESCRIPTION |
Footballer |
| DATE OF BIRTH |
29 December 1978 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH |
Manchester, England |
| DATE OF DEATH |
|
| PLACE OF DEATH |
|
