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 / Centre back
Club information
Current club	Stoke City
Number	3
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps†	(Gls)†
1997–2000	Manchester United	4	(0)
1998–1999	→ Royal Antwerp (loan)	36	(4)
2000–2003	Derby County	86	(3)
2003–2006	Southampton	94	(4)
2006–2007	Stoke City	45	(7)
2007–2008	Sunderland	22	(3)
2008–	Stoke City	32	(1)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 14:39, 27 October 2009 (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.

Contents 1 Playing career 1.1 Manchester United 1.2 Derby County 1.3 Southampton 1.4 Stoke City 1.5 Sunderland 1.6 Return to Stoke City 2 Honours 3 Career statistics 4 References 5 External links

[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^[6]. 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.

Higginbotham was an ever present at right-back for Stoke City, playing in 28 league matches as the team successfully fought for survival. However Higginbotham missed the final five games of the season due to a back injury.

[edit] Honours

Manchester United

• Intercontinental Cup: 1999

Southampton

• FA Cup finalist: 2003

[edit] Career statistics

Club	Season	League		FA Cup		League Cup		Continental		Other		Total
		Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals
Manchester United	1997–98	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	0
Royal Antwerp (loan)	1998–99	29	3	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	29	3
Manchester United	1999–2000	3	0	0	0	1	0	1	0	0	0	5	0
	Total	4	0	0	0	1	0	1	0	0	0	6	0
Derby County	2000–01	26	0	3	0	4	0	0	0	0	0	33	0
	2001–02	37	1	1	0	2	0	0	0	0	0	40	1
	2002–03	23	2	0	0	2	1	0	0	0	0	25	3
	Total	86	3	4	0	8	1	0	0	0	0	98	4
Southampton	2002–03	9	0	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	10	0
	2003–04	27	0	1	0	2	0	1	0	0	0	31	0
	2004–05	21	1	4	0	1	0	0	0	0	0	37	1
	2005–06	37	3	1	0	1	0	0	0	0	0	41	3
	Total	94	4	7	0	4	0	1	0	0	0	119	4
Stoke City	2006–07	44	7	2	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	46	7
	2007–08	1	0	0	0	1	0	0	0	0	0	2	0
	Total	45	7	2	0	1	0	0	0	0	0	48	7
Sunderland	2007–08	21	3	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	21	3
	2008–09	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	0
	Total	22	3	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	22	3
Stoke City	2008–09	28	1	0	0	2	0	0	0	0	0	30	1
	2009–10	4	0	0	0	2	1	0	0	0	0	6	1
	Total	32	1	0	0	4	1	0	0	0	0	35	2
Career total		312	21	13	0	18	2	2	0	0	0	358	23

Statistics accurate as of match played October 2009^[7]

[edit] References

[edit] External links

• Danny Higginbotham career stats at Soccerbase

Sporting positions
Preceded by Michael Duberry	Stoke City F.C. captain 2007	Succeeded by Dominic Matteo
Awards
Preceded by Carl Hoefkens	Stoke City F.C. Player of the Year 2006-07	Succeeded by Liam Lawrence

v • d • e Stoke City F.C. – current squad 1 Simonsen · 2 Griffin · 3 Higginbotham · 4 Huth · 5 Cort · 6 Whelan · 7 Lawrence · 8 Soares · 9 Beattie · 10 Fuller · 11 Sidibe · 12 Kitson · 14 Pugh · 15 Diao · 17 Shawcross · 18 Whitehead · 19 Amdy Faye · 20 Tuncay · 22 Collins · 23 Tonge · 24 Delap · 25 Abdoulaye Faye (c) · 26 Etherington · 28 Wilkinson · 29 Sørensen · 32 Arismendi · 35 Marshall · 36 Lund · 37 Wedderburn · 42 Moult · 43 Parton · 44 Connor · Manager: Pulis

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