Danny Simpson

Personal information
Full name	Daniel Peter Simpson
Date of birth	4 January 1987 (1987-01-04) (age 23)
Place of birth	Salford, England
Height	5 ft 9 in (1.75 m)
Playing position	Right back
Club information
Current club	Newcastle United
Number	12
Youth career
2003–2006	Manchester United
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps†	(Gls)†
2006–2010	Manchester United	3	(0)
2006	→ Royal Antwerp (loan)	14	(0)
2006–2007	→ Royal Antwerp (loan)	16	(1)
2007	→ Sunderland (loan)	14	(0)
2008	→ Ipswich Town (loan)	8	(0)
2008–2009	→ Blackburn Rovers (loan)	12	(0)
2009–2010	→ Newcastle United (loan)	20	(1)
2010–	Newcastle United	1	(0)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 20:06, 5 February 2010 (UTC). † Appearances (Goals).

Daniel Peter "Danny" Simpson (born 4 January 1987) is an English footballer who plays as a right back for Newcastle United. A product of the Manchester United academy, Simpson has also played on loan for Sunderland, Ipswich Town and Blackburn Rovers in England and Royal Antwerp in Belgium. He was on loan at Newcastle for six months before signing for them on a permanent basis in January 2010.

[edit] Career

[edit] Manchester United

Born in Salford, Greater Manchester, Simpson played for Parkwyddn J.F.C. in Eccles as a youth before being picked up by Manchester United. He is a product of the Manchester United youth system, having come up through the ranks into the reserve squad in 2005.

Simpson made his debut against South African team Kaizer Chiefs on 18 July 2006, which the Reds won 1–0.^[1] Manager Alex Ferguson claimed that Simpson looked "anything but a player making his first start for Manchester United". Simpson spent the first half of the 2006–07 season back on loan at Royal Antwerp and returned to Manchester United in January 2007.^[2]

Simpson signed a new contract with Manchester United in September 2007 that would keep him at the club until 2010.^[3] He made his first competitive appearance for United on 26 September 2007 in the 2–0 Carling Cup loss to Coventry City,^[4] and soon after made his Premier League debut on 6 October 2007 against Wigan Athletic at Old Trafford, coming on as a 30th-minute substitute for the injured John O'Shea. He set up the fourth goal with a well flighted cross for Wayne Rooney. The match ended with a 4–0 win to United.^[5] His European debut came on 23 October 2007, when he came on as an 80th-minute substitute for Ryan Giggs against Dynamo Kyiv.^[6] His first European start was in the reverse fixture against Dynamo Kyiv on 7 November 2007; United won the game 4–0.^[7]

[edit] Royal Antwerp

In early January 2006, he was sent on loan, along with three other United youths, to the Belgian second division club Royal Antwerp for the remainder of the season, to gain match experience.^[8]

[edit] Sunderland

In 2007, he joined his team mate, Jonny Evans, on loan at Sunderland.^[9]

[edit] Ipswich Town

On 21 March 2008, Simpson signed a loan deal with Ipswich Town. With Gary Neville on the verge of returning to the Manchester United first team, United manager Alex Ferguson decided it was best for Simpson to get as much first team football as possible, something that would be quite hard to come by at Old Trafford with both Gary Neville and Wes Brown ahead of Simpson in the pecking order.^[10]

[edit] Blackburn Rovers

On 4 August 2008, Simpson signed for Blackburn Rovers on a season-long loan deal.^[11][12] Simpson made his Blackburn debut on 27 August 2008, playing in Rovers' 4–1 win over Grimsby Town in the League Cup Second Round.^[13] His Premier League debut for Blackburn Rovers came almost three weeks later, on 13 September 2008, in a 4–0 defeat at home to Arsenal.^[14]

With the exception of Blackburn's League Cup Fifth Round defeat by Manchester United, which he was forced to miss because of a clause in his loan agreement, Simpson was ever-present for Blackburn during their League Cup and FA Cup campaigns. He also played in 11 out of the 14 league matches for which he was eligible prior to Christmas 2008, although he was named on the bench for the other three. After Christmas, Simpson only played in one further league match, another 4–0 defeat to Arsenal,^[15] and in early May 2009, with his first team opportunities limited at Blackburn, the loan agreement was terminated early and he returned to train with Manchester United.^[16]

[edit] Newcastle United

On 14 August 2009, Simpson joined Newcastle United on loan until January 2010^[17] and made his debut in a 1-0 victory over Sheffield Wednesday at St. James' Park. He scored his first goal for Newcastle against Peterborough United on 7 November 2009.

Following the completion of the loan deal, Newcastle made a bid to keep Simpson on a permanent basis. An undisclosed fee, reported as being in the region of £750,000,^[18] was agreed between Newcastle and Manchester United and Simpson signed a three-and-a-half-year contract on 20 January 2010.^[19]

[edit] Honours

[edit] Club

Sunderland

• Football League Championship (1): 2006–07

[edit] References

[edit] External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Danny Simpson

• Profile at Rovers.co.uk
• Profile at itfc.co.uk
• Profile at ManUtd.com
• Profile at rafc.be (Flemish)
• Daniel Simpson career stats at Soccerbase