Richard Garcia
Personal information
Full name	Richard Garcia
Date of birth	4 September 1981 (1981-09-04) (age 28)
Place of birth	Perth, Australia
Height	1.80 m (5 ft 11 in)
Playing position	Right Winger, Second Striker
Club information
Current club	Hull City
Number	14
Youth career
	Kingsway Olympic
Senior career1
Years	Club	App (Gls)*
1999–2004 2000 2004–2007 2007–	West Ham United → Leyton Orient (loan) Colchester United Hull City	017 00(0) 018 00(4) 082 0(16) 067 00(6)
National team2
2003 2008–	Australia U-23 Australia	002 00(0) 004 00(0)
1 Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 19:08, 6 December 2009 (UTC). 2 National team caps and goals correct as of 12 February 2009. * Appearances (Goals)

Richard Garcia (born 4 September 1981 in Perth) is an Australian football player, currently playing for Hull City. He has previously played for West Ham United and Colchester United.Durng his time in Perth he played for Balcatta FC a local league club in Perth

[edit] Club career

[edit] West Ham United

Garcia was a product of the famed West Ham United youth academy, moving from Australia to England to join the Hammers at the age of fifteen after being spotted by a scout who had initially gone to watch his brother.^[1] He was a key member of the team that won the FA Youth Cup and FA Premier Youth League double in 1998–99, scoring in every round of West Ham's run to the Youth Cup Final, eight in total.^[2] He signed professional terms at West Ham in August 1999, and went out on loan to local side Leyton Orient in August 2000, making 21 appearances in League and Cup competitions and scoring four goals.^[3] Injury to his knee ligaments ended his season and he returned to West Ham in November 2000.^[4] He made his first team debut for West Ham in a League Cup match away at Reading in September 2001, but failed to gain a regular place in the team. After West Ham were relegated to the First Division in 2003, Garcia featured a few more times for the first-team, but made only 16 league appearances for the club before moving on to Colchester United in 2004.^[3]

[edit] Colchester United

Garcia signed for Colchester United in September 2004 for an undisclosed fee, and made his debut in the same month against Swindon Town. He went on to make 30 appearances in the 2004–05 season, scoring six goals.^[3] The following season Garcia played an important part in helping the club to second place in League One and promotion to the Championship,^[5] and to the fifth-round of the FA Cup where they were beaten by English champions Chelsea, although Colchester were at one point winning the match after Garcia's cross was put into his own net by Ricardo Carvalho.^[6] Garcia's season was cut short by a knee injury in March 2006, which later required surgery.^[7] Following the end of the season, Garcia signed a new contract with the club.^[8] In August 2006, he scored Colchester's first goal of the 2006–07 season in the Championship on the opening game against Birmingham City,^[9] going on to make 36 league appearances, scoring seven goals,^[3] as Colchester pushed for a place in the end of season promotion playoff positions.^[10] At the end of the season, Garcia had made a total of 96 appearances in all competitions for Colchester United, scoring 21 goals.^[3]

[edit] Hull City

Despite the offer of a new deal at Colchester, Garcia signed a three year contract with Hull City on 2 July 2007, on a free transfer under the Bosman ruling.^[11] He made his league debut for Hull against Plymouth Argyle in August 2007 and scored his first goal in the next game in the 3–0 win over Crewe Alexandra.^[12] He played a leading role in the club's push for promotion in the 2007–08 season, despite a shoulder injury suffered in April 2008.^[13] Garcia returns to the Premiership a seasoned professional after Hull City's promotion play-off victory over Bristol City in May 2008. Garcia started Hull's first top flight game against Fulham on 16 August 2008, and performed well in his favoured right wing position. The following weekend at Ewood Park in a 1–1 draw against Blackburn Rovers, he scored Hull's equaliser with a brilliant header in the 39th minute, two minutes after Jason Roberts had given Blackburn the lead.

On July 31, 2009, it was revealed that Garcia had ruptured knee ligaments and would be out for at least 3 months.^[14]

[edit] International career

In an interview with Australia's Sun-Herald newspaper in April 2008, Garcia said he had ambitions to play for the Socceroos, Australia's national team, and hoped that his good form for Hull in their push for promotion to the Premier League would help him to achieve this.^[15] On 19 August 2008 he received his first senior international cap when he came on as a second half substitute in the friendly against South Africa at Loftus Road in London. That match ended in a 2–2 draw. His second cap came in a friendly match against Holland, again as a substitute, where the match was won by the Socceroos 2–1.

[edit] Personal life

Garcia speaks fluent Spanish since his father is Uruguayan and supports Real Madrid.^[1] He became close friends with Michael Carrick during their time at West Ham, and they were ushers at each other's weddings.^[16]

[edit] Career statistics

[edit] Club career

(correct as of 26 November 2009)

Cup includes domestic cups and promotion/relegation playoffs

[edit] References

[edit] External links

• Hull City profile
• Oz Football profile
• FFA profile
• Richard Garcia career stats at Soccerbase