Steven James "Steve" Sidwell (born 14 December 1982) is an English professional footballer who plays as a midfielder for Aston Villa in the Premier League.

[edit] Football career

[edit] Arsenal

Sidwell was born in Wandsworth, London. He was part of the Arsenal youth team that won the FA Youth Cup in 2000 and 2001. One of his team mates during these years was James Harper, who he would go on to play with at Reading. He had successful loan spells with Brentford and Brighton, but was unable to break into the Arsenal first team.^[1]

[edit] Reading

Sidwell moved to Reading for an undisclosed fee on a four-and-a-half year deal in January 2003.^[2] In 2004, Four Four Two Magazine voted him the best player outside the Premier League.^{[citation needed]}

A vital part of Reading's Championship-winning 2005–06 squad, in April 2006 Sidwell was named in the Championship Team of the Year^[3] by the Professional Footballers' Association, keeping the place he had been given the previous year.

In the summer of 2006, Sidwell rejected a contract extension,^[4] and it was rumoured that he might be sold to Everton, Charlton Athletic^[5] or Manchester City,^[6] as his contract was due to run out at the end of the 2006–07 season. Reading decided to keep Sidwell for their inaugural season in the Premier League, and risk losing him without a transfer fee when his contract ran out.

Over the course of the season, he was linked with a number of high profile clubs. After the last game of the season, Reading manager Steve Coppell confirmed that Sidwell had left the club and knew who he had signed for, but refused to say.^[7]

[edit] Chelsea

Sidwell joined Chelsea on 1 July 2007 on a free transfer from Reading,^[8] and was given squad number 9 for the 2007–08 season.^[9] In his first interview after joining Chelsea, Sidwell stated that he had not come to Chelsea to 'make up the numbers', and that he believed training and playing alongside top players like Michael Essien and Frank Lampard would only help him improve.^[10]

He made his debut for Chelsea in a 2–1 win over Mexican side Club América in a friendly match in Stanford, California, during Chelsea's summer 2007 tour of the United States. His Premiership debut for Chelsea came on 12 August 2007 in a 3–2 victory against Birmingham City when he replaced Florent Malouda in the 83rd minute,^[11] and he scored his only goal for the club on 26 September 2007, in a 4-0 win away to Hull City in the third round of the Football League Cup.^[12]

At the end of the 2007–08 season, Sidwell became linked to several Premier League clubs, including Everton, Aston Villa and Middlesbrough.^[13]

[edit] Aston Villa

Steve Sidwell (left) and Nicky Shorey (right) during an open training session at Villa Park

On 10 July 2008, Sidwell signed a three-year deal with Aston Villa for an undisclosed fee, believed to be in the region of £5m.^[14][15] He made his debut for the club in a pre-season game against FC Zürich, playing the first 45 minutes, in a match which Villa lost 2-1.^[16] On 19 July 2008, Sidwell scored an own goal for Odense in the UEFA Intertoto Cup 2008 in a 2-2 draw at Fionia Park. A week later he made his home debut in the return leg of the fixture, with Villa winning 1-0 on the day, and 3-2 on aggregate. Sidwell scored on his Premier League debut for Aston Villa against Wigan Athletic after coming on as a late substitute in a match which Villa won 4-0.^[17] Sidwell nearly had his second Villa goal on 6 November 2008 when Villa played a UEFA Cup group stage match away to Slavia Prague, Sidwell's powerful shot was heading for goal but the ball struck fellow Villa player John Carew and went in, therefore the goal was credited to Carew, not Sidwell. Villa went on to win the match 1-0, and it saw them jump to the top of Group F and continue their 100% record in the competitions group stages, Sidwell played a vital role in the heart of the Villa midfield and followed up his goalscoring display against Wigan. Sidwell scored his first goal at Villa Park in a 2-1 loss against Middlesbrough on 9 November 2008.^[18] In that game, he made an error which allowed Middlesbrough's Tuncay Şanlı in to score the winner for Middlesbrough.^[19] However, Sidwell bounced back quickly after that error and put in two impressive performances in the two following Premier League matches, against Arsenal and Manchester United respectively, with an increasingly impressive Villa team earning 4 points from the two games. Sidwell scored his third goal of the season just 34 seconds into the Premier League match against Everton on 7 December 2008. Villa won the match 3-2.^[20] He most recently gave a notable assist during a game against Hull City on the 5th December 2009. Sidwell quickly threw the ball to a team mate whilst warming up after Hull keeper Matt Duke had foolishly come out of goal to clear the ball. Sidwell's part in the goal was made even better as he was not brought off the bench during the game. Harsh observers have said it is ironic that Sidwell has made one of his most telling contributions in a Villa shirt whilst not being on the pitch.

[edit] Honours

• with Arsenal
  • FA Youth Cup: 1999–2000, 2000–01
• with Reading
  • Football League Championship (level 2): 2005–06
• with Chelsea
  • Premier League runners-up: 2007–08
  • UEFA Champions League runners-up: 2007–08
• with Aston Villa
  • Peace Cup
    • Winner: 2009

[edit] Personal life

Sidwell married Krystell on 19 June 2005. Within days of returning from their honeymoon, Steve had a tattoo of the wedding vows he had written for Krystell placed on his back.^[21] Their first son Harry was born in April 2006. His second son, Rocko, was born on December 4, 2008 a few days before he scored a goal against Everton in the Barclays Premier League.^[22] Steve also enjoys Crazy Golf and recently won a celebrity tournament where he was partnered by fellow ginger star Mick Hucknell.

His brother, Lee Sidwell, is a footballer. He played for AFC Wimbledon during the 2002–03 campaign, their inaugural season in the Combined Counties Football League Division One, and also won the award for Player of the Year during that season. He left the club in September 2004 to join Whyteleafe,^[23] though he no longer plays for them.^[24] He has also played for Netherne (now Coulsdon United) and Chipstead.^[25]

[edit] References

[edit] External links

• Steve Sidwell career stats at Soccerbase