BLACK SOCIAL HISTORY Emile William Ivanhoe Heskey born 11 January 1978 is an English footballer who plays for Newcastle Jets as a striker. Before joining the Australian club, he made more than 500 appearances in the Football League and Premier League over an 18-year career, and representedEngland in international football.
Born in Leicester, Heskey started his career with Leicester City after progressing through their youth system, making his first team debut in 1995. After winning the League Cup in 1997 and 2000 he made an £11 million move to Liverpool in 2000, which, at the time, was the record transfer fee paid by the club. At Liverpool, he won multiple honours, including the FA Cup in 2001. He moved to Birmingham City in 2004 and after their relegation from the FA Premier League signed for Wigan Athletic for a club record £5.5 million fee in 2006. He signed for Aston Villa in 2009 and was released in 2012 before signing for Australian A-League side Newcastle Jets.
Heskey was an England international at under-16, under-18, under-21, B and senior levels. He made his England debut against Hungary in a 1–1 draw in 1999. He lost his place in the squad after UEFA Euro 2004, during which he failed to shine and was the subject of much criticism. After a long lay-off from international duty, Heskey was recalled to the England squad for UEFA Euro 2008 qualifiers in September 2007. He retired from international football following the 2010 FIFA World Cup, having attained 62 caps and scored seven goals for his country.
Leicester CityClub careeDuring the 1996–97 season, his first in the Premier League, Heskey scored 10 goals in 35 appearances, and also scored the equaliser in the 1997 League Cup Final against Middlesbrough, which Leicester won in a replay. The following season, 1997–98, saw interest from Leeds United and Tottenham Hotspur for Heskey, as he again managed to score 10 Premier League goals, which made him Leicester's top scorer that season. However, the 1998–99season saw Heskey score only six top-flight goals, and he was criticised for not scoring enough goals and going to ground too easily. During this season however, he forged an effective strike partnership with Tony Cottee, who benefited from Heskey's unselfish style of play, which manager Martin O'Neillclaimed kept the club in the Premier League. He went on to win the League Cup again in 2000 with a 2–1 win against Tranmere Rovers in the Final.Heskey was born in Leicester, Leicestershire to a family of Antiguan descent, and his father, Tyrone Heskey, ran the security of nightclubs in Leicester. He was a keen footballer in his childhood and played for Ratby Groby Juniors, a local youth team in Leicester He stood out amongst his peers and at the age of nine he accepted a place at Leicester City's football academy. Progressing through their youth system, he made his first team debut at the age of 17 while still a first-year trainee in an FA Premier League match against Queens Park Rangers on 8 March 1995. Leicester were relegated to the First Division following the end of the 1994–95 season and he signed his first professional contract with the club on 3 October 1995. He became a first team regular in the 1995–96 season, making 30 appearances for the club, helping them earn promotion back to the FA Premier League. During this season, Heskey scored his first goal as a professional footballer, which came in a 1–0 victory over Norwich City, in a season he managed to score seven goals.
Liverpool
Heskey joined Liverpool on 10 March 2000 in a long-anticipated £11 million move, which, at the time, set the record transfer fee for the Merseyside club. Liverpool manager Gérard Houllier looked forward to working with him, but stated that "at his age he is not the finished product". The press saw the move as expensive and risky as Heskey was relatively inexperienced and was not a prolific goalscorer. However, he was held in high regard by both the England under–21 manager,Peter Taylor, and England and Liverpool teammate Michael Owen. Veteran Liverpool striker Ian Rush approved of the signing, noting that Heskey would "give Liverpool a different dimension", bringing strength to the Liverpool strikeforce and complementing Owen and Robbie Fowler's pacy play. Heskey made his debut in an FA Premier League clash with Sunderland on 11 March 2000 and scored his first goal in a 3–0 victory over Coventry City on 1 April. He finished the1999–2000 season with 12 appearances and three goals for Liverpool. He featured in the FA Cup Final on 12 May 2001, starting ahead of Robbie Fowler, which Liverpool won 2–1 against Arsenal. During the 2000–01 season Heskey scored 22 goals for Liverpool as the club won the FA Cup, League Cup and UEFA Cuptreble. He also scored Liverpool's second goal when they beat Bayern Munich 3–2 in the 2001 UEFA Super Cup.
"Some people like to criticise Emile, but I can produce plenty of facts and figures to back up how important he is to us, and how many goals we have scored that he has been involved in."
Gérard Houllier
Heskey was linked with a £12 million move to Tottenham Hotspur in December 2002, but Houllier insisted he was a part of his long-term plans and he remained at Liverpool. The same year, Heskey made a six-figure donation to aid a consortium led by Gary Lineker in their bid to buy-out his former club, Leicester City, who were experiencing financial difficulties. The 2002–03 season saw him score nine goals in 51 appearances for Liverpool and received criticism for his low goal to game ratio, with Houllier claiming that his future at the club was safe.
He picked up a hamstring injury during a match against Newcastle United in January 2004, which ruled him out of action for three weeks. In the 2003–04 season Heskey faced increasing competition from Milan Baroš for a place in the Liverpool starting line-up. Nevertheless, he scored 12 goals and secured a place in the England squad for the UEFA Euro 2004 tournament in Portugal.
Birmingham City
At the end of the 2003–04 season, Heskey signed for Birmingham City on a five-year contract for an initial fee of £3.5 million, which could have risen to £6.25 million, and would thus have become Birmingham's most expensive player. He suffered from an ankle injury during a pre-season friendly against CA Osasuna, which put his Premier League debut against Portsmouth in doubt. He was eventually able to play against Portsmouth on 14 August, and the match ended as a 1–1 draw. His first goal came with a header in the eighth minute against Manchester City, which was enough to earn a 1–0 victory on 24 August. Despite Birmingham's mediocre 2004–05 season, Heskey was named as the club's Player's Player of the Season, Fan's Player of the Season, finished as top goalscorer with 11 goals and won most Man of the match awards.
He suffered from an ankle injury against Blackburn Rovers on 19 April 2006, and after passing a late fitness test, played in a 0–0 draw against Everton on 22 April. Birmingham's 2005–06season, during which Heskey scored only four goals in 34 league appearances, culminated in relegation to the Championship. During this season, Heskey gave inconsistent performances and received abuse from Birmingham fans. Birmingham managing director Karren Brady stated that Birmingham's relegation meant that the last £1.5 million of the maximum £6.25 million fee for signing Heskey from Liverpool would not be payable.
Wigan Athletic
Heskey was signed by Wigan Athletic for a fee of £5.5 million on 7 July 2006. He made his debut for Wigan against Newcastle United on 19 August 2006, which his new club lost 2–1.] On his 500th league appearance, Heskey scored his first goal for Wigan in a 1–0 Premier League victory over Reading on 26 August. He scored eight goals in 36 appearances during the 2006–07 season, as Wigan avoided relegation on goal difference over Sheffield United, against whom Heskey played well for Wigan on 13 May 2007, in a game he nearly scored a bicycle kick. He suffered a suspected broken metatarsal in September, and made his return for Wigan in a 2–0 defeat to Arsenal in November. He picked up an ankle injury during Wigan's 5–3 victory against Blackburn Rovers in December. On 14 April 2008, Heskey scored a 90th minute equalising goal against Chelsea, which damaged their hopes of winning the Premier League. He went on to score Wigan's equaliser against Tottenham in the following game to give them a 1–1 draw, which proved to be his last goal of the 2007–08 season, which he finished with four goals in 28 appearances.
His first goal of the 2008–09 season came in Wigan's fourth game, a 5–0 victory against Hull City at the KC Stadium. He hinted in October that he would be interested in leaving Wigan to play in the Champions League, with former club Liverpool believed to be interested in signing him in the January transfer window.However, Wigan manager Steve Bruce hoped to persuade him to sign a new contract at the club. Heskey commented on reports of interest from Liverpool by saying "It would be lovely. We'll see how it goes." He scored his 100th goal in the Premier League against Portsmouth on 1 November, which secured a 2–1 victory for Wigan. Dave Whelan, the Wigan chairman, hinted that Heskey could be transferred by Wigan in January 2009, as a fee would be received, whereas he would move on for free in the summer, which came after he had stalled on talks over a new contract.
However, Steve Bruce said he would only accept an offer for Heskey if it was "outrageous". He later said he was confident of keeping Heskey at the club. Heskey picked up a hamstring injury during a match against Bolton Wanderers in December, which resulted in him missing an FA Cup third round tie against Tottenham Hotspur. He later said he would stay at Wigan and see out his contract until the summer of 2009.
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