BLACK SOCIAL HISTORY Anthony Derek Gardner (born 19 September 1980) is an England international football defender, who is a free agent after being released by Sheffield Wednesday. A tall centre-back, he has played once for England and been bought and sold for millions in the domestic transfer market. However, his career has been dogged with injuries, limiting his appearances.
Starting his career with Port Vale in 1998, within two years he earned a million-pound move to Tottenham Hotspur. He spent eight years at the Premier League club, making 142 appearances over all competitions. In 2008 he spent time on loan at both Everton and Hull City, before signing permanently with the latter that Summer for £2.5 million. He spent the 2010–11 season on loan at Crystal Palace, before joining the club permanently the next season. He signed with Sheffield Wednesdayin June 2012, and stayed with the club for two years.
Club career
Port Vale
Born in Stone, Staffordshire, Gardner started his career with First Division club Port Vale, making his debut under John Rudge in October of the 1998–99 season. He scored his first senior goal on 1 May 1999, in a 2–0 win over Queens Park Rangers. He made fifteen league appearances in 1998–99.
He made 29 appearances in 1999–2000 under new boss Brian Horton, scoring goals at Queens Park Rangers, Huddersfield Town, and Sheffield United. At the end of the season Vale were relegated into the Second Division, but by that time Gardner had already left the club.
Tottenham Hotspur
Gardner signed for George Graham's Tottenham Hotspur in January 2000 for £1 million. He worked his way up through the reserves before making his debut as a substitute against Derby County in March 2001. He finished the 2000–01 campaign with eight appearances to his name. However he suffered knee ligament damage at the back end of the season which ruled him out until December. He played nineteen games in 2001–02.
Gardner scored his first goal for Tottenham in a 3–2 victory over local rivals West Ham United in September 2002.[3] However he was limited to just thirteen appearances in 2002–03. He managed to play forty games in 2003–04, with 33 of these games being in the Premier League. He scored his second "Spurs" goal in a League Cup tie against Oldham Athletic on 22 September 2004.[4] However he made just seven league appearances in 2004–05. Injury restricted to just seventeen league matches again in 2005–06.[5][6] and made just sixteen appearances in 2006–07, of which eight were in the league.[7]
At the beginning of the 2007–08 season, Gardner found himself on the teamsheet due to the ongoing injuries of Ledley King and Michael Dawson. He did manage to make an impact – in vain – by scoring his team's only goal in their second Premier League game of the season at home to Everton on 15 August 2007, which "Spurs" went on to lose 3–1.[8]On 25 October he was injured playing against Getafe in the UEFA Cup. He was stretchered off with a suspected broken ankle in the 42nd minute. On 31 January 2008, Gardner signed for Everton on loan for the remainder of the season,[9] but did not make a single appearance. Over the course of the campaign he played just five competitive games for Tottenham.
During his time at White Hart Lane he made 142 competitive appearances in all competitions, and played under seven different managers.
Hull City
Gardner was loaned to Premier League newcomers Hull City at the start of the 2008–09 season.[10] The initial deal was to last until January 2009,[11] but Hull had the option of purchasing him at any point during the loan period.[12] Hull exercised their purchase option to make the loan move permanent in August for a fee of £2.5 million, which at the time was a club record signing.[13] On 23 March 2009, it was revealed that Gardner would miss the remainder of the season after x-rays revealed four fractured vertebrae in the base of his spine.[14] The injury was sustained in the 2–1 defeat to Arsenal in the FA Cup at the Emirates Stadium six days earlier.[15] Hull avoided relegation, however Gardner only played eight games in 2008–09.
Gardner played 24 games in 2009–10, as the "Tigers" suffered relegation into the Championship after finishing in 19th place. He made a further three appearances in 2010–11, before leaving the club.
Crystal Palace
On 31 August 2010, he moved to Crystal Palace on a five-month loan deal, which was later extended to the end of the season. He scored his first goal for Palace in a 2–1 win atNorwich City on 19 October.[16] Gardner made a total of 28 Championship appearances for Palace over the course of the campaign. At the end of the season, Gardner was not offered a new contract by Hull.[17] This allowed him to sign for Crystal Palace on a one-year contract in August 2011.[18]
Gardner was then an important part of Crystal Palace's defence in the 2011–12 season. He played all 120 minutes of Palace's "stunning extra-time victory at Old Trafford" on 30 November 2011, as they defeated Premier League champions Manchester United 2–1 to reach the semi-finals of the League Cup.[19][20] He scored with his head for the home side at both Selhurst Park and the Cardiff City Stadium in the semi-finals, leaving the tie level at 1–1 after two legs; Cardiff City won the subsequent penalty shoot-out to deny Palace a place at the final.[21][22] Gardner was short-listed for the club's Player of the Year award at the end of the season, though the award instead went to fellow defenderJonathan Parr.[23] Palace decided to offer him a new contract, but it quickly became apparent that Gardner would instead be moving to a new club.[24]
Sheffield Wednesday
He signed a two-year contract with Championship newcomers Sheffield Wednesday on 20 June 2012; manager Dave Jones said that he "is a quality player and a leader, with Championship and Premiership pedigree".[25] He made his "Owls" debut on 13 August, in a 4–2 League Cup win over Oldham Athletic.[26] He made 38 appearances in the 2012–13 season, and was twice named on the Championship Team of the Week.[27][28]
Gardner played six games before being ruled out for the 2013–14 season after requiring surgery on an Achilles injury in September.[29] He was released by new manager Stuart Gray in May 2014.[30]
International career
Gardner began to impress during the 2003–04 season, and earned his England call-up as cover for Gareth Southgate in a friendly against Denmark in March 2004.[31] He won his first and only England cap against Sweden on 31 March 2004, after Sven-Göran Eriksson used him as a half-time substitute for John Terry.[32]
Personal life
Statistics
- As of 3 May 2014.[34]
| Season | Club | Division | League | FA Cup | League Cup | Other[35] | Total | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | |||
| 1998–99[36] | Port Vale | First Division | 15 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 15 | 1 |
| 1999–2000[37] | 26 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 29 | 3 | ||
| Total | 41 | 4 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 44 | 4 | ||
| 1999–2000[37] | Tottenham Hotspur | Premier League | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 2000–01[38] | 8 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 8 | 0 | ||
| 2001–02[39] | 15 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 19 | 0 | ||
| 2002–03[40] | 12 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 13 | 1 | ||
| 2003–04[41] | 33 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 40 | 0 | ||
| 2004–05[42] | 17 | 0 | 5 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 24 | 1 | ||
| 2005–06[43] | 17 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 18 | 0 | ||
| 2006–07[44] | 8 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 16 | 0 | ||
| 2007–08[45] | 4 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 6 | 1 | ||
| 2007–08[45] | Everton | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| Total | 114 | 2 | 14 | 0 | 13 | 1 | 3 | 0 | 144 | 3 | ||
| 2008–09[46] | Hull City | Premier League | 6 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 8 | 0 |
| 2009–10[47] | 24 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 24 | 0 | ||
| 2010–11[48] | Championship | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 | |
| Total | 32 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 35 | 0 | ||
| 2010–11[48] | Crystal Palace | Championship | 28 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 29 | 1 |
| 2011–12[49] | 28 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 33 | 1 | ||
| Total | 56 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 5 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 62 | 2 | ||
| 2012–13[50] | Sheffield Wednesday | Championship | 37 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 38 | 0 |
| 2013–14[51] | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 6 | 0 | ||
| Total | 42 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 43 | 0 | ||
| Career total | 285 | 7 | 18 | 0 | 23 | 2 | 3 | 0 | 329 | 9                                                                                             | ||
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