Darius Vassell
Personal information
Full name	Darius Markus Vassell
Date of birth	13 June 1980 (1980-06-13) (age 27)
Place of birth	Birmingham, England
Height	1.70 m (5 ft 7 in)
Playing position	Forward/Wide Midfielder
Club information
Current club	Manchester City
Number	12
Senior clubs1
Years	Club	App (Gls)*
1997-2005 2005-	Aston Villa Manchester City	162 (35) 092 (17)
National team2
2002-2004	England	022 0(6)
1 Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 09:54, 21 March 2008 (UTC). 2 National team caps and goals correct as of September 3, 2006. * Appearances (Goals) is the 164th day of the year (165th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 1980 (MCMLXXX) was a leap year starting on Tuesday (link displays the 1980 Gregorian calendar). ... This article is about the British city. ... For other uses, see England (disambiguation). ... All the positions. ... Manchester City Football Club is an English professional football club based in the city of Manchester. ... Aston Villa Football Club play at Villa Park in Birmingham, England. ... Manchester City F.C. is a football club based in Manchester, United Kingdom. ... First international Scotland 0 - 0 England (Partick, Scotland; 30 November 1872) Biggest win Ireland 0 - 13 England (Belfast, Ireland; 18 February 1882) Biggest defeat Hungary 7 - 1 England (Budapest, Hungary; 23 May 1954) World Cup Appearances 12 (First in 1950) Best result Winners, 1966 European Championship Appearances 7 (First in... is the 246th day of the year (247th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 2006 (MMVI) was a common year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar. ...

Darius Vassell (born 13 June 1980 to Jamaican parents in Sutton Coldfield) is an English international footballer who plays club football in the Premiership at Manchester City. He started his career off as a striker but been used in the wide positions of midfield at Manchester City under the management of Stuart Pearce and Sven-Göran Eriksson. is the 164th day of the year (165th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 1980 (MCMLXXX) was a leap year starting on Tuesday (link displays the 1980 Gregorian calendar). ... , Holy Trinity Church on Trinity Hill north of Sutton town centre. ... First international Scotland 0 - 0 England (Partick, Scotland; 30 November 1872) Biggest win Ireland 0 - 13 England (Belfast, Ireland; 18 February 1882) Biggest defeat Hungary 7 - 1 England (Budapest, Hungary; 23 May 1954) World Cup Appearances 12 (First in 1950) Best result Winners, 1966 European Championship Appearances 7 (First in... Soccer redirects here. ... For the Scottish equivalent see Scottish Premier League The FA Premier League (often referred to as the Barclays Premiership in England and the Barclays English Premier League or just simply The EPL internationally) is a league competition for football clubs located at the top of the English football league system... Manchester City Football Club is an English professional football club based in the city of Manchester. ... Stuart Pearce MBE (born April 24, 1962 in Hammersmith, London) is an English football coach, currently the manager of the England Under 21s. ...   (IPA: , born 5 February 1948) is a Swedish football manager. ...

Club career

Early career

Vassell was raised in from Wylde Green and went to the Yenton Primary School in Erdington and John Willmott School, in Falcon Lodge, Sutton Coldfield. He first played football with local junior team Romulus in the Birmingham Boys League scoring a record of 46 ina season and 6 in 1 match. Vassell was the best player but fell out with the coach and didn't play in all the games so the next season he only scored 12. He signed on for the Aston Villa youth team and thats when his career began.,^[1] Wylde Green is a residential area just to the south of the town of Sutton Coldfield, Birmingham, England. ... Erdington constituency shown within Birmingham Erdington is an area in north Birmingham, England. ... John Willmott School is an 11-18 Community Comprehensive School in Sutton Coldfield. ... Falcon Lodge (SP141962GB) is an area of Sutton Coldfield covered in predominatly council houses forming the Falcon Lodge Estate. ... , Holy Trinity Church on Trinity Hill north of Sutton town centre. ... Romulus Football Club is a football club based in Castle Vale, Birmingham, England. ...

Aston Villa

An Aston Villa fan, Vassell was taken on by the club's School of Excellence. While playing for the Aston Villa youth team Vassell set a club record by scoring 39 goals in a single season.^[2] He made his first team debut as a substitute in a 3-1 win against Middlesbrough in August 1998. Aston Villa redirects here. ...

Vassell's best qualities are his speed and agility.^[3] Aston Villa fans lamented the fact that his best performances seem to come with England, where he has proved particularly useful as a "super sub", coming on for the last 15 to 20 minutes of a game to trouble a tired defence with his exceptional pace^[3]. One oddity of his career is that he has never finished on the losing side in a league game in which he has scored.^[4]

Manchester City

Vassell was transferred to Manchester City on July 27, 2005 for £2m.^[5] Manchester City Football Club is an English professional football club based in the city of Manchester. ... is the 208th day of the year (209th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 2005 (MMV) was a common year starting on Saturday (link displays full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ...

During his first season for Manchester City, Darius scored eight league goals in 35 appearances, forming an effective partnership with Andy Cole. Additionally, he helped the Blues to an FA Cup Quarter Final, scoring two goals in his five cup games. He played part of the season with a hernia problem, which required surgery in the close season.^[6] Andrew Alexander Andy Cole (born 15 October 1971 in Nottingham) is an English footballer, who is one of the highest scoring players in the games history. ... This article is about the English FA Cup. ... Look up hernia in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ...

During his second season for the club, he generally struggled to find his best form. In the latter half of the season, many of his appearances were as a wide midfielder, as manager Stuart Pearce adopted a defensive 4-5-1 formation. Vassell has been linked with a move away from Eastlands, with Turkish runners-up Besiktas having a £1m bid rejected and linked to other clubs, including Premier League rivals Bolton and newly-promoted Derby. Vassell scored his 50th Premier League goal on 10th February 2008 in the victory against local rivals Manchester United.On the 20th of April 2008 Darius scored the opening goal in City's 3-1 win over Portsmouth . BeÅŸiktaÅŸ J.K. (Full Turkish name: BeÅŸiktaÅŸ Jimnastik Kulübü, BeÅŸiktaÅŸ Gymnastics Club) is a Turkish sports club from Ä°stanbul, which professionally participates in many branches including football, basketball, volleyball, handball and chess. ... Bolton Wanderers Football Club is an English professional football club based in Horwich, in the Borough of Bolton, England. ... Current season Derby County Football Club are an English football club based in Derby. ... Portsmouth Football Club is an English football club based in the south coast island city of Portsmouth. ...

International career

Vassell made his England debut on Wednesday 13th February 2002 in a man of the match performace against Holland in a 1-1 draw. Fellow debutants in this game were Michael Ricketts and Wayne Bridge. He scored in the game with a 60th minute bicycle kick to equalise. He was subsequently included in England's 2002 World Cup campaign. He played in three games, starting just one: against Sweden in England's opening group game. The positive contribution of Vassell's England career has been somewhat overshadowed by his penalty shoot-out miss in the quarter-finals of Euro 2004. Coming on for the injured Wayne Rooney early on in the game, Vassell missed England's last spot-kick in the penalty shoot-out, putting England out of the tournament. Vassell has not been recalled to an England squad since. A bicycle kick, scissors kick, or overhead kick is a move in football, which is made by throwing the body up into the air, making a shearing movement with the legs to get one leg high overhead to reach the ball (in original head height), which gets kicked backward over...

Personal life

Vassell is a practicising Christian, and credits his faith for his survival of a serious car accident.^[1]

Honours / Achievements

England

• Senior England Caps(Goals): 22(6)
• Included in World Cup Squad (2002)
• Included in European Championships Squad (2004)

Aston Villa Youth

• Record Goalscorer for 1 season: 39 goals

References

is the 119th day of the year (120th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 2007 (MMVII) was a common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar in the 21st century. ... is the 119th day of the year (120th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 2007 (MMVII) was a common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar in the 21st century. ... is the 129th day of the year (130th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 2007 (MMVII) was a common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar in the 21st century. ... is the 129th day of the year (130th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 2007 (MMVII) was a common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar in the 21st century. ... is the 119th day of the year (120th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 2007 (MMVII) was a common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar in the 21st century. ... is the 119th day of the year (120th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 2007 (MMVII) was a common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar in the 21st century. ...

External links

• Darius Vassell at the Internet Movie Database
• Darius Vassell career stats at Soccerbase
• Info on player

v • d • e England squad - 2002 FIFA World Cup
1 Seaman • 2 Mills • 3 A. Cole • 4 Sinclair • 5 Ferdinand • 6 Campbell • 7 Beckham • 8 Scholes • 9 Fowler • 10 Owen • 11 Heskey • 12 Brown • 13 Martyn • 14 Bridge • 15 Keown • 16 Southgate • 17 Sheringham • 18 Hargreaves • 19 J. Cole • 20 Vassell • 21 Butt • 22 James • 23 Dyer • Coach: Eriksson