Gary McSheffrey

Football player infobox
playername = Gary McSheffrey


fullname = Gary McSheffrey
height = height|ft=5|in=8
dateofbirth = birth date and age|1982|8|13
cityofbirth = Coventry
countryofbirth = England
currentclub = Birmingham City
clubnumber = 11
position = Striker / Left-winger
youthyears =
youthclubs =
years = 1998–2006
2001
2001–2002
2003
2004
2006–
clubs = Coventry City
→ IK Brage (loan)
→ Stockport County (loan)
→ Luton Town (loan)
→ Luton Town (loan)
Birmingham City
caps(goals) = 143 (44)
006 0(0)
005 0(1)
018 0(8)
005 0(1)
077 (16)
nationalyears =
nationalteam =
nationalcaps(goals) =
pcupdate = 18:30, 21 September 2008 (UTC)
ntupdate =

Gary McSheffrey, (born August 13, 1982), is an English footballer, currently playing for Birmingham City in the Football League Championship. He plays either on the left of midfield or as a striker.

Playing career

McSheffrey was born in Coventry, and began his football career at home town club Coventry City. When he made his first-team début against local rivals Aston Villa at the age of 16 years and 198 days on February 27, 1999, a game that Coventry won 4–1, he became the youngest player ever to play in the Premier League. He held the record for over four years until Aaron Lennon made his Leeds United debut at a younger age in August 2003. [cite web
url=http://www.infostradasports.com/asp/sdm/content_sdmail_vol5_35.asp |title=Football Facts |publisher=Infostrada Sports |date=2003-08-28 |accessdate=2007-11-04] During his time at Coventry he spent loan spells at Luton Town, Stockport County and Swedish side IK Brage. He also won England U-20 honours. [cite web
url=http://www.thefa.com/England/U20s/NewsAndFeatures/Postings/2002/05/11744.htm |title=U20s miss out on third |publisher=The FA |date=2002-06-06 |accessdate=2007-12-03]

Coventry City

Playing primarily on the left wing in the 2005–06 season, McSheffrey ended up amongst the top scorers in the Football League Championship with 15 league goals. It was form like this that brought him to the attention of local rivals Birmingham City during the summer of 2006. After weeks of bidding, Coventry announced they had accepted an offer worth £4 million. [cite web
url=http://www.ccfc.premiumtv.co.uk/page/News/ClubNewsDetail/0,,10269~883153,00.html |title=Chairman sadness at McSheffrey departure |date=2006-08-16 |publisher=Coventry City F.C.
accessdate=2007-03-20 ] This has since been estimated at £2.3m cash with a further £1.3m depending on promotion and appearances. [cite news
url=http://iccoventry.icnetwork.co.uk/0300coventrycity/0100news/tm_headline=mcsheffrey-didn%2Dt-deserve-the-boos%26method=full%26objectid=18032187%26page=2%26siteid=50003-name_page.html
title=McSheffrey didn't deserve the boos |publisher=Coventry Evening Telegraph
date=2006-11-02 |accessdate=2007-03-20] The deal was completed on August 16, 2006, and McSheffrey became a Birmingham City player three days after his 24th birthday.

Birmingham City

Following his move to Birmingham McSheffrey featured in the Championship team of the month and won the Player of the Month award for October 2006. He scored his first hat-trick for his new club in a league match against Preston North End on December 9, 2006. [cite web
url=http://soccernet.espn.go.com/report?id=203016&cc=5739 |title=Birmingham 3-1 Preston |publisher=ESPN Soccernet |date=2006-12-09 |accessdate=2007-11-04] On December 2, 2007 he converted a penalty in Birmingham's 3–2 win against Tottenham Hotspur at White Hart Lane to score his first goal in the Premier League. [cite news
url=http://icbirmingham.icnetwork.co.uk/mail/blues/tm_headline=gary-mcsheffrey-reveals-penalty-nerves%26method=full%26objectid=20196651%26siteid=50002-name_page.html |title=Gary McSheffrey reveals penalty nerves |author=Tattum, Colin |publisher=Birmingham Mail |date=2007-12-03 |accessdate=2007-12-03] . In preparation for the forthcoming 08-09 season Birmingham played a series of friendlies between Czech Republic, German and Austrian teams were McSheffery impressed and blossomed under the guidance of Alex McLeish the succesor to Steve Bruce who had brought him to the club.

Notes

External links

*soccerbase|id=16420|name=Gary McSheffrey