Jonathan Greening

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Jonathan Greening
Personal information
Full name Jonathan Greening
Date of birth January 2, 1979 (1979-01-02) (age 29)
Place of birth    Scarborough, England
Height 5 ft 11 in (1.80 m)
Playing position Midfielder
Club information
Current club West Bromwich Albion
Number 8
Senior clubs1
Years Club App (Gls)*
1996–1998
1998–2001
2001–2004
2004–		 York City
Manchester United
Middlesbrough
West Bromwich Albion		 026 (2)
014 (0)
099 (4)
160 (5)   
National team2
England U21 017 (3)

1 Senior club appearances and goals
counted for the domestic league only and
correct as of 23:12, 1 March 2008 (UTC).
2 National team caps and goals correct
as of 15:02, 20 October 2007 (UTC).
* Appearances (Goals)

Jonathan Greening, (born January 2, 1979 in Scarborough, England), is an English footballer. He began his career in 1996 with York City, has also played for Manchester United and Middlesbrough, and since 2004 he has played for West Bromwich Albion. His favoured position is as an attacking left sided midfielder though he can also play effectively in more central positions.

Contents

[edit] Career

[edit] York City

He broke into the York side towards the end of the 1996–97 season, and helped to keep them in Division Two, but on 26 March 1998 — one year and four days after his debut — he signed for Manchester United.

[edit] Manchester United

The Minstermen have since slumped into the Football Conference, but in the meantime Greening gained England U-21 recognition despite his failure to gain a regular first-team place at Old Trafford. As an attacking midfielder, he faced massive competition from more established players in both positions and his first-team opportunities were restricted, although he did make the substitute's bench in the 1999 UEFA Champions League final. He later admitted that he "felt a bit of a fraud" for picking up his winner's medal, having not played a single minute of European football that season.[1]

Greening signed a new contract with United at the end of the 1999–2000 season, but by 2001 he had become frustrated by the lack of first-team opportunities, and conceded that he would need to leave the club in order to play regularly.[2]

[edit] Middlesbrough

In the summer of 2001, Greening joined Middlesbrough for £2million after United accepted an offer from their former assistant Steve McClaren.[3] Greening remained on Teesside for three seasons, being voted Club Player of the Year for 2002–03 and also being selected for the full England squad (though he did not play).[4] But his first-team chances were more limited during the 2003–04 season, after which he signed for West Bromwich Albion for an initial £1.25m.[5]

[edit] West Bromwich Albion

Greening made his Albion debut in a 1–1 draw away at Blackburn Rovers on the opening day of the 2004–05 Premiership season,[6] and quickly established himself as a key player in the Baggies' midfield, helping to secure their Premiership survival in his first season. In his first three years at the club he made a total of 125 appearances, only seven of which were as a substitute.

In the summer of 2007 he signed a new three-year contract with West Brom,[7] and was made club captain for the 2007–08 season.[8] His performances during the campaign led to him being named in the Championship Team of the Week on several occasions.[9][10][11] Greening missed the fifth round FA Cup match at Coventry City due to suspension,[12] but it was the only match he missed during the campaign; he started all 46 league matches and also participated in eight out of nine cup games. He captained Albion in the FA Cup semi-final, where they lost 1–0 to Portsmouth,[13] and one month later led the team to promotion as winners of the Football League Championship.[14] Greening was named in the PFA Championship Team of the Year, alongside team mates Paul Robinson and Kevin Phillips.[15] During the last two months of the season Greening suffered from a double hernia problem but played on until the end of the campaign, when he had an operation to rectify the injury.[16]

[edit] Style of play

Although naturally right-sided, Greening can operate anywhere across the midfield.[17] Initially an attacking wide midfielder, he later moved to a central midfield holding role. Team mate Dean Kiely has said that Greening "sprays passes around like a quarterback" as part of Albion's ethos of attacking football under Tony Mowbray.[18]

[edit] Honours

[edit] References

  1. ^ "Greening attacks Man Utd youth policy", BBC Sport, 2001-08-04. Retrieved on 2007-05-02. 
  2. ^ "Greening: I have to leave", BBC Sport, 2001-03-28. Retrieved on 2007-05-02. 
  3. ^ "Man Utd duo complete Boro move", BBC Sport, 2001-08-09. Retrieved on 2007-05-02. 
  4. ^ "Greening earns England call", BBC Sport, 2002-11-11. Retrieved on 2007-05-02. 
  5. ^ "Greening joins West Brom", BBC Sport, 2004-07-29. Retrieved on 2007-05-02. 
  6. ^ "Blackburn 1-1 West Brom", BBC Sport, 2004-08-14. Retrieved on 2007-05-02. 
  7. ^ "Greening extends West Brom contract", Eurosport, 2007-08-03. Retrieved on 2007-08-17. 
  8. ^ "Greening to stay Albion skipper", Express & Star, 2007-10-05. Retrieved on 2007-10-09. 
  9. ^ Coca-Cola Championship Team Of The Week (20/08/2007) (pdf). The Football League (2007-08-20). Retrieved on 2007-10-09.
  10. ^ Coca-Cola Championship Team Of The Week (05/11/2007) (pdf). The Football League (2007-11-05). Retrieved on 2007-11-05.
  11. ^ Coca-Cola Championship Team Of The Week (14/01/2008) (pdf). The Football League (2008-01-14). Retrieved on 2008-01-14.
  12. ^ "Greening out of cup clash", West Bromwich Albion F.C., 2008-02-11. Retrieved on 2008-05-04. 
  13. ^ McKenzie, Andrew. "West Brom 0-1 Portsmouth", BBC Sport, 2008-04-05. Retrieved on 2008-04-09. 
  14. ^ "QPR 0-2 West Brom", BBC Sport, 2008-05-04. Retrieved on 2008-05-04. 
  15. ^ "Ronaldo named player of the year", BBC Sport, 2008-04-27. Retrieved on 2008-05-15. 
  16. ^ "Greening reveals injury secret", West Bromwich Albion F.C., 2008-05-19. Retrieved on 2008-05-19. 
  17. ^ Taylor, Louise. "Greening beats United boss in mind game", TimesOnline, 2003-01-19. Retrieved on 2008-01-14. 
  18. ^ Solhekol, Kaveh. "Q&A: Dean Kiely, West Bromwich Albion", TimesOnline, 2008-01-14. Retrieved on 2008-01-14. 

[edit] External links


v • d • e
West Bromwich Albion F.C. – current squad

1 Kiely • 2 Hoefkens • 3 Robinson • 4 Barnett • 5 Clement • 7 Koren • 8 Greening • 9 Bednář • 11 Gera • 12 Kim • 14 Albrechtsen • 15 MacDonald • 16 Hodgkiss • 17 Miller • 18 Martis • 19 Daněk • 20 Teixeira • 21 Phillips • 22 Nicholson • 23 Tininho • 24 Moore • 26 Pelé • 27 Morrison • 29 Brunt • 32 Worrall • Manager: Mowbray
Retrieved from "http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jonathan_Greening"
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