Greg Halford

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Greg Halford
Personal information
Full name	Gregory Halford
Date of birth	8 December 1984 (1984-12-08) (age 23)
Place of birth	Chelmsford, England
Height	6 ft 5 in (1.96 m)
Playing position	Right-Back
Club information
Current club	Sunderland
Number	2
Youth clubs
2001–2002	Colchester United
Senior clubs1
Years	Club	App (Gls)*
2002–2007 2003 2007 2007– 2008	Colchester United → Braintree Town (loan) Reading Sunderland → Charlton Athletic (loan)	150 (24) 001 0(0) 003 0(0) 008 0(0) 0160 (2)
National team2
2005–	England U20	004 0(1)
1 Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 21:22, 5 May 2008 (utc). 2 National team caps and goals correct as of 23:15, 30 January 2007 (UTC). * Appearances (Goals)

Gregory Halford (born 8 December 1984, in Chelmsford, England) is a professional footballer currently with Sunderland.

Contents 1 Club career 1.1 Colchester United 1.2 Reading 1.3 Sunderland 2 International career 3 References 4 External links

[edit] Club career

[edit] Colchester United

Halford started his football career in July 2001 when he joined Colchester United's youth team.^[1] He signed a professional contract on 1 August 2002,^[1] made his first team debut on in a 5-0 home defeat to Luton Town on 21 April 2003,^[1] and scored his first senior goal in a 2-1 defeat at home to Hartlepool United.^[1]

Halford continued his progress at Colchester, picking up the Young Player of the Year award for the 2004-05 season,^[1] and being named in the PFA League One Team of the Year.^[2]

In over 150 games in five years for the first team at Layer Road, he gained the reputation of being a 'utility man' having played in defence, midfield and attack for club and country, his last manager, Geraint Williams, preferring to play him at right back. He also had a reputation for a long throw, with a high percentage of Colchester's goals in the 2005–06 season coming from Halford's long throw. He said "I tried measuring it one time - it was half the pitch, 50 yards."^[3]

[edit] Reading

After helping the U's to gain promotion to the Championship last term, Halford handed in a transfer request in August 2006 after interest from several Premier League clubs. Keen to prove himself at a higher level, the England U20 international stated his wish to play in the Premier League, but the transfer request was rejected despite Halford reporting that Colchester had received a "big offer" from Sheffield United. He was linked with a number of Premier League clubs, but on 30 January 2007, Reading completed the signing of Halford for an undisclosed fee,^[4] believed to be at least £2.25million,^[5] on a contract that would keep him at Reading until June 2010. His debut for Reading came as a substitute appearance in their 0-0 home draw with Portsmouth on 17 March 2007, where he played for the last few minutes on the left wing.^[6] He made his full debut in Reading's 1-0 defeat away to Tottenham Hotspur on 1 April 2007, where he conceded a penalty due to a controversial hand ball decision.^[7]

[edit] Sunderland

Halford signed a four year deal with Sunderland after making only three appearances for Reading in his short spell there. He was confirmed as Sunderland's first signing of the summer transfer window on 11 June 2007, and cost the club £3.5 million. Keane had previously tracked Halford and was extremely pleased to capture him, rating him very highly and expecting much from him in the 2007–08 season.^[8] Reading's Director of Football, Nick Hammond, revealed that Halford hadn't fitted in with the rest of the Reading squad, and hadn't made the impact both Reading and Halford had desired.^[9]

He made his debut for Sunderland in a 2-0 friendly victory over Football League Two team Darlington on 18 July 2007,^[10] with his league debut coming on 15 August 2007 in a 2-2 draw with Birmingham City at St Andrews.^[11]

However, on 11 January 2008, it was announced that Sunderland would listen to offers, following reported interest in him from Crystal Palace and Charlton Athletic.^[12] He moved on-loan to Charlton at the end of January 2008.^[13]

[edit] International career

Halford has been capped for England at U20 level, making his debut against Portugal in the Toulon Tournament on 4 June 2005,^[14] and scoring his first international goal in a 3-0 win against South Korea on 6 June 2005.^[15]

[edit] References

[edit] External links

• Greg Halford player profile at cafc.co.uk
• Greg Halford career stats at Soccerbase
• Greg Halford's official web site at icons.com

v • d • e Sunderland A.F.C. – current squad 1 Gordon • 2 Halford • 4 Etuhu • 5 Nosworthy • 6 McShane • 7 Edwards • 8 Whitehead • 9 Stokes • 10 K. Richardson • 11 Murphy • 12 Miller • 13 Ward • 14 Higginbotham • 15 Collins • 16 Chopra • 17 Jones • 18 Leadbitter • 19 Yorke • 20 Reid • 21 Anderson • 23 O'Donovan • 24 Carson • 25 Mvoto • 26 Bardsley • 28 Kavanagh • 29 Hartley • 31 Connolly • 32 Fülöp • 33 Wallace • 39 Waghorn • 40 Dowson • 44 Evans • 45 Prica • –– Arnau • Manager: Keane

Persondata
NAME	Halford, Greg
ALTERNATIVE NAMES	Halford, Gregory
SHORT DESCRIPTION	Footballer
DATE OF BIRTH	8 December 1984
PLACE OF BIRTH	Chelmsford
DATE OF DEATH
PLACE OF DEATH