Darius Vassell

Darius Martin Clarke Vassell (born 13 June 1980) is an English former professional footballer who played as a forward for Aston Villa, Manchester City, Ankaragücü and Leicester City.

Darius Vassell
Vassell playing for Leicester City in 2011
Personal information
Full name Darius Martin Clarke Vassell[1]
Date of birth (1980-06-13) 13 June 1980[1]
Place of birth Birmingham, England
Height 1.70 m (5 ft 7 in)[2]
Position(s) Striker, winger
Youth career
Romulus
1996–1998 Aston Villa
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
1998–2005 Aston Villa 162 (35)
2005–2009 Manchester City 103 (17)
2009–2010 Ankaragücü 22 (4)
2010–2012 Leicester City 44 (6)
Total 331 (62)
International career
1998–1999 England U18 5 (0)
1999–2001 England U21 11 (1)
2002–2004 England 22 (6)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals

Vassell began his career at his home town club Aston Villa in the Premier League, being developed by their academy and making his first team debut in 1998. He was sold for £2 million in 2005 to another Premier League club, Manchester City, staying for four seasons before being released in 2009, moving abroad to Turkey for a season to play for the Süper Lig team Ankaragücü. In October 2010 he was brought back to England by his former international manager Sven-Göran Eriksson to play for the Championship side Leicester City.

Under Eriksson with England, Vassell scored six goals from 22 international caps awarded between 2002 and 2004, including appearances at the 2002 FIFA World Cup in South Korea and Japan, and UEFA Euro 2004 in Portugal.

Club career

Early career

Vassell was born in Birmingham, West Midlands.[1] He was raised in the Gravelly Hill area of Birmingham 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 in a season and 6 in 1 match. Following this he signed for the Aston Villa youth team.[3]

Aston Villa

An Aston Villa fan, Vassell was taken on by the club's School of Excellence. While playing for the club's youth team Vassell set a club record by scoring 39 goals in a single season.[4] He made his first team debut as a substitute in a 3–1 win against Middlesbrough in August 1998.

Vassell's best qualities were his speed and agility.[5] 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.[5] One oddity of his career was that he had never finished on the losing side in a league game in which he had scored.[6] This run ended on 22 April 2011 when he scored for Leicester City during the 3–2 defeat to Nottingham Forest.

Manchester City
Vassell playing for Manchester City

Vassell was transferred to Manchester City in July 2005 for £2 million.[7] During his first season for Manchester City, Vassell scored eight league goals in 35 appearances, forming an effective partnership with Andrew 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.[8]

In the 2007–08 season, he was assigned the number 12, as teammate Elano took the number 11 shirt. 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 Sven-Göran Eriksson adopted a defensive 4–5–1 formation. Vassell was 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 Wanderers and newly promoted Derby County. Vassell scored his 50th Premier League goal on 10 February 2008, in the victory against local rivals Manchester United. Vassell only played 15 games in 2008–09[9] and was released at the end of the season as his contract expired.[10]

Ankaragücü

In July 2009 Vassell signed for the Turkish side Ankaragücü.[11] Around 3,000 fans turned out and celebrated his arrival.[12] He scored his first goal in the Turkish Süper Lig against Manisaspor in the second week of the season. He parted company with the club at the end of the 2009–10 season.[13]

Leicester City

On 20 October 2010, Vassell signed for English side Leicester City on a two-year deal until the end of 2011–12 season,[14] reuniting him with his former Manchester City and England manager Eriksson. He scored his first goal for Leicester in a 5–1 win over Doncaster Rovers on 11 December.

On 29 October 2011, he suffered a serious knee injury in a game against West Ham United which ruled him out for the rest of the season. The injury was a ruptured anterior cruciate ligament.[15] Vassell left the club on 30 June after not being offered a new contract.

Vassell remained without a club until his retirement on 28 January 2016, at the age of 35.[16]

International career

Vassell made his England debut on 13 February 2002, in a man of the match performance against Netherlands 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.

Vassell missed in the penalty shoot-out in the quarter-finals of Euro 2004 against hosts Portugal. Coming on for the injured Wayne Rooney early on in the game, he missed England's last spot-kick in the penalty shoot-out, allowing Portugal goalkeeper Ricardo to knock England out of the tournament by scoring the final penalty.[17] Vassell did not play for England again.

Personal life

Vassell was born to Jamaican parents and is a practising Christian. He credits his faith for his survival of a serious car accident.[3] Vassell's cousin Isaac is also a footballer and plays for Cardiff City.[18] He is married to Amani Rodriquez-Thomas, they have a daughter named Persia; Vassell's 2017 autobiography Road to Persia was titled for her.[19] He is also a cousin of Kilmarnock F.C. forward Kyle Vassell.[20]

Career statistics

Club
Appearances and goals by club, season and competition
Season Club Division League National cup[lower-alpha 1] League cup[lower-alpha 2] Europe Total
AppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoals
Aston Villa 1997–98[21] Premier League 0000000000
1998–99[22] Premier League 6010103[lower-alpha 3]2112
1999–2000[23] Premier League 1101050—170
2000–01[24] Premier League 23431103[lower-alpha 4]0305
2001–02[25] Premier League 361210106[lower-alpha 5]24414
2002–03[26] Premier League 33810332[lower-alpha 4]03911
2003–04[27] Premier League 3291061—3910
2004–05[28] Premier League 2120011—223
Total 162358118514420245
Manchester City 2005–06[29] Premier League 3684111—4110
2006–07[30] Premier League 3234200—365
2007–08[31] Premier League 2763020—326
2008–09[32] Premier League 8010006[lower-alpha 3]1151
Total 10317123316112422
Ankaragücü 2009–10[33] Süper Lig 22430——254
Leicester City 2010–11[34] Championship 3141000—324
2011–12[35] Championship 1320000—132
Total 4461000—456
Career total 3316224421620539677
  1. Includes FA Cup, Turkish Cup
  2. Includes Football League Cup
  3. Appearances in UEFA Cup
  4. Appearances in UEFA Intertoto Cup
  5. Five appearances and two goals in UEFA Intertoto Cup, one in UEFA Cup

International
Appearances and goals by national team and year[36]
National teamYearAppsGoals
England 200293
200361
200472
Total226
Scores and results list England's goal tally first, score column indicates score after each Vassell goal.
List of international goals scored by Darius Vassell[36]
No. Date Venue Cap Opponent Score Result Competition
1 13 February 2002Johan Cruyff Arena, Amsterdam, Netherlands1 Netherlands1–11–1Friendly
2 17 April 2002Anfield, Liverpool, England3 Paraguay3–04–0Friendly
3 26 May 2002Noevir Stadium Kobe, Hyōgo-ku, Kobe, Japan5 Cameroon1–12–2Friendly
4 2 April 2003Stadium of Light, Sunderland, England11 Turkey1–02–0UEFA Euro 2004 qualifying
5 5 June 2004City of Manchester Stadium, Manchester, England18 Iceland4–16–1Friendly
6 6–1

Honours
Aston Villa[37]

References
  1. "Darius Vassell". Barry Hugman's Footballers. Retrieved 29 January 2016.
  2. "Manchester City Official Profile".
  3. "Baby delight for heartbroken Darius". Birmingham Evening Mail. Retrieved 29 April 2007.
  4. "Darius Vassell". 4thegame. Archived from the original on 23 February 2007. Retrieved 29 April 2007.
  5. "TAYLOR TIPS VASSELL FOR 'SUPER SUB' ROLE". 4thegame.com. Archived from the original on 23 October 2007. Retrieved 9 May 2007.
  6. "Man City – Aston Villa Yahoo! Sport matchcast – Editorial Facts". Yahoo! UK & Ireland. Retrieved 9 May 2007.
  7. "Man City complete Vassell signing". BBC. 27 July 2005. Retrieved 29 April 2007.
  8. "Vassell op a success". Manchester Evening News. Retrieved 29 April 2007.
  9. Darius Vassell at Soccerbase
  10. "Man City allow quartet to leave". BBC Sport. 1 July 2009. Retrieved 1 July 2009.
  11. "Vassell Ankara'da" (in Turkish). ankaragucu.org.tr. 30 June 2009. Archived from the original on 28 September 2011. Retrieved 2 July 2009.
  12. Wilson, Steve (2 July 2009). "Darius Vassell receives hero's welcome at Turkish side Ankaragucu". Telegraph. London. Archived from the original on 5 July 2009. Retrieved 2 July 2009.
  13. Walker, Andy (31 May 2010). "Ex-Aston Villa star Darius Vassell quits his Turkish club". Birmingham Mail. Archived from the original on 21 September 2010. Retrieved 27 August 2010.
  14. "Vassell signs for City". LCFC.co.uk. Leicester City F.C. 20 October 2010. Archived from the original on 21 October 2010. Retrieved 20 October 2010.
  15. "Leicester City's Darius Vassell sidelined for six months". news.bbc.co.uk. BBC. 8 November 2011. Retrieved 8 November 2011.
  16. Lake, Jefferson (28 January 2016). "Former England striker Darius Vassell retires". Sky Sports. Retrieved 29 January 2016.
  17. "A knockout without gloves". The Guardian. 25 June 2004. Retrieved 14 June 2018.
  18. "Isaac Vassell".
  19. "The England team when Jermain Defoe made his debut - where are they now?". The Daily Telegraph. 17 March 2017. Retrieved 14 June 2017.
  20. "New signing Kyle Vassell keen to give Oxford United a boost".
  21. "Games played by Darius Vassell in 1997/1998". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 28 May 2019.
  22. "Games played by Darius Vassell in 1998/1999". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 28 May 2019.
  23. "Games played by Darius Vassell in 1999/2000". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 28 May 2019.
  24. "Games played by Darius Vassell in 2000/2001". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 28 May 2019.
  25. "Games played by Darius Vassell in 2001/2002". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 28 May 2019.
  26. "Games played by Darius Vassell in 2002/2003". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 28 May 2019.
  27. "Games played by Darius Vassell in 2003/2004". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 28 May 2019.
  28. "Games played by Darius Vassell in 2004/2005". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 28 May 2019.
  29. "Games played by Darius Vassell in 2005/2006". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 28 May 2019.
  30. "Games played by Darius Vassell in 2006/2007". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 28 May 2019.
  31. "Games played by Darius Vassell in 2007/2008". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 28 May 2019.
  32. "Games played by Darius Vassell in 2008/2009". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 28 May 2019.
  33. "Games played by Darius Vassell in 2009/2010". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 28 May 2019.
  34. "Games played by Darius Vassell in 2010/2011". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 28 May 2019.
  35. "Games played by Darius Vassell in 2011/2012". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 28 May 2019.
  36. "Darius Vassell". National Football Teams. Benjamin Strack-Zimmermann. Retrieved 31 May 2019.
  37. Darius Vassell at Soccerway
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