James McFadden

For other people named James McFadden, see James McFadden (disambiguation).

James McFadden

McFadden in 2009 pre-season
Personal information
Full name	James McFadden
Date of birth	14 April 1983 (1983-04-14)
Place of birth	Glasgow, Scotland
Height	5 ft 10 in (1.78 m)
Playing position	Forward
Club information
Current club	Everton
Number	14
Youth career
–	Motherwell
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps†	(Gls)†
2000–2003	Motherwell	63	(26)
2003–2008	Everton	109	(11)
2008–2011	Birmingham City	82	(13)
2011–	Everton	2	(0)
National team‡
2002–	Scotland	48	(15)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 21:43, 26 December 2011 (UTC). † Appearances (Goals). ‡ National team caps and goals correct as of 1 June 2011

James McFadden (born 14 April 1983) is a Scottish professional footballer who plays as a forward for Everton.

McFadden started his career with Scottish Premier League club Motherwell. He came to prominence in the 2002–03 season by scoring 19 goals and winning the Scottish PFA Young Player of the Year award. Everton signed McFadden for £1.25 million in 2003. He struggled to hold down a regular place in the Everton team and moved to Birmingham City for £5 million in January 2008. A serious injury meant that McFadden missed most of the 2010–11 season and Birmingham, who were relegated in his absence, decided not to renew his contract. McFadden signed for Everton on a free transfer in October 2011, after regaining his fitness.

McFadden was first capped by Scotland in 2002. As of October 2011, he has played 48 times for Scotland and scored 15 goals. His goal for Scotland in the Euro 2008 qualification match on 12 September 2007 against France in the Parc des Princes is regarded as one of Scotland's most famous goals.

Club career

Motherwell

Born in Springburn, Glasgow, McFadden joined the Motherwell youth system at a young age, making his first-team debut when he was 17 years old. He came to greater prominence during the 2002–03 Scottish Premier League (SPL) season, scoring 19 goals from 34 starts and winning the Young Player of the Year Award. This was in a season when Motherwell finished bottom of the SPL and should have been relegated but were given a reprieve due to First Division champions Falkirk not meeting stadium criteria. McFadden received some criticism for his lack of discipline, picking up fifteen yellow cards and one red during the campaign. His final game for Motherwell that season saw him score a hat-trick in a 6–2 defeat of Livingston at Fir Park.

Everton

Motherwell's financial circumstances ensured that any interest from larger clubs would not be refused, and English Premier League club Everton won the battle for McFadden's signature in 2003. Manager David Moyes paid £1.25 million to ensnare his target. McFadden scored his debut goal for Everton during their 5–2 defeat at Tottenham Hotspur on 1 January 2005, more than a year after joining the club. One week later he scored his second goal in a third-round FA Cup tie against Plymouth Argyle.

During the 2005–06 season, McFadden was in and out of the Everton team as they struggled to re-capture their form of the previous season. On 11 March 2006 he scored with a 35-yard volley to help Everton to a 3–1 victory over Fulham. This scoring run of form continued the next week against Aston Villa, a half-volley from just outside the area helping the Toffees to a 4–1 victory. He went on to end the season with a total of seven goals.

McFadden made an indifferent start to the 2006–07 season following the arrival of record signing Andrew Johnson, managing only two goals in the first half of the campaign. On 24 January 2007, McFadden injured his fifth metatarsal during training for Everton. After nearly three months on the sidelines, he made a scoring return to action for Everton as a second-half substitute against Charlton Athletic on 15 April 2007. He scored a spectacular volley in injury time to secure a 2–1 win for the Toffees, a goal later voted "goal of the season" by the readers of SkySports.com.

In October 2007 McFadden scored a critical equalising goal in Everton's triumph over Metalist Kharkiv in the UEFA Cup. He celebrated his goal against Middlesbrough on 2 January 2008 by pointing to his black armband and then to the sky in tribute to former Motherwell captain Phil O'Donnell, who had recently died.

Birmingham City

On 18 January 2008, McFadden joined Birmingham City on a three-and-a-half-year deal, with an option for additional two years, for an initial fee of £5 million, potentially rising to £6m depending on appearances. His first goal came in his fourth game for the club, a penalty kick against West Ham United at Upton Park, after he had been fouled by Lucas Neill. In his next match, at home to Arsenal, he scored from a 20-yard free kick before adding the equalising goal from the penalty spot in the last minute of stoppage time.

His second season with Birmingham was hampered by a serious knee injury which stopped him playing as regularly as he had in his first season.^{[citation needed]}

McFadden scored Birmingham's first goal of the 2009–10 Premier League season, a 92nd-minute penalty, to give the club a 1–0 home win against Portsmouth.

McFadden suffered anterior cruciate ligament damage in August 2010. He returned to training in March, but suffered a setback that meant he did not play in the 2010–11 season. Following their relegation from the Premier League, Birmingham chose not to take up a two-year option on his contract but attempted to negotiate amended terms. No agreement was reached, and McFadden left Birmingham after his contract expired on 30 June 2011.

Return to Everton

After continuing to train with Birmingham over the summer in order to regain fitness, McFadden had a successful trial with Wolverhampton Wanderers in September, but he did not agree terms. In mid-October he was reported to be in talks with Celtic, but on 17 October, McFadden signed for Everton on a contract until the end of the 2011–12 season. He played in a reserve team match the following day, which was his first appearance since he injured his knee 13 months earlier, and made his second debut for the first team on 5 November as an 81st-minute substitute in a 2–1 defeat away to Newcastle United.

Career statistics

As of match played 7 January 2012.

Club performance			League		Cup		League Cup		Continental		Total
Season	Club	League	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals
Scotland			League		Scottish Cup		League Cup		Europe		Total
2000–01	Motherwell	Premier League	6	0	1	0	-		-		7	0
2001–02			24	10	1	0	-		-		25	10
2002–03			30	13	4	5	1	1	-		35	19
2003–04			3	3	-		-		-		3	3
England			League		FA Cup		League Cup		Europe		Total
2003–04	Everton	Premier League	23	0	1	0	3	0	-		27	0
2004–05			23	1	3	2	3	0	-		29	3
2005–06			32	6	4	1	1	0	4	0	41	7
2006–07			19	2	-		2	1	-		21	3
2007–08			12	2	1	0	3	2	5	1	21	5
2007–08	Birmingham City		12	4	-		-		-		12	4
2008–09		Championship	30	4	0	0	0	0	-		30	4
2009–10		Premier League	36	5	4	0	1	0	-		41	5
2010–11			4	0	0	0	1	1	-		5	1
Birmingham City Total			82	13	4	0	2	0	0	0	88	13
2011–12	Everton	Premier League	2	0	1	0	0	0	-		3	0
Everton Total			111	11	10	3	12	3	9	1	142	18
Total	Scotland		63	26	6	5	1	1	-		70	32
	England		193	24	14	3	14	4	9	1	230	32
Career total			256	50	20	8	15	5	9	1	300	64

International career

McFadden gained his first Scotland cap at the age of 19, on a Far East tour against South Africa, at the end of which a night out drinking caused him to miss his flight home. Despite his domestic performances he became a regular in Berti Vogts' Scotland set-up, scoring his first goal against the Faroe Islands during a 3–1 win in a UEFA Euro 2004 qualifying match at Hampden Park on 6 September 2003.

He is also remembered for his goal against the Netherlands in November 2003 that gave Scotland a famous 1–0 victory. However, in September 2007, McFadden scored an even more significant goal in a 1–0 win over France in Paris during Scotland's dramatic but ultimately narrowly unsuccessful qualifying campaign for UEFA Euro 2008, and was on target again in the following game, a 3–1 win over Ukraine at Hampden Park in October. He was unable to score in the last match of the campaign against Italy in November 2007 at Hampden, which Scotland lost 2–1. He has become a cult hero for his country due to his consistent goal scoring exploits.^{[citation needed]}. The winning goal in the September 2008 match against Iceland in the 2010 World Cup qualifying campaign, scored on the rebound after McFadden's penalty kick was saved, was initially credited to McFadden, but in the official match report was awarded to Barry Robson. The SFA lobbied on McFadden's behalf, and in March 2009, FIFA re-credited the goal to him.

International goals

Scores and results list Scotland's goal tally first.

Goal	Date	Venue	Opponent	Score	Result	Competition
1.	6 September 2003	Glasgow, Scotland	Faroe Islands	3–1	3–1	UEFA Euro 2004 qualifying
2.	15 November 2003	Glasgow, Scotland	Netherlands	1–0	1–0	UEFA Euro 2004 play-off
3.	31 March 2004	Glasgow, Scotland	Romania	1–2	1–2	Friendly match
4.	27 May 2004	Tallinn, Estonia	Estonia	1–0	1–0	Friendly match
5.	3 September 2004	Valencia, Spain	Spain	1–0	1–1	Friendly match
6.	17 November 2004	Edinburgh, Scotland	Sweden	1–3	1–4	Friendly match
7.	4 June 2005	Glasgow, Scotland	Moldova	2–0	2–0	2006 FIFA World Cup qualifying
8.	12 October 2005	Celje, Slovenia	Slovenia	2–0	3–0	2006 FIFA World Cup qualifying
9.	11 May 2006	Kobe, Japan	Bulgaria	3–1	5–1	Kirin Cup
10.	2 September 2006	Glasgow, Scotland	Faroe Islands	2–0	6–0	UEFA Euro 2008 qualifying
11.	8 September 2007	Glasgow, Scotland	Lithuania	3–1	3–1	UEFA Euro 2008 qualifying
12.	12 September 2007	Paris, France	France	1–0	1–0	UEFA Euro 2008 qualifying
13.	13 October 2007	Glasgow, Scotland	Ukraine	3–1	3–1	UEFA Euro 2008 qualifying
14.	10 September 2008	Reykjavik, Iceland	Iceland	2–0	2–1	2010 FIFA World Cup qualifying
15.	5 September 2009	Glasgow, Scotland	Macedonia	2–0	2–0	2010 FIFA World Cup qualifying

External links

• James McFadden career stats at Soccerbase
• James McFadden at scottishfa.co.uk