Richard Garcia

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This article is about the Australian sport figure. For the American bishop, see Richard John Garcia.
Richard Garcia
Richard Garcia-Australia.jpg
Garcia with Australia
Personal information
Full name Richard Garcia[1]
Date of birth (1981-09-04) 4 September 1981 (age 31)[1]
Place of birth Perth, Australia
Height 1.80 m (5 ft 11 in)[2]
Playing position Winger / striker
Club information
Current club Melbourne Heart
Number 11
Youth career
Olympic Kingsway
1997–1999 West Ham United
Senior career*
Years Team Apps† (Gls)†
1999–2004 West Ham United 16 (0)
2000 → Leyton Orient (loan) 18 (4)
2004–2007 Colchester United 82 (16)
2007–2012 Hull City 114 (8)
2012– Melbourne Heart 24 (6)
National team‡
2003 Australia U23 2 (0)
2008– Australia 18 (2)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 7 April 2013.

† Appearances (Goals).

‡ National team caps and goals correct as of 13:19, 7 December 2012 (UTC)

Richard Garcia (born 4 September 1981) is an Australian association football player for A-League club Melbourne Heart FC and internationally for Australia as a winger. He has previously played for West Ham United, Leyton Orient, Colchester United and Hull City. During his time in Perth he played for Balcatta FC, a local league club in Perth.

Contents

Club career [edit]

West Ham United [edit]

Born in Perth, Garcia was a product of the West Ham United youth academy, moving from Australia to England to join the Hammers at the age of 15 after being spotted by a scout who had initially gone to watch his brother.[3] He signed a professional contract with West Ham in September 1998.[4] He was a key member of the team that won the FA Youth Cup and FA Premier Youth League double in 1998–99, scoring in every round of West Ham's run to the Youth Cup Final, eight in total.[5] He went out on loan to local side Leyton Orient in August 2000, making 21 appearances in League and Cup competitions and scoring four goals.[6] Injury to his knee ligaments ended his season and he returned to West Ham in November 2000.[7] He made his first team debut for West Ham in a League Cup match away at Reading in September 2001, but failed to gain a regular place in the team. After West Ham were relegated to the First Division in 2003, Garcia featured a few more times for the first-team, but made only 16 league appearances for the club before moving on to Colchester United in 2004.[6]

Colchester United [edit]

Garcia signed for Colchester United in September 2004 for an undisclosed fee, and made his debut in the same month against Swindon Town. He went on to make 30 appearances in the 2004–05 season, scoring six goals.[6] The following season Garcia played an important part in helping the club to second place in League One and promotion to the Championship,[2] and to the fifth-round of the FA Cup where they were beaten by English champions Chelsea, although Colchester were at one point winning the match after Garcia's cross was put into his own net by Ricardo Carvalho.[8] Garcia's season was cut short by a knee injury in March 2006, which later required surgery.[9] Following the end of the season, Garcia signed a new contract with the club.[10] In August 2006, he scored Colchester's first goal of the 2006–07 season in the Championship on the opening game against Birmingham City,[11] going on to make 36 league appearances, scoring seven goals,[6] as Colchester pushed for a place in the end of season promotion playoff positions.[12] At the end of the season, Garcia had made a total of 96 appearances in all competitions for Colchester United, scoring 21 goals.[6]

Hull City [edit]

Despite the offer of a new deal at Colchester, Garcia signed a three-year contract with Hull City on 2 July 2007, on a free transfer under the Bosman ruling.[13] He made his league debut for Hull against Plymouth Argyle in August 2007 and scored his first goal in the next game in the 3–0 win over Crewe Alexandra.[14] He played a leading role in the club's push for promotion in the 2007–08 season, despite a shoulder injury suffered in April 2008.[15] A notable highlight was a 35-yard screamer against Burnley in March, voted Hull's goal of the season for 2007–08[16] Garcia returned to the Premiership after Hull City's promotion play-off victory over Bristol City in May 2008. Garcia started Hull's first top flight game against Fulham on 16 August 2008, and performed well in his favoured right wing position. The following weekend at Ewood Park in a 1–1 draw against Blackburn Rovers, he scored Hull's equaliser with a header in the 39th minute, two minutes after Jason Roberts had given Blackburn the lead.

On 31 July 2009, it was revealed that Garcia had ruptured knee ligaments and would be out for at least three months.[17] On 12 November 2010, he scored his first goal in two seasons, in a 2–0 win against Preston at Deepdale.[18]

On 13 May 2011, Garcia had his one-year contract extension offer withdrawn because he was told he would be out for up to nine months with an injured cruciate ligament.

He made his return from injury in a 1–0 win over Coventry City on 10 December 2011

Melbourne Heart [edit]

Garcia signed a one-year contract with A-League outfit Melbourne Heart FC on 23 August 2012.[19]

International career [edit]

Garcia warming up for Australia

In an interview with Australia's Sun-Herald newspaper in April 2008, Garcia said he had ambitions to play for the Socceroos, Australia's national team, and hoped that his good form for Hull in their push for promotion to the Premier League would help him to achieve this.[20] On 19 August 2008 he received his first senior international cap when he came on as a second half substitute in the friendly against South Africa at Loftus Road in London. That match ended in a 2–2 draw. His second cap came in a friendly match against Holland, again as a substitute, where the match was won by the Socceroos 2–1. On 13 June 2010, Garcia became the first Hull City player ever to play in the World Cup.[21] On 7 December 2012 he scored his first ever goal for Australia as they defeated Guam 9–0 in a 2013 EAFF East Asian Cup game.

# Date Venue Opponent Score Result Competition
1. 7 November 2012 Hong Kong Stadium, Hong Kong  Guam
0–9
0–9
 2013 EAFF East Asian Cup
2. 9 December 2012 Hong Kong Stadium, Hong Kong  Chinese Taipei
1–0
8–0
 2013 EAFF East Asian Cup

Personal life [edit]

Garcia speaks fluent Spanish since his father and mother are Spanish-speakers, and he supports Real Madrid.[3] He became close friends with Michael Carrick during their time at West Ham, and they were ushers at each other's weddings.[22] His brother Michael Garcia was also a professional footballer.

Career statistics [edit]

As of 28 April 2012.
Club League Season League Cup Continental Total
Apps Goals Assis Apps Goals Assis Apps Goals Assis Apps Goals Assis
Leyton Orient (loan) League Two 2000–01 18 4 - 3 0 - 21 4 -
Leyton Orient Total 18 4 0 3 0 0 0 0 0 21 4 0
West Ham United Premier League 2001–02 8 0 0 1 0 0 9 0 0
2002–03 1 0 0 1 0 0 2 0 0
2003–04 7 0 1 3 0 0 10 0 1
Championship 2004–05 1 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0
West Ham Total 17 0 1 5 0 0 0 0 0 22 0 1
Colchester United League One 2004–05 24 4 3 5 1 0 29 5 3
2005–06 22 5 4 5 1 1 27 6 5
Championship 2006–07 36 7 6 2 0 1 38 7 7
Colchester Total 82 16 13 12 1 2 0 0 0 94 17 15
Hull City Championship 2007–08 38 5 3 6 2 2 44 7 5
Premier League 2008–09 23 1 2 4 0 1 0 0 0 27 1 3
2009–10 18 0 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 19 0 1
Championship 2010–11 25 2 2 1 0 0 26 2 2
2011–12 10 0 0 2 0 0 12 0 0
Hull City Total 114 8 8 14 2 3 0 0 0 128 10 11
Career total 231 28 22 34 3 5 0 0 0 265 31 27

Cup includes domestic cups and promotion/relegation playoffs

Honours [edit]

Club [edit]

Colchester United
Hull City

References [edit]

  1. ^ a b Hugman, Barry J., ed. (2010). The PFA Footballers' Who's Who 2010–11. Mainstream Publishing. p. 162. ISBN 978-1-84596-601-0. 
  2. ^ a b "Profiles". Colchester United F.C. Retrieved 2011-05-24. 
  3. ^ a b "International Honours". City Magazine (Hull City A.F.C.) (38): 27–30. October 2008. 
  4. ^ Hugman, Barry J., ed. (2005). The PFA Premier & Football League Players' Records 1946–2005. Queen Anne Press. p. 227. ISBN 1-85291-665-6. 
  5. ^ Barber, David (1 April 2006). "The class of '99". The Football Association. Retrieved 2010-10-16. 
  6. ^ a b c d e "Richard Garcia". Soccerbase. Retrieved 2007-07-01. 
  7. ^ "Striking problems at Brisbane Road". BBC Sport. 16 November 2000. Retrieved 2011-05-24. 
  8. ^ "Chelsea 3–1 Colchester". BBC Sport. 19 February 2006. Retrieved 2011-05-24. 
  9. ^ "Surgery for Colchester ace Garcia". BBC Sport. 24 April 2006. Retrieved 2011-05-24. 
  10. ^ "Garcia pens new Colchester deal". BBC Sport. 1 June 2006. Retrieved 2011-05-24. 
  11. ^ "Birmingham 2–1 Colchester". BBC Sport. 5 August 2006. Retrieved 2011-05-24. 
  12. ^ "Garcia primed for play-off push". BBC Sport. 22 April 2007. Retrieved 2011-05-24. 
  13. ^ "Garcia leaves Colchester for Hull". BBC Sport. 2 July 2007. Retrieved 2011-05-24. 
  14. ^ "Crewe 0–3 Hull". BBC Sport. 15 August 2007. Retrieved 2011-05-24. 
  15. ^ "Garcia determined to return". Hull Daily Mail. 24 April 2008. Retrieved 2008-05-23. 
  16. ^ http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lSpGhmwKhTg
  17. ^ "Garcia injured". 442au. 31 July 2009. Retrieved 2009-07-31. 
  18. ^ "Preston 0 – 2 Hull". BBC Sport. 12 November 2010. Retrieved 2011-05-24 h. 
  19. ^ "Richard Garcia joins Heart". Football Federation Australia. 23 August 2012. Retrieved 23 August 2012. 
  20. ^ Hall, Matthew (13 April 2008). "Garcia who? Quiet Australian ready to star". The Age. Retrieved 2008-04-13. 
  21. ^ "City Winger Makes History". Hull City A.F.C. Retrieved 15 June 2010. 
  22. ^ "Full Circle". City Magazine (Hull City AFC) (38): page 33. October 2008. 
  23. ^ "Tier Three (League One) Honours". Coludaybyday.co.uk. 
  24. ^ "Division One (Championship) Play-Off Finalists". Coludaybyday.co.uk. 

External links [edit]

Australia squad – 2010 FIFA World Cup
Australia
Melbourne Heart FC – current squad
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