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Teddy Sheringham

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Teddy Sheringham

File:Sheringham teddy whfc profile 2004.jpg

Image taken from WHUFC.COM
Personal information
Full name Edward Paul Sheringham
Position(s) Striker
Team information
Current team
 West Ham United
‡ National team caps and goals, correct as of summer of 2006

Edward Paul "Teddy" Sheringham (born April 2, 1966 in Highams Park, London) is a veteran English footballer. He plays as a striker, and has had an exceptionally successful career at club level, winning every domestic honour available with his clubs (most notably 'The Treble' with Manchester United). He also represented England at international level. He currently plays for West Ham United. His son, Charlie Sheringham, is also a footballer, currently at Crystal Palace and Sheringham says he wants to share the field with son Charlie before he retires from playing.[1] He is currently dating former Miss England Danielle Lloyd.[2] Sheringham holds the record (which he continues to set) of being the oldest man to score in the Premiership. He is also the oldest outfield player ever to play in the Premiership.[3]

Club career

Millwall

Sheringham began his professional career at Millwall in 1982 at the age of sixteen, after impressing a scout when playing for the small club Leytonstone & Ilford during a Youth Team game against Millwall.

He was signed up, initially as an apprentice, and scored on only his second appearance for the club in a match away at Bournemouth in January 1984. After being loaned out by the club twice in 1985, to Aldershot and later a Swedish side, Djurgården, on his return he quickly became a first choice selection at Millwall, and during the late 1980s formed a famous striking partnership with Tony Cascarino. He was the club's top goalscorer in four different seasons (1986-87, 1987-88, 1988-89 and 1990-91) and played in every single game of the season for them twice, in 1986-87 and 1990-91.

The 1987-88 season saw the club promoted to the First Division, then the highest tier of English league football, for the first time. Many had predicted that Millwall would not survive their first season in the top flight and would be relegated back to the Second Division in their first season, but the goals of Sheringham and Cascarino helped them to finish in a surprising 10th position. However, it was not to last, as the following season Millwall were indeed relegated, finishing bottom of the Division and returning to the second flight.

The club had an opportunity to bounce straight back up at the end of the 1990-91 season, reaching the semi-finals of the Division Two play-offs, but they were beaten by Brighton & Hove Albion and thus remained in the Division.

Sheringham's oustanding form during the 1990-91 season meant that he was the league's highest scorer with 36 goals. Many top division clubs were taking note of his form, and some were expecting him to become Ian Rush's strike-partner at Liverpool, but the Merseysiders signed Dean Saunders instead.

Nottingham Forest

In July 1991, the 25-year-old Sheringham was sold to Nottingham Forest in a £2million deal to play alongside Nigel Clough. He did well for Forest and helped them finish eighth in the First Division at the end of 1991-92 season as well as reach the League Cup final, where they lost to Manchester United. Sheringham scored Forest's first Premiership goal against Liverpool in August 1992, but a week later he had been sold to Tottenham Hotspur for £2.1million. Sheringham's departure was perhaps one of the biggest factors in Forest's relegation from the top flight in 1992-93. Sheringham was a fan favourite at the City Ground during his time there.

Tottenham Hotspur

Sheringham was the Premiership's top scorer in 1992-93, scoring 22 goals (21 with Tottenham and 1 with Forest). His strike partners at White Hart Lane included Gordon Durie, Ronny Rosenthal, Jürgen Klinsmann and finally Chris Armstrong. In 1993-94, he was Tottenham's top scorer with 14 Premiership goals but played in just 19 games due to injury and this impacted negatively on Tottenham's league form. Spurs finished 15th and were not completely safe from relegation until the penultimate game of the season. The following season was better, as he helped Spurs finish seventh in the Premiership and reach the semi-final of the FA Cup, just missing out on European football for the 1995-96 season.

Jürgen Klinsmann, who partnered Sheringham during the 1994-95 season, was later quoted as claiming that Sheringham was the most intelligent strike partner he had ever had. Sheringham was hugely popular with the Tottenham fans and by the mid 1990s was recognised as one of the best strikers in the Premiership, but by the end of the 1996-97 season he was 31 years old and had yet to win a trophy in a career which had so far spanned 15 years.

In June 1997, Sheringham agreed to join Manchester United in a £3.5million deal. He was signed to replace the iconic Éric Cantona whose retirement had left the Old Trafford faithful demanding a big name to fill the gap.

Manchester United

Sheringham's first season at Old Trafford was difficult, although he scored 14 goals in all competitions he failed to meet expectations and was being linked with a move away from the club after the 1997-98 season ended without a trophy.

Speculation that Sheringham would leave United increased just after the 1998-99 season got underway, when Dwight Yorke moved to Old Trafford from Aston Villa. Sheringham's first-team chances were relatively limited but he still managed to get enough Premiership games to qualify for a title winner's medal at the end of the season — at the age of 33 he had finally won a major trophy. A week later he scored one of United's two goals in the F.A Cup final to yield his second honour. Four days after the F.A Cup triumph, Sheringham scored a dramatic stoppage-time equaliser against Bayern Munich in the European Cup final. With seconds of stoppage-time remaining Ole Gunnar Solskjær scored from Sheringham's headed flick on, and United won a unique treble of the Premiership, F.A Cup and European Cup which has yet to be equalled.

Sheringham did not get as many first-team chances as he might have hoped for during 1999-00, but he still played enough times to merit another Premiership title medal. In 2000-01, Sheringham played some of the best football of his career as he was United's top goalscorer as well as being voted Player of the Year by both the PFA and FWA. This fine form ensured that he was still involved with the national side despite being in his 35th year.

Tottenham again

At the end of the 2000-01 season, Sheringham's four-year contract at Old Trafford expired. He was facing stiffer competition than ever for the places up front, most of all from new Dutch striker Ruud van Nistelrooy. He returned to Tottenham on a free transfer as one of new manager Glenn Hoddle's first signings.

Sheringham helped Tottenham reach the League Cup final in his first season, where they lost to Blackburn Rovers, but in the Premiership they finished a disappointing ninth - most people at the club had been hoping for European qualification. 2002-03 brought a similar mid table finish, although Tottenham had topped the Premiership three games into the season.

Portsmouth

On the expiry of his Tottenham contract at the end of the 2002-03 season, Sheringham decided against signing a new deal and opted for Portsmouth instead in their first season in the Premier League. Sheringham was only contracted to the club for one season and at the end of 2003-04 the 38-year-old striker decided to leave Fratton Park, but he insisted that he wanted to continue his top flight career at another club.

West Ham United

Sheringham dropped down a division to Championship side West Ham United, and was the division's third-highest goalscorer with 20 goals. He won Player of the Season and helped them reach the playoff final where they beat Preston to return to the Premiership after a two-year exile. At the end of the 2004-05 season, Sheringham's one-year contract expired and he agreed to sign on for another season — this time back in the Premiership — at Upton Park.

After a second-half appearance against Charlton Athletic on 2 April 2006, Sheringham joined a small group of footballers — the others include Les Sealey, John Burridge and Gordon Strachan — who have played top-flight football while in their forties. On 19 August 2006 he became the oldest outfield player in the history of the division, at 40 years 139 days. Sheringham has signed a contract to play for West Ham until the end of the 2006-07 season, meaning he will be playing for the club after his 41st birthday. On May 13, 2006 Sheringham became the third oldest player to appear in an FA Cup final at 40 years and 41 days old. He is also the oldest player to have scored a penalty in the FA Cup final, being West Ham's only successful penalty-taker in the shoot-out which the team lost to Liverpool.

On 26 December 2006, at the age of 40 years and 266 days, he not only beat his own record of oldest Premiership outfield player, but also beat his own record for oldest Premiership scorer, with the goal in a 1-2 defeat to Portsmouth.

Honours

Records

  • Oldest outfield player to play in the Premier League at the age of 40 years and 266 days and counting (On appearance 26-12-2006 West Ham v Portsmouth.
  • Oldest player to score in the Premier League (West Ham v Portsmouth, 26th December 2006) at 40 years 266 days of age.

International career

Something of a late developer on the international scene, Sheringham did not win his first England cap until the age of twenty-seven in 1993. However, he scored against Poland that year, and under the reign of manager Terry Venables (1994-96) came to be favoured as the preferred strike partner for Alan Shearer in the England team.

The two formed a famous partnership at international level, as they complemented each other's strengths: Shearer the out-and-out goalscorer, big, strong and powerful, Sheringham just 'dropping off' his strike partner, finding spaces, creating play and providing key passes, forming the link between Shearer and the England midfield. The pairing came to be known as 'The SAS' ('Shearer And Sheringham' and Shearer was a member of another SAS at club level: Shearer And Sutton) and their most successful time together came in the 1996 European Championships, held in England. Their most famous contribution was in the 4-1 victory over Holland, a game in the opening group stages in which they both scored twice against one of the strongest teams in the tournament. Though England were eventually knocked out in the semi-finals, many believed that that squad of players such as Sheringham and his contemporaries including Paul Gascoigne, Steve McManaman, Tony Adams and Paul Ince, had done the nation proud.

Sheringham continued to be a first choice selection under new England manager Glenn Hoddle (1996-99) until the emergence of new teenage superstar Michael Owen during the course of 1998 saw him overshadowed. Although Sheringham began the 1998 FIFA World Cup as a starting player with Owen on the bench, after Owen replaced him and almost turned around a defeat against Romania in England's second game of the tournament, it seemed likely that Sheringham's front line international career had come to an end.

He was not selected at all for the 2000 European Championships by then manager Kevin Keegan, but the retirement of Shearer (ironically four years younger than Sheringham) from international football after that tournament and the arrival of new manager Sven-Göran Eriksson in 2001 saw a return to international favour for him. He was often deployed as a tactical substitute late in games by Eriksson, valued for his ability to hold the ball up and create intelligent play. In 2001, Sheringham scored an important goal for England against Greece in a World cup qualifying match within 15 seconds of coming on as a substitue, although this event is overlooked by the 93rd minute equalizing free-kick by David Beckham. Sheringham had won the free kick scored by Beckham, and had even suggested to the England captain that he take it as Beckham had missed several already in the match, but Beckham decided to take the kick himself.

He was selected as part of Eriksson's 2002 FIFA World Cup squad and played in the famous 1-0 win against Argentina, almost scoring a goal with a shot that was well saved by the Argentine goalkeeper, and made his final England appearance as a substitute in the 2-1 quarter-final defeat to Brazil.

At the age of thirty-six, that defeat signalled the final end of Sheringham's international career, during which he had earned fifty-one caps and scored eleven times for England.

Preceded by Football Writers' Association Footballer of the Year
2001 		Succeeded by
Preceded by PFA Players' Player of the Year
2001 		Succeeded by
Preceded by Premier League top scorer
1992-93 		Succeeded by


Tributes

In summer of 2006, the song "Steady, Ready, Teddy" was released by American rock band Posh Army[4], named after the 2006 FA Cup Final Trevor Brooking quip about Sheringham.

Notes

  1. ^ Source: BBC Sport Template:En icon
  2. ^ Source: Entertainmentwise Template:En icon
  3. ^ Source: Premier League Stats Template:En icon
  4. ^ Source: MySpace Template:En icon


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