James McFadden

James McFadden

Personal information
Full name	James McFadden
Height	1.78 m (5 ft 10 in)
Position(s)	Forward
Team information
Current team	Everton
Number	11
‡ National team caps and goals, correct as of 01:12, 23 August 2007 (UTC)

For the tap dancer, see James McFadden (American Tap dancer)

James McFadden (born April 14, 1983 in Springburn, Glasgow) is a Scottish professional footballer currently playing as a striker for Everton in the English Premier League.

Club career

McFadden joined the Motherwell youth setup at a young age, making his first-team debut when he was just 17 years old. He shot to fame during the 2002-03 SPL season, scoring 19 goals from 34 starts and winning the Scottish Young Player of the Year Award. This was in a season when Motherwell also finished bottom of the Premier League and should have been relegated but were given a reprieve due to Falkirk (who won the Scottish First Division that season) not meeting stadium criteria. He also received some criticism for his lack of discipline, picking up fifteen yellow cards and one red during that campaign.

Motherwell's financial circumstances ensured that any interest from larger clubs would not be refused, and Everton won the battle for McFadden's signature in 2003. Toffees boss David Moyes paid £1.25 million to ensnare his target. McFadden scored his debut goal for Everton during their 5-2 defeat at Tottenham on the 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 January 24 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 April 15, 2007. He scored a spectacular volley in injury time to secure a 2-1 win for the Blues, a goal later voted "goal of the season" by the readers of SkySports.com.[1]

International career

McFadden gained his first Scotland cap at the age of nineteen, on a Far East tour against South Africa, during which he controversially missed his flight home. His domestic performances ensured 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 Euro 2004 qualifying match at Hampden Park on September 6, 2003.

He is also remembered for his goal against Holland in November 2003 that gave Scotland a famous 1-0 victory.

International goals

Scores and results list Scotland's goal tally first.

#	Date	Venue	Opponent	Score	Result	Competition
1	6 September, 2003	Hampden Park, Glasgow, Scotland	Faroe Islands	3-1	3-1	UEFA Euro 2004 Qual.
2	15 November, 2003	Hampden Park, Glasgow, Scotland	Netherlands	1-0	1-0	UEFA Euro 2004 Qual.
3	31 March, 2004	Hampden Park, Glasgow, Scotland	Romania	1-2	1-2	Friendly
4	27 May, 2004	Le Coq Arena, Tallinn, Estonia	Estonia	1-0	1-0	Friendly
5	3 September, 2004	Estadio Ciudad de Valencia, Valencia, Spain	Spain	1-0	1-1(a)	Friendly
6	17 November, 2004	Easter Road, Edinburgh, Scotland	Sweden	1-4	1-4	Friendly
7	4 June, 2005	Hampden Park, Glasgow, Scotland	Moldova	2-0	2-0	2006 WC Qualifying
8	12 October, 2005	Arena Petrol, Celje, Slovenia	Slovenia	2-0	3-0	2006 WC Qualifying
9	11 May, 2006	Kobe Wing Stadium, Kobe, Japan	Bulgaria	3-1	5-1	Kirin Cup
10	2 September, 2006	Celtic Park, Glasgow, Scotland	Faroe Islands	2-0	6-0	UEFA Euro 2008 Qual.

Personal Life

In June 2007, McFadden married long term girlfriend Gillian Hunter in Hamilton, Lanarkshire. Instead of buying them gifts, the couple asked their guests to make a donation to the neo-natal unit at Wishaw General Hospital. The department had treated their son James, born five-weeks premature, in June 2006.[2]

During his time at Motherwell, James was very fond of Stevie Hammel - Motherwell's promising left back at the time. James and Stevie were often found in romantic clinches in the team bath.

External links

• James McFadden's WTFC.net player profile
• James McFadden at Soccerbase