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Jimmy Bullard

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For other people named James Bullard, see James Bullard.
Jimmy Bullard
Bullard playing for Fulham
Personal information
Full name James Richard Bullard
Height 5 ft 11 in (1.80 m)
Position(s) Midfielder
Team information
Current team
 Hull City
Number 21
Youth career
West Ham United
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
1998–1999 Gravesend & Northfleet 30 (7)
1999–2001 West Ham United 0 (0)
2001–2003 Peterborough United 66 (11)
2003–2006 Wigan Athletic 145 (10)
2006–2009 Fulham 39 (6)
2009– Hull City 15 (5)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 18:42, 24 April 2010 (UTC)

James Richard "Jimmy" Bullard (born 23 October 1978) is an English footballer who currently plays in midfield for Hull City. He is renowned as a skillful and energetic box-to-box player who has been unfortunate with injuries over recent seasons. He did get a call up to the England national football team under the stewardship of Fabio Capello but has yet to receive a cap.

Career

Early career

Bullard was born in East Ham, east London.[1] He played schools' representative football for Bexley Primary Schools FA and Kent Schools FA whilst at primary school, and then represented North Kent Schools FA whilst a pupil at Erith School. He was a painter decorator but turned his career to professional football at the age of 20.[citation needed] He started his career in non-League football with amateur club Corinthian before moving to Gravesend & Northfleet before being signed by the club he supported as a boy, West Ham United, for a fee of £30,000 in 1999.[2] He did not manage to break into the team, however, and was given a free transfer at the end of the 2000–01 season.[2] After a three-week trial, he then signed for Peterborough United, where he first made a name for himself, scoring 11 goals in 62 league starts for Barry Fry's team.[3] This earned him a move to Wigan Athletic for £275,000 in January 2003.[3]

Wigan Athletic

Bullard quickly established himself in the Wigan first team and was named in the PFA Division Two Team of the Year for 2002–03.[4] He helped Wigan secure promotion to the FA Premier League in the 2004–05 season and an appearance in the 2006 Football League Cup Final, which they lost 4–0 to Manchester United.[5]

On 11 February 2006, Bullard was honoured by Sky's morning football show Soccer AM for running the length of the pitch in an attempt to score when the floodlights went out during Wigan's League Cup semi-final home leg against Arsenal and leapfrogging a pile of players in a goal mouth scramble in the Premier League against Everton, resulting in him falling on his face. They decided to re-name the studio doors and they are now known as Jimmy Bullard's Back Door.[6]

Fulham

On 28 April 2006, it was announced that Bullard would sign for Fulham at the end of the 2005–06 season after a £2.5 million[7] offer from the London club triggered a release clause in his contract.

Bullard's Fulham debut came as the team lost 5–1 to Manchester United on 20 August 2006.[7] His first goal for Fulham came against Bolton Wanderers on 26 August, a last-minute penalty kick to level the scores at 1–1.[7] Three days later, after he scored a 28-yard (26 m) curling free kick against Sheffield United in a 1–0 win, Fulham boss Chris Coleman hailed Bullard as "the best £2million we ever spent".[citation needed]

On 9 September 2006, Bullard dislocated his kneecap in a match against Newcastle United. This injury was thought to keep him out for six to eight weeks.[8] However three days later it was revealed that Bullard would in fact be out for up to nine months with cruciate knee ligament damage.[9] Fulham's new manager Lawrie Sanchez announced that the midfielder was aiming to return around October 2007.[9] However, he did not make a first team appearance until 12 January 2008, coming off the bench to play against West Ham.[10] Bullard then came on as a half time substitute in a 2–1 win against Aston Villa on 3 February, setting up the equaliser then scoring the winning goal from a 25-yard (23 m) free kick and winning the man of the match award. He scored an identical free kick weeks later, to rescue a point against Blackburn Rovers and keep Fulham's hope of Premier League survival alive.[11] After missing a large part of the season due to injury, his return to the team, along with club captain Brian McBride, sparked Fulham in to a run of form which saw them move out of the bottom three with one game remaining, after a 2–0 victory over Birmingham City.[12]

Hull City

On 23 January 2009, Bullard completed a move to Hull City for £5 million, a record transfer fee paid by the club.[13] In an interview broadcast on BBC's Football Focus on 31 January 2009, Bullard discussed his reasons for leaving Fulham:

I had sixteen months left on my contract, which to me – I've been out sixteen months, I know it isn't a long time – and I wasn't willing to play with sixteen months... with one year left on my contract, and I did tell them that, I made that clear, even though I am under contract. Also I didn't feel I had the backing from the club, so I felt like it was time to move on. I felt like Fulham didn't want me and it was as simple as that really. I was in talks with Fulham over a contract and I was told I'm not getting a new contract and I can leave in January. So for a player to be told that was quite harsh, you know, and I came up to speak to Hull and it was totally different, and it sort of made it a lot easier for me. I'm only human, I just wanted to play for a team who really wanted me, and Hull showed me that really.

— Jimmy Bullard, [14]

Fulham boss Roy Hodgson said "He's been seeking the type of contract we couldn't give him. I congratulate Hull and Jimmy on getting the contract he wanted. It wasn't just wage demands prompting Jimmy to go, but the length of contract too". Bullard signed a four-and-a-half-year deal with Hull.[13]

Bullard made his Hull debut as a substitute in their 28 January 2009 match against West Ham, but picked up a knee injury during the game.[15] The injury was to the same knee that Bullard dislocated whilst at Fulham, but was not initially thought to be related to the prior damage.[16] However, it was sufficiently serious to necessitate Bullard flying back to the same surgeon, Richard Steadman, in the United States for further knee surgery.[17] On 19 February it was declared that he would be out for the rest of the season after the cruciate ligament surgery.[18] He returned to action on 6 October, in a reserve team match against Bolton, scoring a long range effort after cutting in on the inside of a Bolton defender.[19] His Premier League return was off the bench on 19 October 2009 against his old club, Fulham, a 2–0 defeat. He scored his first goal for Hull, a free kick, against West Ham on 21 November 2009. He also scored his second goal for the club in the same game, this time from the penalty spot.[20] His third goal for Hull came against Manchester City, again from the penalty spot.[21] After the goal he imitated Hull manager Phil Brown's on-pitch team talk from the same fixture the previous season.[22]

Against Aston Villa on 5 December, Bullard went up for an aerial challenge against James Milner and landed awkwardly, injuring his knee.[23] After a scan it was confirmed that he will be out for six to eight weeks with an injury to the left knee.[24] This came after receiving the player of the month accolade the Friday previous.[25] He made a scoring return in February 2010 for Hull reserves. On 27 March he scored from the penalty spot against former club Fulham, giving Hull a the lead in a 2–0 victory. His next penalty came against Sunderland on 24 April, but he hit the post with Hull a goal down[26] receiving jeers from the Hull support, who viewed his high transfer fee and wages and the poor return on them as partly responsible for the club's financial problems. Bullard was substituted at half time following an alleged altercation with a team-mate, with Hull needing to win to avoid relegation.[26]

Celtic loan

On 27 June 2010, Hull City's chairman confirmed that Bullard was available for loan and was free to speak to Celtic if he so wished.[27]

International career

Although English by birth, Bullard has a German grandmother and is therefore eligible for the German national team.[28] In the run-up to the 2006 FIFA World Cup, it was reported that Bullard was contemplating an international call-up from the Nationalmannschaft, having made his interest known to the national coach Jürgen Klinsmann.[28] He was called into the England squad in August 2008 for the 2010 FIFA World Cup qualifiers against Andorra and Croatia in September, but did not feature in either match.[29]

Honours

Wigan Athletic

Template:Sport honours Template:Sport honours Template:Sport honours

Individual

References

  1. ^ Jimmy Bullard Player Profile Fulham F.C., retrieved on 2008-06-23
  2. ^ a b Jimmy Bullard bio ESPNsoccernet, retrieved 2008-06-23
  3. ^ a b Jimmy Bullard Player Profile 4TheGame.com, retrieved on 2008-06-23
  4. ^ "Wigan dominate PFA team". BBC Sport. 2003-04-28. Retrieved 2008-10-09.
  5. ^ English League Cup Final 2006 Soccerbase, retrieved on 2008-06-23
  6. ^ http://www.clarets-mad.co.uk/news/loadfeat.asp?cid=EDB5&id=414062
  7. ^ a b c Jimmy Bullard Stats Soccerbase, retrieved on 2008-06-23
  8. ^ Newcastle 1–2 Fulham BBC Sport, 2006-09-09
  9. ^ a b Bullard eyes October return Yahoo! UK & Ireland Sport, 2007-09-05
  10. ^ West Ham 2–1 Fulham BBC Sport, 2008-01-12
  11. ^ Blackburn 1–1 Fulham BBC Sport, 2008-03-08
  12. ^ Fulham 2–0 Birmingham BBC Sport, 2008-05-03
  13. ^ a b "Hull complete £5m Bullard swoop". BBC Sport. 2009-01-23. Retrieved 2009-01-23.
  14. ^ "Bullard critical of Fulham". BBC Sport. 2009-01-30. Retrieved 2009-01-30.
  15. ^ "Bullard has scan on knee injury". BBC Sport. 2009-02-03. Retrieved 2009-02-04.
  16. ^ "Bullard seeks assurances". Hull Daily Mail. 2009-02-02. Retrieved 2009-02-04. {{cite web}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
  17. ^ "Bullard's season ended by injury". BBC News. 2009-02-19. Retrieved 2010-05-06.
  18. ^ BBC News http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/teams/h/hull_city.stm. {{cite news}}: Missing or empty |title= (help)
  19. ^ http://www.hullcityafc.net/page/NewsDetail/0,,10338~1819716,00.html
  20. ^ "Hull 3 – 3 West Ham". BBC Sport. 2009-11-21. Retrieved 2009-11-21.
  21. ^ "Man City 1–1 Hull City". BBC News. 2009-11-28. Retrieved 2010-05-06.
  22. ^ "Brown hails Bullard celebration". BBC News. 2009-11-28. Retrieved 2010-05-06.
  23. ^ "Hull City sweat on new Jimmy Bullard knee injury". BBC Sport. 2009-12-06. Retrieved 2009-12-06.
  24. ^ "Hull City midfielder Jimmy Bullard out for up to two months with knee injury". The Times. London. 2009-12-07. Retrieved 2009-12-07.
  25. ^ a b "Bullard claims monthly honour". Premier League. 2009-12-04. Retrieved 2009-12-05.
  26. ^ a b Sheringham, Sam (2010-04-24). "Hull 0 – 1 Sunderland". BBC Sport. BBC. Retrieved 2010-04-27.
  27. ^ "Celtic looking to Bullard". Clubcall. 2010-06-27. Retrieved 2010-06-27.
  28. ^ a b Bullard hopes for Germany call-up BBC Sport, 2006-03-19
  29. ^ "Bullard called into England squad". BBC Sport. 2008-08-31. Retrieved 2008-08-31.

External links

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