Christophe Berra

He made 46 appearances during his first season at Portman Road, as Ipswich finished 9th in the Championship.

Berra formed a defensive partnership with Tommy Smith.

Berra made 50 appearances in all competitions over the course of the season, scoring 6 goals, as Ipswich finished 6th in the league and qualified for the Championship play-offs.

Christophe Didier Berra (born 31 January 1985) is a Scottish professional football former player and coach.

He joined Heart of Midlothian on 26 April 2002 from their youth development system.

He is one in a long line of young defenders, particularly centre backs, to have progressed through the Hearts youth system, including Paul Ritchie and Alan McLaren.

After impressive performances in the youth and Under-21 teams, Berra made his first team debut on 30 November 2003 as a substitute in a 2–1 defeat at Dundee United.

He made only a handful of further appearances during the remainder of the 2003–04 season, but continued his development over the following campaigns, becoming an important member of the first-team squad.

He scored in a 2–0 victory against Kilmarnock in season 2005–06 which aided the Tynecastle club's push towards UEFA Champions League qualification.

That season also saw him gain a Scottish Cup winner's medal after being a non-playing substitute in the 2006 Scottish Cup Final win against Gretna.

In July 2006, Berra signed a five-year deal with Hearts, before going on to play in the club's European ties in Champions League qualifiers and the UEFA Cup during a season that saw the club finish fourth.

The following season, he became the youngest captain in the SPL after the departure of the previous Hearts captain Craig Gordon to Sunderland in August 2007.

Berra won international recognition at the end of the 2007–08 season and, during the close season, his growing reputation attracted the attention of Championship club Wolverhampton Wanderers.

They made a reported £1.5 million bid to sign him, but it was not considered as Hearts were without a manager at the time.

Berra began his professional career with Heart of Midlothian, playing 146 times for them before he moved to England in 2009 in a £2.5 million transfer to Wolverhampton Wanderers.

He was part of their promotion to the Premier League months later and played in the top flight with the team for three seasons before relegation.

Wolves returned with an improved offer – reportedly £2million – on 27 January 2009, but it was again rejected.

However, he eventually signed for Wolves for an undisclosed fee – believed to be around £2.5m – in a four-and-a-half-year deal on transfer deadline day.

He made his club debut on 7 February 2009 in a 2–1 defeat at Coventry.

Berra helped Wolves complete the season at the top of the Championship and so enter Premier League.

He went on to play regularly during their three seasons in the top division, being partnered at centre back by a collection of players including Jody Craddock, Richard Stearman and Roger Johnson.

After three seasons Berra was a mainstay of the Wolves team that finished bottom of the 2011–12 Premier League and so were relegated back to the Championship.

Following relegation, Berra had a transfer request accepted by Wolves.

but this did not lead to any move away from the club and he remained part of the first team during the season.

Then-Wolves manager Ståle Solbakken stated that Berra's game had improved and stated that he hoped the club could agree a new contract with Berra.

However, Solbakken was soon fired and Berra dropped out of first team contention under Dean Saunders.

At the end of the campaign, which again saw the team relegated, it was announced that Berra would leave the club.

In total he made 154 appearances for the club, without scoring.

His contract was not renewed in 2013, after which he signed for Ipswich Town.

Berra signed for Ipswich Town, managed by his former Wolves manager Mick McCarthy, in July 2013.

He made his debut for the club in a 2–0 away loss to Stevenage in a League Cup first-round tie on 6 August 2013.

He scored five league goals in the 2013–14 season, which was the third highest total by an Ipswich player that season.

Berra won the Ipswich Town Supporters Player of the Season award for the 2013–14 season.

He continued as a first-team regular during the 2014–15 season, making his first appearance of the season in a 2–1 home win over Fulham on the opening day of the season.

On 19 August, he scored a brace in a 2–2 draw with Birmingham City.

He signed a new three-year contract with Ipswich in September 2014.

Berra made 174 league appearances in four years with Ipswich before rejoining Hearts in 2017.

In April 2021, he signed a two-year pre contract agreement with Raith Rovers.

After just over a season of playing for Raith and becoming a coach, Berra announced his retirement in July 2022.

Berra was born and raised in Edinburgh.