Danny Batth

Daniel Tanveer Batth (born 21 September 1990) is an English professional footballer who plays as a defender for EFL Championship club Norwich City.

Batth began his career with his local side Wolverhampton Wanderers, joining their youth academy as a teenager.

In order to gain first-team experience he spent time out on loan at Colchester United, Sheffield United and Sheffield Wednesday (twice).

He was one of seven academy graduates to sign a professional deal at the end of the 2008–09 season.

Batth had his first taste of first-team football when he was signed by Aidy Boothroyd for League One club Colchester United on loan on 17 September 2009.

He made his Football League and professional debut two days later, starting in central defence alongside Magnus Okuonghae in a 2–0 win over Hartlepool United and earning the man of the match award.

After making five starts during his first month with the club, his loan was extended until the end of the season at the Colchester Community Stadium.

On 20 February 2010, Batth scored his first professional goal with a header from a David Prutton corner to secure a 1–0 victory against Oldham Athletic.

Batth made 17 league starts for Colchester and made one substitute appearance, scoring one goal.

Colchester occupied a play-off position during a large part of Batth's spell.

On his return to Molineux, Batth was named "Young Professional of the Year" at the club's end of season dinner.

Following this, he made his competitive debut for Wolves in a League Cup extra time home win at the expense of Southend United on 24 August 2010.

Three months later, he joined Sheffield United on loan for one month, where he would make just a single substitute league appearance before being recalled to Wolves' Premier League squad for games against Liverpool, West Ham United and Manchester City, where he was a substitute.

Batth then went out on loan once again to Sheffield, only this time to arch-rivals Sheffield Wednesday.

He joined the Owls on 16 March 2011 until the end of the season.

His spell ended having made ten league appearances for the club.

Having impressed at Sheffield Wednesday during his loan stint the previous season, the club moved to re-sign him on loan once again, agreeing another six-month spell on 26 July 2011.

In December 2011, the loan was extended to the end of the season, as the Owls challenged for promotion to the Championship.

He broke into Wolves' first team in the 2012–13 season, and was made captain by Kenny Jackett for the 2013–14 season as Wolves won the League One title, with Batth being named in the PFA Team of the Year.

He scored in a 2–0 away win at Preston North End on New Year's Eve 2011, and a second league goal on 10 March 2012 in a 3–0 win against Bournemouth at Hillsborough.

Batth finished his second stay at Sheffield Wednesday having totalled 49 appearances in all competitions, and having been part of their promotion as League One runners-up.

He was voted runner-up in the club's "Player of the Season" award as a result of his fine season.

Batth began the 2012–13 season back at Wolves, with Sheffield Wednesday manager Dave Jones ruling out a return for the defender.

Back in Wolves' colours, he scored the opening goal in a League Cup defeat of Northampton Town on 30 August 2012, and then scored his first league goal for Wolves with a late equaliser in a 2–2 draw with Leeds United on 9 February 2013.

In his first full season in the Wolves first-team, Batth accumulated twelve league and two cup appearances in addition to his two goals.

The club were however relegated from the Championship at the end of the campaign and took up the option on Batth's contract of an additional year.

Following Wolves' relegation to League One, the club installed Kenny Jackett as head coach for the 2013–14 season.

One of his first acts as manager was to give Batth the vice-captaincy at the club.

Wolves enjoyed a hugely successful season and gained automatic promotion back to the Championship with four games to spare.

Batth was the only ever-present in the promotion-winning side, playing all 46 league games in a season where Wolves won the League One title with a division record of 103 points.

Batth remained a key member of the Wolves team as the play-offs were narrowly missed in 2014–15 before promotion to the Premier League was gained in 2017–18.

In January 2014 he signed a long-term deal with the club that ran until summer 2017.

Batth was also named in the PFA League One Team of the Year

The 2014–15 season was Batth's first as a regular in the Championship.

After being omitted from Nuno Espírito Santo's Premier League squad, Batth joined Middlesbrough on loan in August 2018.

Batth moved to Stoke City in January 2019 for a fee of £3 million.

Batth spent three years at Stoke, making 107 appearances, before joining Sunderland in January 2022.

Born in Brierley Hill, West Midlands, Batth joined the Wolverhampton Wanderers Academy at the age of 15.

He attended Thorns Community College.

He captained the youth team and overcame a dislocated shoulder in his reserve team debut, aged 16.