Steven Gerrard

Steven George Gerrard (born 30 May 1980) is an English professional football manager and former player, who manages Saudi Pro League club Al-Ettifaq.

Described by pundits and fellow professionals as one of his generation's greatest players, Gerrard spent the majority of his playing career as a central midfielder for Liverpool and the England national team, captaining both.

Steven George Gerrard was born on 30 May 1980, in Whiston, Merseyside, England, and is the second son of Paul and Julie Ann Gerrard.

He started out playing for his hometown team, Whiston Juniors, where he was noticed by Liverpool scouts; he joined the Liverpool Academy in 1989 aged nine.

His childhood footballing heroes were John Barnes and Ian Rush at Liverpool, and Paul Gascoigne for England.

When Gerrard was young, a garden fork was imbedded in the big toe of his right foot.

In his autobiography, Gerrard: My Autobiography, he credited Liverpool's academy director Steve Heighway and his father for preventing an operation to amputate his toe.

Although not a Catholic and living outside the catchment area, Gerrard attended Cardinal Heenan Catholic High School upon the recommendation of his primary school teacher, whose husband was a PE teacher at the school, due to its superior football reputation over other schools in the area.

Gerrard had trials with various clubs at fourteen, but his success was not immediate; Gerrard never made it into the England schoolboys' team.

He signed his first professional contract with Liverpool on 5 November 1997.

Born in Merseyside, Gerrard played for Liverpool from 1998 to 2015, winning nine trophies, including the UEFA Champions League, two FA Cups and three League Cups.

Gerrard made his first-team debut for Liverpool on 29 November 1998 as a late substitute in a Premier League match against Blackburn Rovers.

He made thirteen appearances in his debut season, replacing injured captain Jamie Redknapp in central midfield.

He also occasionally played on the right wing, but scarcely contributed in the short match time he received, which he attributed to nerves.

Replacing Paul Ince, Gerrard regularly partnered Redknapp in midfield for the 1999–2000 season.

After starting the Merseyside derby on the bench, he replaced Robbie Fowler in the second half, receiving his first career red card for a challenge to the upper leg of Everton's Kevin Campbell.

Later that season, Gerrard scored his first senior goal in a 4–1 victory over Sheffield Wednesday.

However, he began to suffer from persistent back problems, which sports consultant Hans-Wilhelm Müller-Wohlfahrt later diagnosed as a result of accelerated growth, coupled with excessive playing, during his teenage years.

He was then beset by groin injuries that required four separate operations.

Gerrard won 114 England caps between 2000 and 2014, captaining the team 38 times and scoring 21 goals.

He played at three UEFA European Championships, in 2000, 2004 and 2012 (where he was named in the Team of the Tournament) and three FIFA World Cups, in 2006, 2010 and 2014.

In the 2000–01 season, Gerrard made fifty starts in all competitions, scoring ten goals.

That season, he won his first major honours with Liverpool—the FA Cup, Football League Cup, and the UEFA Cup—scoring in the final of the last competition.

He was named PFA Young Player of the Year by his peers.

The following season, he won the FA Charity Shield and UEFA Super Cup.

In March 2003, Gerrard scored the opening goal in the club's 2–0 win over Manchester United in the Football League Cup final, held at the Millennium Stadium in Cardiff.

After a year as vice-captain, Gerrard replaced Sami Hyypiä as Liverpool captain in October 2003.

He was Man of the Match in the 2005 UEFA Champions League final, in which Liverpool overturned a 3–0 deficit to defeat AC Milan on penalties, and the 2006 FA Cup final, which has been termed The Gerrard Final in homage to his performance.

Despite success in cup competitions, he never won the Premier League.

As a player, his individual awards include UEFA Club Footballer of the Year in 2005, PFA Players' Player of the Year in 2006, FWA Footballer of the Year in 2009, appointment as a Member of the Order of the British Empire in 2007 and induction into the Premier League Hall of Fame in 2021.

He was named in the PFA Premier League Team of the Year a record eight times.

As a manager, he was named as Manager of the Year for 2021 by PFA Scotland and the SFWA.

His trials included one with Manchester United, which he said in his 2006 autobiography was "to pressure Liverpool into giving me a Youth Training Scheme contract."

Gerrard recalled in a 2008 interview with The Guardian, "I was out of position and out of my depth."

Nonetheless, Liverpool's coaching staff remained convinced that he would improve.

Gerrard saw himself as a defensive player primarily, looking to make key tackles rather than push the team forward.

He spent two years at Major League Soccer club LA Galaxy and retired in 2016.

Gerrard began his managerial career managing the Liverpool Youth Academy's under-18 team, before starting his senior managerial career in 2018 with Scottish Premiership club Rangers.

In his third full season in charge, Gerrard's side went unbeaten in the league to win Rangers' first league title in ten years.

In November 2021, he became the manager of Aston Villa, but after just eleven months in charge, he was dismissed due to a poor run of results.