Theo Walcott

Theo James Walcott (born 16 March 1989) is an English former professional footballer who played as a forward.

In the 2004–05 season, Walcott starred in the Southampton youth team that reached the final of the FA Youth Cup against Ipswich Town.

In addition he became the youngest person to play in the Southampton reserve team, aged 15 years and 175 days, when he came off the bench against Watford in September 2004.

However, he did not play in the Premier League, and Southampton was relegated to the Championship at the end of the 2004–05 season.

Before the start of the 2005–06 season, Walcott linked up with the first-team's tour of Scotland, just two weeks after leaving school.

He became the youngest-ever player with the Southampton first team, at 16 years and 143 days, after coming on as a substitute in Southampton's 0–0 draw at home to Wolverhampton Wanderers in the Championship.

Walcott made his full first-team debut away to Leeds United on 18 October 2005, and became Southampton's youngest senior goalscorer after 25 minutes of the 2–1 defeat.

He scored again away at Millwall four days later, and yet again in his full home debut against Stoke City the following Saturday.

His rapid rise to fame also led him to be named amongst the top three finalists for the prestigious BBC Young Sports Personality of the Year award on 11 December 2005.

He represented England at the 2006 World Cup and Euro 2012 and has 47 caps, scoring eight goals.

Walcott is a product of the Southampton Academy and started his career with Southampton before joining Arsenal for £5 million in 2006.

His speedy pace and ball crossing led his manager Arsène Wenger to deploy him on the wing for most of his career.

On 30 May 2006, Walcott became England's youngest-ever senior football player, aged 17 years and 75 days.

In December, he received the BBC Young Sports Personality of the Year award.

Walcott transferred to Arsenal on 20 January 2006, for a fee of £5 million, rising to £12 million depending on appearances for club and country.

Walcott initially joined as a scholar, having agreed to sign a professional contract on his 17th birthday on 16 March 2006.

Walcott made his Premier League debut on 19 August 2006, the first day of the 2006–07 season, coming on as a substitute against Aston Villa and setting up a goal for Gilberto Silva.

His next appearance was four days later in the Champions League, in the second leg of Arsenal's third qualifying round match against Dinamo Zagreb; he became the youngest-ever Arsenal player to appear in European competition, a record since beaten by Jack Wilshere.

Within minutes of coming on, Walcott received his first yellow card in Arsenal colours for taking a shot several seconds after the referee had already blown for offside.

During stoppage time, his cross beat the Dinamo defence and Mathieu Flamini scored, giving Arsenal a 2–1 win, their first in the new Emirates Stadium, and giving Walcott his second assist in two substitute appearances.

His first start came in a home league match against Watford on 14 October 2006.

Walcott's exploits with Arsenal and England earned him the BBC Young Sports Personality of the Year award at the end of 2006.

Walcott's first goal for Arsenal came in the 2007 League Cup Final against Chelsea at the Millennium Stadium, Cardiff, on 25 February 2007.

Walcott's first home goals of the 2007–08 season were scored in a Champions League match against Slavia Prague, which Arsenal won 7–0; he also set up a goal for Cesc Fàbregas.

On 6 September 2008, he made his first competitive start in a World Cup qualifier against Andorra, and in the following match against Croatia on 10 September he opened his senior international goals tally and became the youngest player in history to score a hat-trick for England.

Walcott was born to a black British Jamaican father and a white English mother.

He grew up as a Liverpool fan due to his father's support of Liverpool.

When Chelsea asked him to be a ball boy, he used the opportunity to meet his Liverpool idols:"'I was playing in a tournament for Swindon when Southampton and Chelsea showed an interest. Chelsea invited me to be a ball-boy for a match against Liverpool and it was fantastic to meet my heroes Michael Owen and Robbie Fowler. I was a Liverpool fan simply because my dad followed them. Unfortunately I wasn't born when the team had their golden era, but I enjoyed watching the likes of Michael Owen, Robbie Fowler and Steve McManaman when I was growing up. When Liverpool won the Champions League last year, I went mad. I was shouting so loud I think I woke up the entire village where I live!'"

Walcott was born in Stanmore, London, but grew up in Compton, Berkshire.

He attended Compton Church of England Primary School and The Downs School, playing football for the local village team and later for Newbury.

Walcott scored more than 100 goals in his one and only season for Newbury, before leaving there for Swindon Town.

He spent only six months there before leaving for Southampton after he rejected a chance to join Chelsea.

Nike agreed to a sponsorship deal with Walcott when he was fourteen years old.

The original fee, payable by instalments reported in The Times as £5 million down, five increments of £1 million to be paid after each set of ten Premier League appearances, and £2 million in "bonus payments", was revised down to £9.1 million in a compromise settlement agreed in March 2008.

In September 2008, manager Arsène Wenger confirmed that Tottenham Hotspur, Chelsea and Liverpool had all been interested in signing him.

Walcott scored his first two Premier League goals in a 2–2 draw with Birmingham City at St Andrew's on 23 February 2008.

In the Champions League quarter-final on 8 April, Walcott "beat six Liverpool defenders during a magical run from inside his own half before squaring for [Emmanuel] Adebayor to sidefoot home" for a late equaliser, but Liverpool scored twice more to take the match 4–2 and the tie 5–3 on aggregate.

Walcott has been played as a striker since the 2012–13 season when he was Arsenal's top scorer, and he has scored more than 100 goals for the club.

His 12th-minute strike was overshadowed by events later on in the match: John Terry was knocked unconscious, Didier Drogba scored twice to give Chelsea a 2–1 victory and three players were sent off following a mass brawl.

A persistent shoulder injury limited his performance, and Arsène Wenger said that after the injury, "he was 50 per cent of what he was before."