Theo Walcott
Theo James Walcott is an English former professional footballer who played as a winger and a striker. He represented England at the 2006 World Cup and Euro 2012 and won 47 caps, scoring eight goals. Walcott currently appears as a club ambassador for Arsenal and as a contributor for Sky Sports.
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. Walcott played as a striker from the 2012–13 season when he was Arsenal's top scorer, and he has scored more than 100 goals for the club.
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. 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.
Early life
Walcott was born to a black British Jamaican father and a white English mother. He was born in Stanmore, London, but grew up in Compton, Berkshire. He attended Compton Church of England Primary School and The Downs School. 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!"
Club career
Early career
As a child Walcott started playing football for his local village team and later for nearby Newbury. He 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.Southampton
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 were 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 BBC Young Sports Personality of the Year award on 11 December 2005.
Arsenal
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. 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. Walcott initially joined as a scholar, having agreed to sign a professional contract on his 17th birthday on 16 March 2006. In September 2008, manager Arsène Wenger confirmed that Tottenham Hotspur, Chelsea and Liverpool had all been interested in signing him.2006–07 season
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. 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."
2007–2010
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. 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 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. A couple of weeks later, Wenger claimed that Walcott had made the shift from boy to man, but was not yet a monster. He finished the season with seven goals in all competitions and four in the league.For the 2008–09 season, Walcott changed his shirt number from 32 to 14, as previously worn by his idol, Thierry Henry. He had wanted number 8, but that had already been taken by Samir Nasri. He established himself as a first-team regular, starting many matches on the right of midfield or on the wing. On 18 October, Walcott scored his first Premier League goal of the season, Arsenal's third as they came back from 1–0 down to beat Everton 3–1. Three days later, he scored Arsenal's second in a 5–2 win away to Fenerbahçe in the 2008–09 Champions League, rounding the goalkeeper before finishing from a tight angle.
Walcott dislocated his right shoulder in November while training with England for a friendly against Germany. He underwent surgery to correct a hereditary weakness, and returned to action in March, but at the end of the season he still felt that it was hampering his performance. In April 2009, he scored against Wigan Athletic, before, four days later in the Champions League quarter-final second leg, he gave his team a 10th-minute lead against Villarreal after receiving a pass from Fàbregas and flicking the ball over the goalkeeper. Arsenal won 4–1 on aggregate.
In the next match, an FA Cup semi-final against Chelsea, Walcott put Arsenal ahead in the first half, although they eventually lost 2–1. Three days later, Walcott came off to the bench to run half the length of the field before squaring for Andrey Arshavin to put Arsenal 4–3 up against Liverpool in the 90th minute; the match finished 4–4. In May 2009 he signed a new long-term contract with Arsenal.
Walcott's 2009–10 season was marred by injury: he made only 15 starts in all competitions. Problems with lower back, knee and hamstring meant he did not play a full 90 minutes until 9 December, against Olympiacos in the Champions League, as Arsenal, already qualified for the knockout stages, fielded the youngest team ever to start a match in that competition. On 6 March 2010, Walcott scored his second goal of the season against Burnley in a 3–1 victory to give Arsenal a decisive lead, with a left-footed effort from the edge of the box, after cutting inside from the right flank.
For the first hour of the Champions League quarter-final first leg, Arsenal were outclassed by Barcelona, although only two goals behind. Walcott's appearance off the bench was the turning point. He scored within three minutes of entering the match, "brought speed and fearlessness to the hosts' attacks", and was involved in the move that led to Fàbregas' equaliser from the penalty spot. After much debate, Wenger reacted to Walcott's performance by starting him in the second leg. According to BBC Sport's match report, Barcelona manager Pep Guardiola "anticipated his inclusion by bringing in the pacy Eric Abidal" to mark him, and Walcott's main contribution was to set up Nicklas Bendtner's opening goal in a 4–1 defeat.
2010–2013
Walcott's start to the 2010–11 season was particularly successful, winning Arsenal's Player of the Month vote in August by a landslide. In the second match of the new Premier League season, Walcott scored the first hat-trick of his club career as Arsenal beat newly promoted Blackpool 6–0. On 27 December 2010, he scored a goal and made an assist to help beat Chelsea 3–1 in what Arsène Wenger dubbed a "must-win" match.Interviewed after Arsenal's FA Cup third-round tie against Leeds United in January 2011, Walcott admitted diving in the last minute of the match in an unsuccessful attempt to win a penalty kick. He was fouled soon afterward, legitimately winning a penalty which was converted by Fàbregas to secure a draw and a replay of the fixturewhich Arsenal won. On 21 February, during the 1–0 victory against Stoke City, Walcott caught his studs in the turf, sustaining an ankle injury that ruled him out of the League Cup final and the Champions League last-16 second leg against Barcelona. On the last day of the season, he came off the bench to score the equaliser in a 2–2 draw away to Fulham, and ended up with a then career high of 9 goals in the Premier League and 13 in all competitions.
On 16 August, Walcott scored his first goal of the season in the first leg of a Champions League qualifying match against Udinese, giving a vital 1–0 win to Arsenal to carry on into the second leg of the tie. Walcott scored again in the second leg as Arsenal came from behind to win 2–1 and 3–1 on aggregate which helped Arsenal secure qualification for the lucrative group stage of the competition for the 14th straight season. Walcott scored Arsenal's first goal in the 2011–12 Premier League campaign against Manchester United, though this was a mere consolation as Arsenal lost 8–2. He netted his fourth goal on 29 October in a 5–3 win at Chelsea where he picked up the ball on the wing, slipped, then got up and jinked past two Chelsea players before scoring.
Walcott scored his first goal of 2012 in the 3–2 defeat at Swansea City, chipping the ball over Swans goalkeeper Michel Vorm. On 4 February 2012, he was involved in the build-up for three goals in the 7–1 home victory against Blackburn Rovers, setting up two goals for Robin van Persie and one for Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain. On 26 February, Walcott scored two second-half goals against Tottenham Hotspur to help them win 5–2 after being 0–2 down in the North London derby. On 24 March, Walcott scored Arsenal's second goal in a 3–0 home win over Aston Villa before being substituted by Oxlade-Chamberlain in the 78th minute. An injury in a 0–0 draw with Chelsea on 21 April looked set to rule Walcott out for the rest of the season but he was able to return in a substitute appearance on the last day of the season in a 3–2 win for Arsenal over West Bromwich Albion.
On 15 September 2012, Walcott came on as a substitute for Gervinho and scored his first goal of the season in a 6–1 win over his former club Southampton. On 26 September, he scored twice in a 6–1 win against Coventry City in the League Cup. On 30 October, Walcott scored Arsenal's first goal in first half stoppage time and their fourth goal in second half stoppage time in a League Cup tie at Reading to help the club complete a comeback from 4–0 down to 4–4. Arsenal won 7–5 in extra time, in which Walcott completed his hat-trick and backed up his argument that he should be played as a striker. Former Gunner Niall Quinn praised Walcott's performance as incredible, in what he described as "the most extraordinary game that I've seen." This took him to five League Cup goals for the season, a total which would make him the top scorer in the 2012–13 competition. On 29 December, Walcott was deployed as a lone striker and scored his first Premier League hat-trick of the season and provided two assists in an emphatic 7–3 win over Newcastle United. One of Walcott's strikes against Newcastle was voted as the Goal of the Month for November on the BBC's Match of the Day. On 18 January 2013, Walcott ended speculation about his future when he signed a new three-and-a-half-year contract with Arsenal. Two days later Walcott scored Arsenal's only goal in a 2–1 defeat to Chelsea. This started a run of four successive matches in which he scored, with Walcott also scoring in a 5–1 win against West Ham United on 23 January, a 3–2 win against Brighton & Hove Albion in the FA Cup and a 2–2 draw at home to Liverpool. He scored his 20th goal of the season against Queens Park Rangers after just 20 seconds. The match ended 1–0 and Walcott's goal became the fastest goal of the Premier League that season. Walcott scored another goal in a 4–1 victory over Wigan Athletic which resulted in Wigan's relegation. Walcott finished the season with 14 goals and 12 assists from 32 Premier League matches and scoring 21 times with 16 assists in all competitions to be Arsenal's top scorer.