| Freddy Eastwood | ||
| Personal information | ||
|---|---|---|
| Full name | Freddy Eastwood | |
| Date of birth | October 29 1983 | |
| Place of birth | Basildon, Essex, England | |
| Playing position | Striker | |
| Club information | ||
| Current club | Wolves | |
| Number | 23 | |
| Youth clubs | ||
| 1999-2002 | West Ham United | |
| Senior clubs1 | ||
| Years | Club | App (Gls)* |
| 2002-2003 2003-2004 2004 2004-2007 2007- |
West Ham United Grays Athletic → Southend United (loan) Southend United Wolves |
0 (0) 42 (28) 4 (4) 111 (49) 20 (3) |
| National team2 | ||
| 2007- | Wales | 5 (2) |
|
1 Senior club appearances and goals |
||
Freddy Eastwood (born October 29, 1983 in Basildon, Essex)[1] is an English-born footballer, currently playing for Wolverhampton Wanderers. He is a Welsh International, eligible to play for the Welsh national football team as his maternal grandfather was born in Llanelli, Wales.
Contents |
Background
Eastwood was born in Basildon, Essex and is a member of the Romani community.[2] He was often seen exercising his horse on the A127 road in Essex on the morning of a match day when playing for Southend United.[2] He is married with two children.[3] He appealed to the British Government in August 2006 to keep his home on a travellers site in Basildon after Basildon Council refused planning permission.[3] Eastwood and his family were told in November 2006 that the decision of Basildon Council would not be upheld by the Government and he was free to stay there for at least the next five years.[4]
Club career
West Ham United
Eastwood began his career as a West Ham United Academy player after turning down an offer of a scholarship at Southend where he had been a promising youth player. At West Ham, Eastwood played in the same youth team as Jermain Defoe, Anton Ferdinand and Glen Johnson but was not considered good enough by the then manager Glenn Roeder and was released by the Hammers[5] in May 2003.[6] After being released, he considered quitting football altogether and worked briefly as a car salesman.[5]
Grays Athletic
Eastwood joined Conference South side Grays Athletic in August 2003[6] He scored 37 league and cup goals[7] in his first season, winning the Grays' Golden Boot[7] and prompting attention from a number of professional clubs including Northampton Town,[8] Swindon Town[9] and Charlton Athletic[10] as well as Southend United.
Southend United
Eastwood joined Southend United in October 2004, initially on loan.[11] He made his debut for the club in spectacular style, scoring the opener after 7.7 seconds, an English league record for a debut, and going on to score two more to record his first of three hat-tricks for the club as Southend beat top of the table Swansea City 4-2.[12] Eastwood joined Southend on a permanent basis in November 2004 for an undisclosed fee in a three-year deal from Grays.[13] He finished the 2004-05 season with 24 goals from 42 appearances in all competitions[6] and scored the opening goal in his club's 2-0 defeat of Lincoln City in the League Two Play-off Final at the Millennium Stadium in Cardiff in May 2005 that resulted in promotion for Southend United.[14] Eastwood scored Southend United's 5,000th League goal on 2 January 2006 when he smashed home the late winner against Blackpool at Bloomfield Road as the Shrimpers went to the top of League One.[15] He scored twice at Swansea City on 29 April 2006 to earn Southend United a 2-2 draw, a result which sealed promotion to the Football League Championship.[16] By the end of the 2005-06 season, Eastwood was joint 18th in Southend's all time leading goal scorers list with 49 goals, 45 of which were in the league, two in the FA Cup and two in the LDV Vans Trophy. He was also joint top scorer with Billy Sharp in League One in 2005-06 with 23 goals.[17] The following season, Eastwood scored his 50th goal for the club in the Championship opener game against Stoke City.[18] It would prove to be a difficult season for the striker and despite scoring 11 goal in the Championship,[6] Eastwood was unable to prevent relegation back to League One, however the highlight of the Shrimpers season came when Eastwood scored the only goal, a spectacular 30-yard free kick in front of the home fans in the North Stand, during the Carling Cup fourth round win against Manchester United on November 7 2006 to put the holders out of the competition.[19]
Wolverhampton Wanderers
Eastwood signed a four-year deal with Wolves in July 2007 after completing a £1.5m move from Southend and was given the number 23 shirt.[20][21] Eastwood started the 2007-08 impressively, scoring his first goal for Wolves on his full debut in the Carling Cup first round win over Bradford City,[22] and scoring one and setting up another on his league debut in a 3-1 away win over Sheffield Wednesday.[23] He scored twice against Blackpool in his second league game, prompting manager Mick McCarthy to say, "...the difference [between the two sides] was Freddy Eastwood - his goals speak for themselves and it is goals which win games."[24] He was named as Championship player of the month for August.[25]
International career
As his maternal grandfather was born in Wales, Eastwood is eligible to play for Wales. He was selected for the squad for the international friendly against New Zealand in May 2006 and the crucial Euro 2008 qualifier against Czech Republic in June,[26] however an existing back injury did not heal as quickly as hoped and Eastwood was forced to withdraw from the squad.[27] He was selected for the squad to play Bulgaria and went on to score his debut international goal in the first half of their 1-0 victory on August 22, 2007.[28] John Toshack, the Wales manager, said, "It was a really special goal [...] Now we have got a player up front who knows his business. We have been aware of his goalscoring exploits and have worked hard to make sure he became a Wales international."[29]
References
- ^ "Ferguson is left red-faced after Southend shock", Times Online, 2006-11-08. Retrieved on 2007-07-10.
- ^ a b "Eastwood gets accustomed to life on road to riches", Guardian, 2006-11-09. Retrieved on 2007-01-21.
- ^ a b "Freddy Eastwood: Let me stay in my gipsy home", Echo News, 2006-08-18. Retrieved on 2007-01-21.
- ^ "Freddy wins home battle", Echo News, 2006-11-10. Retrieved on 2007-01-21.
- ^ a b "Eastwood: I'm ready for Prem", The Sun, 2006-11-10. Retrieved on 2007-07-11.
- ^ a b c d Soccerbase: Freddy Eastwood. Racing Post. Retrieved on 2007-07-10.
- ^ a b Season 2003-4 in focus. Grays Athletic F.C. official website. Retrieved on 2007-07-10.
- ^ "Eastwood set to become a Cobblers player", Non League Daily, 2003-11-12. Retrieved on 2007-07-11.
- ^ "Players Profile: Freddy Eastwood", The Little Gazette, 2004-10-04. Retrieved on 2007-07-11.
- ^ "Eastwood gets Charlton chance", Non League Daily, 2004-04-02. Retrieved on 2007-07-11.
- ^ "Eastwood joins Shrimpers", BBC, 2004-10-04. Retrieved on 2007-07-07.
- ^ "Southend 4-2 Swansea", BBC, 2004-10-16. Retrieved on 2007-07-10.
- ^ "Southend complete Eastwood deal", BBC, 2004-11-04. Retrieved on 2007-07-10.
- ^ "Lincoln City 0-2 Southend United", BBC, 2004-05-28. Retrieved on 2007-07-10.
- ^ Blues reach 5,000 goal landmark. Southend United official website (2007-02-04). Retrieved on 2007-07-27.
- ^ "Southend go up after Swansea draw", BBC, 2006-04-29. Retrieved on 2007-07-28.
- ^ Leading scorers: FL1 2005/06. The Football League. Retrieved on 2007-07-29.
- ^ "Southend 1-0 Stoke", BBC, 2006-08-04. Retrieved on 2007-07-29.
- ^ "Southend 1-0 Man Utd", BBC, 2006-11-07. Retrieved on 2007-07-29.
- ^ "Eastwood completes move to Wolves", BBC, 2007-07-06. Retrieved on 2007-07-06.
- ^ "Wolverhampton Wanderers", FootballSquads. Retrieved on 2007-07-29.
- ^ "Wolves 2-1 Bradford", BBC Sport, 2007-08-15. Retrieved on 2007-08-26.
- ^ "Sheff Wed 1-3 Wolves", BBC Sport. Retrieved on 2007-08-28.
- ^ "Wolves 2-1 Blackpool", BBC Sport, 2007-08-22. Retrieved on 2007-08-26.
- ^ "Eastwood bags Championship award", BBC Sport, 2007-09-05. Retrieved on 2007-11-02.
- ^ "Eastwood amongst new Welsh faces", BBC, 2007-05-02. Retrieved on 2007-05-02.
- ^ Freddy may meet and greet. Southend United Official Site. Retrieved on 2007-07-29.
- ^ "Bulgaria 0-1 Wales", BBC Sport, 2007-08-22. Retrieved on 2007-08-22.
- ^ "Toshack hails 'special' Eastwood", BBC Sport, 2007-08-22. Retrieved on 2007-08-26.
External links
- Freddy Eastwood career stats at Soccerbase
- Freddy Eastwood Football Boots
- Feature on Southend United club website
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| 1 Murray •
2 D. Ward • 3 N. Collins • 4 Olofinjana • 5 Breen • 6 Craddock • 7 Kightly • 8 Henry • 9 Keogh • 10 Bothroyd • 11 S. Ward • 12 Edwards • 14 Potter • 15 Little • 16 Davies • 17 Jarvis • 18 Gleeson • 19 Elliott • 20 Mulgrew • 22 Gobern • 23 Eastwood • 24 Gibson • 28 Clapham • 29 O'Connor • 30 Ikeme • 31 Hennessey • 32 Foley • 33 Gray • 35 Bennett • 39 Rosa • Manager: McCarthy |
