Football Player's Biography 7: Jack Wilshere

Full name	Jack Andrew Garry Wilshere^[1]^[2]
Date of birth	1 January 1992 (1992-01-01) (age 19)
Place of birth	Stevenage, England
Height	1.73 m (5 ft 8 in)^[3]
Playing position	Midfielder

Jack Andrew Garry Wilshere (born 1 January 1992) is an English footballer who plays as a midfielder for Arsenal and the England national team.

Early and personal life

Wilshere was born in Stevenage, Hertfordshire and currently lives in Hitchin, Hertfordshire. He grew up in Hitchin, attending Whitehill Primary School and The Priory School.^[4] He captained The Priory School Football team to County Cup and District Cup glory from Year 7 through to Year 10, and also added the Under 15s National Cup to his list in Year 8, playing alongside Leyton Orient's Jake Argent-Martin and Jack Reeves.

Club career

Youth and Reserves

Wilshere joined the Arsenal Academy in October 2001 at the age of nine, after spending two months with Luton Town.^[5]^[6] He rose through the ranks, and at the age of 15 was named the captain of the under-16s; he also made a few appearances for the Under-18s. In the summer of 2007 Wilshere featured in the Champions Youth Cup and upon his return to England, Arsenal Academy coach Steve Bould gave him a start for the Under-18s first game against the Chelsea Under-18 team.^[7] He scored his first goal against Aston Villa Under-18s in a 4–1 win.^[8] He then scored a hat-trick against Watford Under-18s, helping his side to an Academy Group A title.^[9] He finished his first full season with the U-18s with a impressive 13 goals in 18 appearances most of which while he was just only 15.^[10]
In February 2008, he made his debut for Arsenal Reserves aged 16 against Reading, and scored Arsenal's only goal of the match, which ended in a draw.^[11] He scored a memorable goal against West Ham reserves in March, picking the ball up and curling a shot into the top corner under the watching eye of Arsene Wenger.^[12] He managed to record 2 goals and 2 assists in just 3 appearances for the reserves at the end of the 2007-08 season. He played in the Under-16s victory in the Atalanta Cup, being named as player of the tournament.^[13] He played an important role in Arsenal's 2009 FA Youth Cup win, scoring goals in the semi final^[14] and producing a man-of-the-match display in the first leg of the final against Liverpool, assisting two goals and scoring himself

2008–09 season

In July 2008, Wilshere was selected in the first team for the pre-season friendlies. He made his first team debut against Barnet as a half-time substitute for Henri Lansbury, setting up a goal for Jay Simpson.^[16] Wilshere scored his first two goals for Arsenal in a 10–2 win against a Burgenland XI, and again two days later in a friendly against Stuttgart.
Arsenal manager Arsène Wenger gave Wilshere a place in Arsenal's first team squad for the 2008–09 season,^[17] and he was given the number 19 shirt which he has retained to this day.^[18] He made his competitive debut in a Premier League match against Blackburn Rovers at Ewood Park in September 2008, as an 84th-minute substitute for Robin van Persie.^[19] At the age of 16 years and 256 days, he was Arsenal's youngest-ever league debutante, a record previously held by Cesc Fàbregas.^[20] Ten days later, on 23 September, Wilshere scored his first competitive Arsenal goal in a 6–0 victory against Sheffield United in the Football League Cup.^[21] On 25 November 2008, Wilshere came on as a substitute in a UEFA Champions League match against Dynamo Kyiv, becoming the fifth sixteen-year-old to ever play in the Champions League.^[22] In January 2009 Wilshere signed his first professional contract,^[23] extending it in July the same year

2009–10 season

In the preparation for the 2009–10 season, Wilshere scored twice and was twice awarded Man of the Match as Arsenal regained the friendly tournament, the Emirates Cup.^[25] On 22 September 2009, he started for Arsenal in their 2–0 Football League Cup win over West Bromwich Albion. In the 37th minute of the match, he was involved in a controversial incident with Jerome Thomas as Thomas pushed Wilshere's face and was shown a red card.^[26]

Loan to Bolton Wanderers

On 29 January 2010, Wilshere joined Premier League side Bolton Wanderers on loan until the end of the 2009–10 season.^[27] He made his first league start in the away game at Manchester City on 9 February, and scored his first Bolton goal, his first in the Premier League, on 6 March 2010 in the 2–1 victory at West Ham United.^[28] He impressed at Bolton and they tried, unsuccessfully, to sign him on loan for another season.^[29]

2010–11 season

The 2010–11 football season was a year of breakthrough for Wilshere. On 15 August 2010, he made his first start in the Premier League for Arsenal against Liverpool at Anfield.^[30] He followed that up with another start the next weekend against Blackpool contributing with an assist. On 15 September, Wilshere started his first Champions League game of the season providing an assist along with an impressive performance.^[31] Wilshere was named Arsenal's Player of The Month for September 2010.^[32] On 16 October, Wilshere received his first straight red card in first-team football in a Premier League match against Birmingham City for a challenge on Nikola Žigić.^[33] On 19 October, Wilshere scored his first Champions League goal with a chip over Andriy Pyatov at the Emirates Stadium for Arsenal in a 5–1 thrashing of Shakhtar Donetsk in the group stage.^[34] On 1 November, it was announced that Wilshere had signed a new long-term contract.^[35] On 27 November, Wilshere scored his first Premier League goal for Arsenal in a 4–2 win at Aston Villa. Wilshere was praised for his highly influential display against Barcelona in Arsenal's 2-1 victory, he completed a impressive 93.5% of his passes overall and 91% of his passes in the final third of the pitch.^[36]^[37] Manager Arsene Wenger described his performance as "outstanding".^[38] In April 2011, Wilshere won the PFA Young Player of the Year award, and was also named in the PFA Team of the Year for the 2010-2011 season, along with Arsenal team-mates Samir Nasri and Bacary Sagna.^[39]

Style of play

Wilshere is a player known for his passing, dribbling, vision, movement and combination play.^[40]^[41]^[42] More recently, Owen Coyle, manager of Bolton during Wilshere's loan spell, praised his ability to "tackle and take a knock", despite his lack of height. He has been compared to former England great Paul Gascoigne for his attributes as an all-round midfielder. However, Arsenal head of youth development Liam Brady noted that Wilshere had problems with his temper early on in his career.^[43]
Wilshere has been used in a number of positions, including attacking midfielder, winger, and most recently deep-lying central midfielder, where he has played in all but one of Arsenal's matches during the 2010-11 season. In Wenger's words: 'He's a box-to-box player, more than just a holding midfielder. But to be honest he can play in any position across the midfield. He can play behind the striker because he can penetrate."

International career

Since 2006, the England national football team have decided to play Wilshere in an age group above his age. Wilshere was just 14 when he played for the England national under-16 football team at the Victory Shield in 2006. At the age of 15, he began playing for the England national under-17 football team. He was then named in the squad for the 2009 UEFA European Under-17 Football Championship in May, starting the first two games, particularly impressing in the 2nd game against Germany before going off with an injury which kept him out of the final game.^[44]^[45] After the tournament, he was named among the 10 future stars from the tournament.^[46]
He has also been praised by England manager Fabio Capello, who indicated there was a chance that he would include the young midfielder in his 2010 FIFA World Cup squad,^[47] though this did not happen. He also came on as substitute for his England U-21 debut against the Netherlands.^[48]
On 7 August 2010, Wilshere was called up to the Senior squad for the first time for their friendly against Hungary on 11 August.^[49] He made his England debut on 11 August 2010, coming on as a 83rd minute substitute for Steven Gerrard against Hungary.^[50] This made him the 10th youngest player ever to play for the English national team.^[51]
On 9 February 2011 he made his full England debut when he started in a friendly against Denmark. He impressed despite playing in an unfamiliar role just in front of the defence and was praised by Fabio Capello

Personal life

On 31 March 2011, it was announced that Jack was set to become a father in August 2011,^[54] after his now ex-girlfriend, 22-year-old Lauren Neal, was pregnant with his child.^[55]