1989/03/16
Theo James Walcott
London, England
5'9 (1.75m)
Winger, Striker
London, England
Club information
Arsenal FC
Southampton FC
England
Swindon Town AFC Newbury
Facts & Background
Contents |
About
Theo Walcott plays for Arsenal FC having joined from Southampton in January 2006. He is known for his remarkable pace and is widely touted as one of the hottest English talents in the game.
Background
Theo was a relative latecomer to the game of football, not taking it up seriously until he was ten years of age.
Club Football
Southampton
Theo was a part of the Southampton youth side which lost the FA Youth Cup final 3-2 on aggregate to Ipswich Town in the 2004-5 season.
Theo became the youngest ever player to play for the Southampton first team when he came on as a subsitute against Wolves in the 2005-6 season, aged 16 years and 143 days.
He made his full debut against Leeds United at Elland Road on October 18th 2005 and scored in that game. Just four days later he scored again away to Milwall and the following Saturday he made his full home debut, scoring in that game against Stoke City.
His performances began to generate lots of media hype with comparisons being made to Wayne Rooney and Michael Owen, as both of these players had emerged at a very early age. It wasn't long before Theo was linked with all the top clubs in England with Chelsea, Man United, Liverpool and Arsenal all battling for his signature.
In the end it was Arsenal that won the day, agreeing a fee worth an estimated £12m with Southampton. Theo, who is advised by his family, said he chose Arsenal because of Arsene Wenger's reputation of working with young players and giving them first team opportunities before most other managers.
Despite being a Liverpool fan Theo's idol was Thierry Henry and Henry presented Theo with one his shirts when he came to visit the club.
Arsenal FC
He signed for Arsenal on January 20th 2006 and signed a professional contract on his 17th birthday. Despite all the hype Arsene Wenger did not use him in the first team squad for the remainder of that season. He trained with the first team but did not play.
He made his Arsenal debut as a substitute on August 19th 2006 against Aston Villa. With the Gunners 1-0 down in their first match at the new Emirates Stadium Theo provided the cross for Gilberto Silva to volley home the equaliser.
International Football
International Goals
| Date | Team | Competition | Goals Scored |
|---|---|---|---|
Awards and Honours
Southampton Runner-up: FA Youth Cup: 2005 Arsenal Runner-up: League Cup: 2007 Individual
BBC Young Sports Personality of the Year Award: 2006
Personal Awards
| Previous Winner | Award | Year | Successor |
|---|---|---|---|
Career Statistics
| Team | Season | Domestic League | Domestic Cups | International | Total | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| M | G | A | M | G | A | M | G | A | M | G | A | ||
| Total | |||||||||||||
M = Matches, G = Goals, A = Assists
Personal Info
Walcott was born to a Jamaican father and an English mother.[24] His family made a cameo appearance in the 2007 film Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix. Theo himself was due to appear as well, but his commitments to Arsenal forced him to drop out.
Walcott and his father are both Liverpool fans. Walcott has never hidden the fact that he's a massive Liverpool supporter and even when Chelsea laid out the red carpet for him as a youngster, he used the opportunity to meet his real idols: "I was playing in a tournament for Swindon when Southampton and Chelsea showed an interest," recalls Walcott. "Chelsea invited me to be a ball-boy for a game 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!". Despite these ties to Liverpool, Walcott is a fan favourite at Arsenal.
Theo Walcott has been involved with the UK Charity Build a School.
On 6 April 2008, Walcott was a torchbearer for the Olympic Flame for Beijing 2008 as it was paraded around London. He was the second last torchbearer just before Dame Kelly Holmes.
He is in a well known relationship with childhood sweetheart Melanie Slade. The couple got together after meeting in 2006 at the WestQuay shopping mall in Southampton.
Walcott's distant cousin Jacob is on the books of Reading and was called up to the England U17 squad to participate in the European Championships.
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