Oliver Norwood

Oliver Norwood

Personal information
Full name	Oliver James Norwood[1]
Date of birth	(1991-04-12) 12 April 1991 (age 21)
Place of birth	Burnley, England
Height	1.80 m (5 ft 11 in)[2]
Playing position	Midfielder
Club information
Current club	Manchester United
Number	47
Youth career
2007–2009	Manchester United
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps†	(Gls)†
2009–	Manchester United	0	(0)
2010	→ Carlisle United (loan)	6	(0)
2011–2012	→ Scunthorpe United (loan)	15	(1)
2012	→ Coventry City (loan)	18	(2)
National team‡
2007	England U17	3	(0)
2010–2011	Northern Ireland U19	3	(3)
2009–	Northern Ireland U21	11	(4)
2009	Northern Ireland B	1	(0)
2010–	Northern Ireland	5	(0)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 10:56, 4 April 2012 (UTC). † Appearances (Goals). ‡ National team caps and goals correct as of 19:53, 11 May 2012 (UTC)

Oliver James Norwood (born 12 April 1991) is a footballer who plays as a midfielder for Manchester United. Although he was born in England, and represented that country at under-17 level, he has represented Northern Ireland at every level from under-19 to the senior team.

Club career

Born in Burnley, Lancashire, Norwood began his football career playing for his brother's team in his home town. He was spotted by Manchester United scouts when he was 6 years old and joined the club at the age of 7. After eight appearances for Manchester United's under-18s side in 2005–06 and 2006–07, he joined the club as a trainee in July 2007. He became a regular in the under-18s team in 2007–08, scoring twice in 22 appearances, and he made his debut for the reserve team in a 2–1 away win over Middlesbrough on 6 November 2007. The following season, he scored nine goals in 28 appearances for the under-18s, as well as appearing a further 10 times for the reserves. His form prompted the club to sign him on a professional contract in July 2009.

2009–10 was a big season for Norwood, as he made the full step up to the reserve team and also received his first call-up to the first-team for their Champions League group stage match away to Wolfsburg.^[3] However, although he made the trip to Germany, Norwood was not named in the 18-man match-day squad.^[4]

On 16 September 2010, Norwood signed for Carlisle United on a one-month emergency loan contract, following a knee injury to Carlisle captain Paul Thirlwell.^[5]

On 24 August 2011, Norwood signed for Scunthorpe United on a six-month loan, during this time he made 16 starts and scored one goal.^[6]

Norwood completed a loan switch to Championship side Coventry City on the 31 January 2012 deadline day, where he will remain on loan until the end of the season.^[7] On 21 March 2012, he scored a stoppage-time equaliser against Cardiff to earn a well deserved point for the Sky Blues.^[8] He scored his second Coventry City goal in the 2–0 home win against Portsmouth on 24 March 2012.^[9]

International career

England

Although he was born in England, Norwood's heritage is Northern Irish; it is this heritage that has allowed him to represent both England and Northern Ireland in international football. He was first called up to the England under-17 team in September 2007 ahead of their 2008 UEFA Under-17 Championship qualifying matches against Malta, Estonia and Portugal in Estonia from 21 October to 26 October 2007.^[10] He appeared in all three fixtures, his debut coming in the 6–0 win over Malta on 21 October, in which he came on as a 61st-minute substitute for Harry Forrester.^[11] However, the match against Portugal would prove to be his final appearance for an England team.

Northern Ireland

Norwood made his first appearance for a Northern Ireland team at "B" international level, in a 3–0 defeat away to Scotland B on 6 May 2009; he came on as a substitute for Niall McGinn in the 67th minute, and forced a fingertip save from Scotland goalkeeper David Marshall with a 30-yard free-kick three minutes later.^[12] His under-21 debut followed three months later, when he came on as a substitute for Corry Evans in a 2–1 away defeat to Portugal on 12 August 2009.^[13] Norwood received national media attention in November 2009 after he scored free-kicks against both Germany and the Czech Republic's under-21 teams.^[14]

Norwood's reverse progression through the Northern Irish national teams was completed in May 2010, when he appeared for the under-19 side in the 2010 UEFA Under-19 Championship elite qualifying round. In his first match for the under-19s, against Russia, he scored two goals in the last 10 minutes to salvage a draw after Northern Ireland went 2–0 down shortly into the second half.^[15] He then followed this up with a penalty to open the scoring against Italy two days later, only for Italy to win the match 3–2.^[16]

Norwood made his debut for the Northern Ireland senior side on 11 August 2010, in a 2–0 friendly defeat away to Montenegro. He came on as a second-half substitute for Sammy Clingan, and in the final few minutes attempted to chip the Montenegrin goalkeeper Mladen Božović, only to send the ball over the bar.^[17] He started for the first time in the senior team when Northern Ireland lost 3–0 to Italy on their last game in UEFA Euro 2012 qualifiers.^[18]

Career statistics

Statistics accurate as of 2 May 2012^[19][20]

Notes

1. ^ Includes other competitive competitions, including the Football League Trophy

References

External links

• Oliver Norwood career stats at Soccerbase
• Profile at ManUtd.com
• Oliver Norwood at National-Football-Teams.com
• Profile at Northern Ireland's Footballing Greats