Steven Gerrard

Steven George Gerrard born 30 May 1980, is an English professional association football player who plays for and captains English Premier League club Liverpool and the England national team. He has played much of his career in a centre midfielder role; however, since the arrival of Fernando Torres at Liverpool in 2007, he has been used mainly as a second striker for his club team and as a winger for England since 2006. Gerrard is best known for his long shots and also has scored in numerous cup finals including the 2005 UEFA Champions League Final and the 2006 FA Cup Final. He is considered to be one of the best players in the world by Zidane.

Gerrard, who has spent his entire career at Anfield, made his début in 1998 and cemented his place in the first team in the 2000–01 season, succeeding Sami Hyypiä as Liverpool team captain in 2003. His honours include two FA Cup wins, two League Cup wins, a UEFA Cup win, and a UEFA Champions League win in 2005. In 2005, Gerrard came third in the voting for Ballon d'Or, given to the top player in Europe.

Gerrard made his international début in 2000, and represented England in the UEFA European Championships in 2000 and 2004 as well as the 2006 FIFA World Cup, where he was the team's top goalscorer with two goals. Gerrard is the current vice-captain of the England national football team. However, he captained his country at the 2010 World Cup in the absence of regular captain Rio Ferdinand who missed the tournament through injury. Gerrard came second in the 100 Players Who Shook The Kop, a Liverpool F.C. fan poll
Personal life

Gerrard and his wife, fashion journalist Alex Curran, married at the Cliveden mansion in Buckinghamshire on 16 June 2007.He has an older brother, Paul (not to be confused with former Everton goalkeeper Paul Gerrard), and his cousin Anthony plays for Cardiff City F.C.. Steven and Alex have two daughters, Lilly-Ella (born 23 February 2004) and Lexie (9 May 2006).

In September 2006, Gerrard published his autobiography, Gerrard: My Autobiography, ghost-written by journalist Henry Winter, which went on to win the Sports Book of the Year honour at the British Book Awards.

The autobiography ends with "I play for Jon-Paul." Gerrard's ten-year-old cousin, Jon-Paul Gilhooley, was killed in the 1989 Hillsborough Tragedy, when Gerrard was almost 9. "It was difficult knowing one of your cousins had lost his life," Gerrard said. "Seeing his family's reaction drove me on to become the player I am today."

On 1 October 2007, Gerrard was involved in a low-speed accident in Southport when the car he was driving hit a ten-year-old bicyclist, who had shot into the street and inadvertently cut off Gerrard's path. He later visited the boy in the hospital and presented him with a pair of boots signed by the boy's favourite player, Wayne Rooney, after which he stayed to sign autographs for other young patients.

Councillors of Knowsley voted to make Gerrard a Freeman of the Borough on 13 December 2007, and two weeks later, he was made a Member of the Order of the British Empire by The Queen in The Queen's New Year Honours List, for services to sport.He received an honorary fellowship from Liverpool John Moores University on 26 July 2008 as recognition for his contribution to sport.

On 29 December 2008, Gerrard was taken into custody outside the Lounge Inn in Southport on suspicion of a section 20 assault. He and two others were later charged with assault occasioning actual bodily harm and affray, relating to an incident which left the bar's disc jockey with a broken tooth and cuts to his forehead.The three men were given police to court bail and were required to appear at North Sefton Magistrates' Court on 23 January 2009, where they all pleaded not guilty. The case was adjourned until 20 March when the assault charge was dropped but Gerrard was required to attend Liverpool Crown Court to face trial for affray.On 3 April, Gerrard pleaded not guilty.

The case went to trial in Liverpool Crown Court. Gerrard's co-defendants pleaded guilty before the trial but Gerrard maintained his innocence. Gerrard admitted hitting Marcus McGee but claimed it was in self defence and on July 24, Gerrard was found not guilty by the jury. Following the verdict, Gerrard said he was looking forward to getting back to playing football and putting the experience behind him.



Honours

Liverpool Winner
* FA Cup: 2000–01, 2005–06
* League Cup: 2000–01, 2002–03;
* FA Community Shield: 2001, 2006;
* UEFA Champions League: 2004–05;
* UEFA Cup: 2000–01
* UEFA Super Cup: 2001, 2005

Runner-Up

* FA Premier League: 2001–02, 2008–09;
* League Cup: 2004–05
* FA Community Shield: 2002
* UEFA Champions League: 2006–07
* FIFA Club World Championship: 2005

Individual

* FWA Footballer of the Year: 2009
* PFA Players' Player of the Year: 2006
* PFA Young Player of the Year: 2001
* PFA Fans' Player of the Year: 2001, 2009
* PFA Team of the Year: 2001, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009
* FA Premier League Player of the Month: March 2001, March 2003, December 2004, April 2006, March 2009
* Liverpool top goalscorer: 2004–05, 2005–06, 2008–09
* UEFA Club Footballer of the Year: 2005
* UEFA Champions League Final Man of the Match: 2005
* UEFA Team of the Year: 2005, 2006, 2007
* FIFA/FIFPro World XI: 2007, 2008, 2009[98]
* FA Cup Final Man of the Match: 2006
* Goal of the Season: 2006
* England Player of the Year: 2007