Gary Cahill
From TheChels.info - The Chelsea Football Club Wiki
| Gary Cahill | |
| |
| Full Name | Gary James Cahill |
| Date of Birth | 19 December 1985 |
| Place of Birth | Sheffield, England |
| Position | Central defender |
| Chelsea career | 2012 – 2019 |
| Debut | 5 February 2012 |
| Games (goals) | 263 (25) |
| Other clubs | Aston Villa Burnley (loan) Sheffield United (loan) Bolton Wanderers |
Gary James Cahill (born 19 December 1985 in Sheffield, South Yorkshire) is an English international defender who played for Chelsea for seven years, having signed from Bolton Wanderers in January 2012. An assured defender who combines a physical style with good technical ability, he was a member of Chelsea's 2012 UEFA Champions League-winning side just five months after joining the club.
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Before Chelsea
Born in Sheffield, Cahill played for Derbyshire side AFC Dronfield as a youngster. With impressive performances attracting attention from scouts, Cahill joined Aston Villa's Academy, and was later loaned to Burnley for the 2004-05 season in order to gain first team experience. His spell at Turf Moor was a great success, as the youngster won the Player Of The Year and Young Player Of The Year awards. He made his debut for Aston Villa the following season, and seemed to have established himself in the first team in 2006-07, making 21 appearances. However he was loaned to Sheffield United in the first half of the 2007-08 season, and proved to be surplus to requirements at Villa Park. He was sold to Bolton Wanderers in January 2008 for a reported fee of £5m.
Cahill quickly established himself in the Bolton defence, and gained a strong reputation for his solid defensive performances, in addition to having an eye for goal. His form earned him an England call-up in 2009, and he made his full international debut in 2010; evidently continuing to impress England manager Fabio Capello. Cahill's growing reputation had led to speculation linking him with a number of clubs prior to the 2011-12 season, including Arsenal and Tottenham Hotspur [1], and as the January transfer window approached Bolton manager Owen Coyle confirmed that the defender would not be signing a new contract when his current deal expired at the end of the season. [2]
Having been among the clubs linked with the defender, Chelsea emerged as strong favourites for his signature in late December, as Andre Villas-Boas required defensive cover with Alex set to leave the club. On 30 December Owen Coyle confirmed that a fee had been agreed between the two clubs, reportedly in the region of £7m; lower than may have been the case a few months earlier due to Cahill's contract expiring in the summer. [3] After two weeks of negotiations over personal terms, Cahill watched Chelsea beat Sunderland at Stamford Bridge on 14 January, having reportedly agreed terms and passed a medical. His transfer was officially confirmed by the club on Monday 16 January. [4] Upon completing his move to Chelsea, Cahill commented "Chelsea is a massive club, it is a club that looks to win trophies season in, season out and it is a big opportunity for me to be a part of that. Opportunities like this, you can't turn down." [5]
Chelsea career
2011-12
With David Luiz picking up a hamstring injury during a 5-1 FA Cup semi-final victory over Tottenham Hotspur, Cahill and Terry formed Chelsea's central defensive partnership for a UEFA Champions League semi-final clash with Barcelona. During the first leg, in only his second start in the Champions League, Cahill formed a resilient partnership with his England team-mate, making several crucial interventions as Chelsea hung on to win 1-0 and take a narrow advantage to Catalonia. In the second leg the Yorkshireman lasted just five minutes before unfortunately suffering a hamstring injury. He was replaced by José Bosingwa, and despite John Terry being sent off later in the half a makeshift Blues defence nonetheless helped the side to an improbable 2-2 draw, booking a place in the final in Munich.
With both John Terry and Branislav Ivanović suspended, Chelsea faced a crisis at centre back ahead of the final, with Cahill and David Luiz both facing a race to be fit. [6] Neither would play again prior to the final, meaning that both missed out on the chance to play in the FA Cup Final and Cahill himself returned to training just four days before the match. [7] Despite being far from 100% both Cahill and David Luiz started in the final, and played the full 120 minutes as Chelsea eventually won on penalties. The victory capped a remarkable few months for the English defender, who had gone from being on the wrong end of a 5-1 defeat to Chelsea while at Bolton the previous October to lifting the most prestigious prize in European football just a few months later, cementing his place in Chelsea's history after just 19 appearances.
International
Eligible for both England and the Republic of Ireland (the latter due to his having an Irish grandparent), Cahill chose to represent the country of his birth at an early stage. His manager at Bolton, Owen Coyle, later commented that the defender had only ever wanted to play for England. [8] Having made three appearances for England U-20s, he went on to represent his country at Under-21 level (including an appearance at the 2007 UEFA European Under-21 Championship) before earning a call-up to the senior squad in 2009. Cahill would have to wait another year to win his first senior cap, appearing as a substitute in a 4-0 win against Bulgaria in September 2010. He made his first start for England a few months later, in a 1-1 draw against Ghana at Wembley. At the time he signed for Chelsea Cahill had won seven caps and scored one goal, having partnered future Chelsea team mate John Terry in central defence in most of his international appearances.
Statistics
- See also: List of Gary Cahill goals
| Season | Prem | FA Cup | League Cup | Europe | Other | Total | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | |
| 2011-12 | 10 | 1 | 4 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 19 | 2 |
| 2012-13 | 26 | 2 | 4 | 0 | 4 | 2 | 8 | 1 | 3 | 1 | 45 | 6 |
| 2013-14 | 30 | 1 | 3 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 10 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 47 | 2 |
| 2014-15 | 36 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 4 | 0 | 6 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 48 | 3 |
| 2015-16 | 23 | 2 | 4 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 7 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 37 | 4 |
| 2016-17 | 37 | 6 | 3 | 0 | 3 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 43 | 8 |
| 2017-18 | 13 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 6 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 23 | 0 |
| Total | 175 | 13 | 20 | 3 | 19 | 4 | 42 | 4 | 6 | 1 | 263 | 25 |
Correct as of 21 December 2017"
Honours
- Chelsea
