PAST PLAYER PROFILE - Emile Heskey

Emile Heskey (Striker, 2000-2004)
Position: Striker
Date of Birth: 11/01/1978
Height: 6' 2
1st team games: 223
1st team goals: 60
Other clubs: Leicester City
International caps: 36
International goals: 4



PROFILE

Emile Heskey became the club's most expensive player when Gerard Houllier paid Leicester City 11 million for his services in March 2000 and stayed at the club for four years before departing for Birmingham City at the end of the 2003/04 season.

The striker had his critics but Heskey remained a big favourite of his manager Houllier who showed a lot of faith in the England international. You could never term him a prolific goalscorer but Heskey's strengths were being a hard worker for the team cause and a willingness to play anywhere the manager wanted him to.
Heskey's career began with his hometown club Leicester City, for whom he made his first team debut in 1995 and the following season his goals helped the Foxes win promotion to the Premiership via the play-offs.


His international career also started to blossom. He starred alongside Michael Owen in the England Under-18 team that finished third in the European Championships in France. Caps then followed at both Under-21 and senior level, while success on the domestic front saw him claim two Worthington Cup winner's medals with Leicester City and involvement in UEFA Cup football.

It was the first full season at Liverpool that Heskey hit the heights at Anfield most. It was during the treble season when the Reds number eight hit 22 goals in his best campaign ever featuring his first ever hat-trick in senior football in a 4-1 win at Derby County. He scored twice in Merseyside derby wins over Everton at Anfield and Goodison Park and netted a superb goal in the FA Cup semi-final victory over Wycombe Wanderers. Heskey started in all three of the treble successes but didn't score.

The following campaign he scored 14 goals as the Reds finished second in the Premiership and ended playing for England in the 2002 World Cup Finals, scoring once against Denmark.

The 2001/02 campaign was a turbulent one for Liverpool in the sense that manager Gerard Houllier underwent life threatening heart surgery and missed five months of the season. On the manager's comeback on a never-to-be-forgotten Anfield European night against Roma in the Champions League, Heskey gave arguably his finest display in a red shirt. In the 2-0 win he scored a magnificent goal at the Kop end and led the line superbly against world class defenders. Sadly this performance was never to be witnessed on a consistent basis.

However Heskey did contribute to another cup success when he scored a marvellous goal in the 3-2 Super Cup triumph over Bayern Munich in Monaco.
In Heskey's final season at Anfield he netted 12 goals from 47 games to finish second top scorer to Michael Owen. All-in-all Heskey scored 60 goals in 223 games for Liverpool.