Overview
Steven Gerrard is a midfielder for the England national team, who plays for and captains the Liverpool FC team in England's Barclays Premier League. The 6-foot, 1-inch Gerrard was named the Premier League's Young Footballer of the Year in 2001 and honored as the Football Writers' Player of the Year for the Premiership's 2008-09 season.
Early Years
Steven Gerrard was born on May 30, 1980 in Whiston, in Merseyside, England. After playing soccer as a young boy for Whiston Juniors, Gerrard spent time as a trainee at Liverpool FC before signing a professional contract with the team, his hometown club.
Professional/Club Career
Steven Gerrard made his professional debut with Liverpool in November 1998, and became a regular in midfield by the 1999-2000 season. During Liverpool's 2000-01 season when the club won the Worthington and FA Cups, Gerrard scored one of the goals in a 5-4 win over Spanish side Alaves in the UEFA Cup final. The midfielder's performance for the season won him the Premier League's Young Footballer of the Year award in 2001.
Named to replace Sami Hyypia as Liverpool captain for the start of the 2003-04 season, Gerrard went on to lead the club to UEFA Champions League glory in the 2004-05 season, scoring once and being named "Man of the Match" in the final when Liverpool came from three goals behind to defeat AC Milan.
Gerrard almost left the club for Premiership rivals Chelsea FC in the summer of 2005, deciding at the last minute to nix the transfer deal and stay at Liverpool. And while Liverpool has failed to win the Premier League during Gerrard's career on Merseyside, the inspirational captain did lead the club to another Champions League final in 2007, losing 2-1 to AC Milan.
Gerrard scored 21 goals for Liverpool that season, and topped that figure by notching 24 goals for the club during the 2008-09 campaign. The total included Gerrard's 100th strike for Liverpool and earned him the honor of Football Writers' Player of the Year for the 2009-09 season.
International/World Cup Experience
After featuring at the Under-21 team level, Steven Gerrard made his international debut for England's senior team in May 2000. Selected for England's squad for the UEFA 2000 European Championships, he made one appearance at that tournament.
Left out of the England team at the 2002 World Cup due to injury, Gerrard returned to action for the 2004 European Championships, where he scored against Switzerland in group play. Gerrard notched two goals at the 2006 World Cup in Germany, but his England side were eliminated by Portugal on penalty kicks at the quarterfinal stage.
Gerrard and England failed to qualify for the 2008 European Championships, but The Three Lions rebounded to win their qualifying group for the 2010 World Cup. Gerrard scored two goals in qualifying play for England, which won nine of ten games to capture Europe's Group Six and earn direct entry to the World Cup finals in South Africa.
At the 2010 World Cup, Gerrard started all four of his country's games -- contributing a goal and an assist -- as England reached the round of 16 before losing to Germany.
Personal
Steven Gerrard married fashion journalist Alex Curran in 2007. His cousin Anthony plays professionally with Cardiff City FC.
Another cousin of Gerrard's, Jon-Paul Gilhooley, was one of the 94 people who died during the Hillsborough Stadium disaster in 1989, when a crush of fans in the terraces at one end of the ground led to tragedy during the opening moments of the scheduled FA Cup semifinal between Liverpool and Nottingham Forest.
