Benjamin Woodburn (born 15 October 1999) is a Welsh professional footballer who plays as a forward for Sheffield United, on loan from Premier League club Liverpool, and for the Wales national team.
Woodburn became Liverpool's third-youngest player in history upon making his senior debut in November 2016 and the the club's youngest-ever goalscorer in his second appearance. He is also Wales' second-youngest-ever goalscorer behind Gareth Bale, having netted on his senior debut at the age of 17 in September 2017.
Video Ben Woodburn
Club career
Liverpool
Early career
Born in Nottingham, Woodburn was raised in Tattenhall, Cheshire and played both cricket and football from a young age. He joined Liverpool's academy at under-7 level where he steadily progressed through the youth ranks, leading to former academy director Frank McParland identifying him as one of the brightest prospects at the club. During his schooling, Liverpool agreed to a request from Woodburn's parents that he should stay at home rather than in Rainhill, which was closer to the academy in Kirkby. In order to facilitate his development, the club arranged for a driver to transport him every day from training back to his home in Tattenhall. When he was 15 years old, Woodburn was fast-tracked from Liverpool's under-16s to the under-18s and his rapid development saw him included in Liverpool's "Futures Group", a programme which afforded the club's most talented young players a weekly opportunity to train with then first-team coach, Pep Lijnders.
2016-17 season
Having impressed first-team manager Jürgen Klopp during these training sessions, Woodburn was handed his non-competitive debut during the 2016-17 pre-season in a 1-0 win over Tranmere Rovers. He came off the bench in Liverpool's next match to score one and assist another for Roberto Firmino in a 5-0 friendly win over Fleetwood Town. Woodburn then, along with Kevin Stewart and fellow academy graduate Trent Alexander-Arnold, signed his first professional contract with Liverpool on 8 November 2016.
He made his senior debut for Liverpool on 26 November, coming on as a 92nd-minute substitute for Georginio Wijnaldum in a 2-0 Premier League victory over Sunderland. Upon doing so, Woodburn became Liverpool's third-youngest debutant of all time at the age of 17 years and 42 days, and the club's second-youngest-ever in the Premier League, behind Jack Robinson. Three days later, he became Liverpool's youngest-ever goalscorer at the age of 17 years and 45 days when he came off the bench to score in an EFL Cup quarter-final win over Leeds United, bettering Michael Owen's record by 98 days. Following his rapid development at Liverpool, both Sky Sports and The Guardian named Woodburn as one of the top young players to watch in 2017.
He made his full debut for the club on 8 January 2017, starting in a 0-0 FA Cup draw with Plymouth Argyle. His first start in the league followed on 4 April in a 2-1 away triumph over Stoke City which saw him become the third-youngest player to start for Liverpool in the Premier League era behind Owen and Jordon Ibe. The following week he was nominated for the 2017 European Golden Boy award, but was beaten by French forward, Kylian Mbappé. On 9 May, Woodburn won Liverpool's Academy Player of the Season award following a campaign which saw him score eight goals in Premier League 2 and break into the first team. He was also later nominated for the Premier League 2 Player of the Season award alongside Alexander-Arnold, though the award was ultimately won by Swansea City's Oliver McBurnie.
2017-18 season
The following season, Liverpool's academy coach Steven Gerrard named Woodburn as captain of the under-19 side for the club's UEFA Youth League campaign, a competition which ran parallel to the season's UEFA Champions League. He made just one senior appearance, as a substitute, during the first half of the season but signed a new long-term deal with Liverpool in October and was named BBC Wales Young Sportsman of the Year in December.
Woodburn continued to represent the youth and reserve sides at the start of the second half of the season. On 21 February 2018, he scored once and assisted another as Liverpool beat Manchester United's U19 side 2-0 to qualify for the quarter finals of the UEFA Youth League. There, the club was eliminated by Manchester City. He made his first and only other appearance for the season on 13 May, coming on as a late substitute for Mohamed Salah in a 4-0 league win over Brighton. On 1 July, he and club teammates Alexander-Arnold and Herbie Kane were named on the shortlist for the 2018 Golden Boy award.
2018-19 season: Loan to Sheffield United
On 31 July 2018, Woodburn signed on a season-long loan with Championship side, Sheffield United.
Maps Ben Woodburn
International career
Prior to making his senior international debut, Woodburn was eligible to represent both Wales, through his maternal grandfather, and England. During his early teens he attended a training camp with the England schoolboys' team and was later offered an under-16 call-up by England in August 2014. He rejected the call-up and chose to remain in the Wales setup at the time. After his club debut with Liverpool in November 2016, it was reported that England remained hopeful of convincing Woodburn to switch his international allegiance despite previously being rebuffed. The possibility was ended in September the following year when he made his senior international debut for Wales in a competitive fixture.
Youth
Woodburn has played for Wales up to U19 level and was first called up to train at one of the nation's regional development centres at Dragon Park when he was 13. He played for Wales U15s in two games against Poland in March 2014, scored a hat-trick for the U16 side against Northern Ireland the following year and then captained the U17 team against Greece in 2016. Later that year, he represented the U19 side in their UEFA European Under-19 Championship qualification matches and scored a brace in a 6-2 win over Luxembourg.
Senior
On 16 March 2017, Woodburn was called up by head coach Chris Coleman to the Wales senior team for the first time, aged 17, for the nation's World Cup qualifier against the Republic of Ireland. He remained an unused substitute, however, as Wales played out a 0-0 draw in Dublin. He made his senior debut on 2 September, coming on as a second-half substitute for Tom Lawrence and scoring a 25-yard strike in a 1-0 win against Austria. In doing so, he became Wales' second-youngest-ever goalscorer behind Gareth Bale and kept the nation within reach of qualification. Woodburn featured regularly from the bench towards the back end of the qualification campaign as Wales ultimately fell two points short of a play-off spot. He then made his first start on 14 November in a 1-1 friendly draw with Panama.
Career statistics
Club
- As of match played 13 May 2018
International
- As of match played 22 March 2018
International goals
- As of match played 14 November 2017
Wales score listed first, score column indicates score after each Woodburn goal.
Honours
Individual
- Liverpool Academy Player of the Season: 2016-17
- BBC Wales Young Sportsman of the Year: 2017
Records
- Liverpool
- Youngest-ever goalscorer: 17 years and 45 days
References
External links
- Ben Woodburn profile at the Liverpool F.C. website
- Ben Woodburn at Soccerbase
Source of article : Wikipedia
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