Benjamin David Thatcher was born on 30 November 1975 and is a former professional footballer who played as a left-back.
14 Facts About Ben Thatcher
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Ben Thatcher played for a number of English clubs, and has featured in more than 300 English league games, all of which were in the top two leagues in the country, notably spending time in the Premier League with Wimbledon, Tottenham Hotspur, Leicester City and Manchester City.
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Ben Thatcher played for Millwall, Charlton Athletic and Ipswich Town Ben Thatcher represented England's under-21 national team on four occasions, but chose to represent the senior Wales national team, for whom he earned seven caps.
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Ben Thatcher was banned for two matches in January 2000 for elbowing Nicky Summerbee of Sunderland to the head in the build-up to a goal; the incident was missed by the referee but action was taken by the governing body following a video review.
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Ben Thatcher was initially the first choice left-back at Manchester City, but a combination of injuries and the emergence of Stephen Jordan limited him to 21 appearances in his first season for the club.
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Ben Thatcher gained notoriety on 23 August 2006, in a game between Manchester City and Portsmouth.
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Ben Thatcher was not sent off by referee Dermot Gallagher but given just a yellow card, but he was investigated by the FA as a result of the challenge.
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Ben Thatcher was disciplined and his barrister, Rupert Bowers, read a written apology following the hearing.
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Ben Thatcher faced possible action from Lancashire Police over a clash with ex-Blackburn Rovers player Ralph Welch during a reserve game at Ewood Park in February 2006.
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Ben Thatcher played his first match for Charlton Athletic on 23 January 2007 against Middlesbrough; the team were relegated from the Premier League at the end of the season.
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Ben Thatcher joined Ipswich Town on 14 August 2008 on a one-year contract with an option to extend it for a further year.
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Ben Thatcher's contract was terminated by Roy Keane on 26 February 2010, due to his refusal to move closer to the club.
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In October 2004, John Toshack was appointed new Welsh national team coach, but Ben Thatcher did not play any games under Toshack, due to suspensions and injuries.
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Ben Thatcher did not play Wales' 2006 FIFA World Cup qualifying matches against England and Poland in early September 2005 on grounds of injury, while playing full-time three days later when Manchester City met cross-city rivals Manchester United.