1. Daniel John Higginbotham was born on 29 December 1978 and is a former professional footballer who played as a defender.
54 Facts About Danny Higginbotham
1. 2.
Danny Higginbotham spent three years at Derby but made a transfer request when the club was relegated from the Premier League.
3.
When Southampton were relegated in 2005, Danny Higginbotham rejected a new contract and was placed on the transfer list.
4.
Danny Higginbotham was made captain when Michael Duberry left in January 2007, and Stoke went on to narrowly miss out on a play-off place.
5.
Danny Higginbotham spent one season at the Stadium of Light before returning to Stoke in 2008.
6.
Danny Higginbotham became a vital member of Tony Pulis' squad as Stoke established themselves in the Premier League.
7.
Danny Higginbotham scored the winning goal in the FA Cup quarter-final against West Ham United but missed out on both the semi-final and the final due to a knee injury.
8.
Danny Higginbotham spent time out on loan to Nottingham Forest and Ipswich Town before joining Sheffield United on a free transfer in January 2013.
9.
Danny Higginbotham made his international debut for Gibraltar in a friendly against Slovakia in November 2013 at the age of 34, qualifying through his maternal grandmother.
10.
In January 2014, Danny Higginbotham retired from club football after a 14-year career but made two more international appearances for Gibraltar until his international retirement in March.
11.
Danny Higginbotham started his career at his local club Manchester United but was not highly rated during the first year of his apprenticeship, and his career was almost ended when he broke his femur in a B team match.
12.
Danny Higginbotham was sent to Belgian Second Division side Royal Antwerp on a loan spell.
13.
Danny Higginbotham got off to a bad start at the club and asked to return to Old Trafford after being abused by Antwerp supporters outside the Bosuilstadion, and had to be talked into staying by manager Regi Van Acker.
14.
Danny Higginbotham was banned from football for a year for his alleged involvement in the attack.
15.
Ancion maintained that Wallwork had grabbed him by the throat and that Danny Higginbotham had headbutted him.
16.
Danny Higginbotham always maintained his innocence, stating that he had tried to intervene peacefully after Wallwork had aggressively confronted Ancion.
17.
Danny Higginbotham suffered with concussion during the match after a clash of heads with Dion Dublin.
18.
Danny Higginbotham failed to break into the first team on a regular basis as Denis Irwin, Phil Neville and Mikael Silvestre were all preferred ahead of him at left-back.
19.
Manager Jim Smith soon switched to a new system without any full-backs but Danny Higginbotham adapted well to playing on the left-side of a three-man defence.
20.
Danny Higginbotham felt that his replacement, Paul Sturrock, was unable to handle the pressure at St Mary's but denied press rumours that Sturrock had lost the confidence of the players.
21.
Danny Higginbotham had scored the equalising goal in the penultimate match of the season at Crystal Palace, but a final day defeat to Manchester United left Southampton two points from safety.
22.
Danny Higginbotham rejected a new contract and was placed on the transfer list in July 2006.
23.
Danny Higginbotham proved to be a typical signing as he felt unwanted at Southampton and said his career had been reinvigorated by the move to the Britannia Stadium.
24.
On 28 August 2007, it was announced that Stoke had accepted a bid from Sunderland, after Danny Higginbotham had handed a transfer request to the club.
25.
Danny Higginbotham wrote in his autobiography that Pulis would only authorise the deal if he handed in a transfer request.
26.
Danny Higginbotham said that the chance to play Premier League football under Roy Keane was too good to refuse.
27.
Danny Higginbotham was the first choice at left-back for manager Tony Pulis, playing in 28 league matches as the team successfully fought for survival.
28.
Danny Higginbotham was praised by first-team coach Mark O'Connor for reclaiming his place in the side.
29.
Danny Higginbotham signed a contract extension in October 2010 for a further 12 months, keeping him at Stoke until the summer of 2013.
30.
Danny Higginbotham made his 200th top-flight appearance against Manchester United on 24 October 2010.
31.
Danny Higginbotham struggled with injury for the rest of the first half of the season and was in and out of the first team.
32.
The fabric of a football club is made up of the whole cloth, not bits and pieces, so we are delighted Danny Higginbotham will remain a part of that.
33.
Danny Higginbotham scored a rare league goal in January 2011 against Bolton Wanderers.
34.
Danny Higginbotham scored the first FA Cup goal of his career in a quarter-final win against West Ham United in March 2011.
35.
Danny Higginbotham scored an identical goal against Newcastle United the following week.
36.
However, in the next league match against Chelsea, Danny Higginbotham sustained a cruciate knee ligament injury that ruled him out for six months.
37.
Pulis spoke of his disappointment at losing Danny Higginbotham but stressed he would play a key role in the final few matches of the season due to his influence in the dressing room.
38.
Danny Higginbotham later admitted that missing the FA Cup final made him "jealous" of his teammates.
39.
Danny Higginbotham targeted to return from his knee injury by October 2011.
40.
However, after failing to force his way back into the first team, Danny Higginbotham joined Championship team Nottingham Forest on loan until the end of the season on 31 January 2012.
41.
Danny Higginbotham's loan spell with Forest was ended early in April 2012 due to injury.
42.
Danny Higginbotham joined Championship club Ipswich Town on a one-month loan on 21 September 2012, which was later extended until January 2013.
43.
Danny Higginbotham was expected to extend his loan until the end of the season but Higginbotham rejected the deal saying he wanted to be based closer to his home, and left Portman Road having played 12 matches.
44.
On 1 January 2013, Danny Higginbotham signed for Sheffield United on a six-month contract, and made his debut for the club against their South Yorkshire rivals Doncaster Rovers the same day.
45.
On 29 August 2013, Danny Higginbotham joined Conference Premier club Chester on a one-year deal after falling out of the Sheffield United first team.
46.
Danny Higginbotham had previously stated it was an ambition of his to play for Altrincham, as he had supported them as a boy.
47.
Danny Higginbotham announced his retirement from football on 8 January 2014.
48.
Danny Higginbotham was praised for his performance and was named man of the match.
49.
Danny Higginbotham announced his retirement from international football in March 2014, having earned three caps for Gibraltar.
50.
In February 2013, Danny Higginbotham began to write his own column in The Sentinel, a local newspaper in the North Staffordshire and South Cheshire area.
51.
Danny Higginbotham released his autobiography in April 2015, entitled: Rise of the Underdog.
52.
Danny Higginbotham has appeared on several television and radio stations, including Talksport, BBC Radio 5 Live, BT Sport, ESPN, Sky Sports and NBC Sports.
53.
On 17 December 2020, it was announced that Danny Higginbotham would be the new color commentator for the Philadelphia Union starting with the 2021 season.
54.
Danny Higginbotham's second child, Jessica, was born on 12 October 2003.