58 Facts About Emile Heskey

Emile William Ivanhoe Heskey was born on 11 January 1978 and is an English former professional footballer who currently serves as head of football development of Leicester City Women.

Emile Heskey had a spell in Australia, playing for the A-League club Newcastle Jets.

Emile Heskey signed for Aston Villa in 2009 and was released in 2012 before signing for A-League club Newcastle Jets.

Emile Heskey was an England international at under-16, under-18, under-21, B and senior levels.

Emile Heskey lost his place in the squad after UEFA Euro 2004, during which he failed to shine and was the subject of much criticism.

Emile Heskey retired from international football following the 2010 FIFA World Cup, having attained 62 caps and scored 7 goals for his country.

In 2021, Emile Heskey was announced as the head of women's football development at Leicester City Women.

Emile Heskey was born in Leicester, Leicestershire, to a family of Antiguan descent, and his father, Tyrone Emile Heskey, ran the security of nightclubs in Leicester.

Emile Heskey was a keen footballer in his childhood and played for Ratby Groby Juniors, a local youth team in Leicester.

Emile Heskey stood out amongst his peers and at the age of nine accepted a place at Leicester City's football academy.

Emile Heskey was runner-up to David Beckham for the PFA Young Player of the Year award.

The press saw the move as expensive and risky as Emile Heskey was relatively inexperienced and was not a prolific goalscorer.

Veteran Liverpool striker Ian Rush approved of the signing, noting that Emile Heskey would "give Liverpool a different dimension", bringing strength to the Liverpool strikeforce and complementing Owen and Robbie Fowler's pacey play.

Emile Heskey picked up a hamstring injury during a match against Newcastle United in January 2004, which ruled him out of action for three weeks.

Emile Heskey regained his place in the team after an injury ruled Baros out for months and finished the season with 12 goals.

Emile Heskey suffered an ankle injury during a pre-season friendly against CA Osasuna, which put his Premier League debut against Portsmouth in doubt.

On 14 April 2008, Emile Heskey scored a 90th minute equalising goal against Chelsea, which damaged their hopes of winning the Premier League.

Emile Heskey hinted in October 2008 that he would be interested in leaving Wigan to play in the Champions League, although Wigan manager Steve Bruce hoped to persuade him to sign a new contract at the club.

Dave Whelan, the Wigan chairman, hinted that Emile Heskey could be transferred by Wigan in January 2009, as a fee would be received, whereas he would move on for free in the summer, which came after he had stalled on talks over a new contract.

Emile Heskey later said he was confident of keeping Heskey at the club.

Emile Heskey picked up a hamstring injury during a match against Bolton Wanderers in December 2008, which resulted in him missing an FA Cup third round tie against Tottenham Hotspur.

Emile Heskey later said he would stay at Wigan and see out his contract until the summer of 2009.

Emile Heskey suffered from concussion after minutes into a Peace Cup pre-season friendly match against Malaga in July 2009.

O'Neill told him to "build up a head of steam" in February 2010, saying he was concerned that Emile Heskey's injuries were denying him from producing his best form.

On 7 May 2011, in Aston Villa's home match against Wigan, Emile Heskey barged into referee Mike Jones and continued to argue with him because he did not award a free kick for an alleged elbow by Antolin Alcaraz.

Emile Heskey received a yellow card for his behaviour and had to be restrained by teammates such as Brad Friedel and captain Stiliyan Petrov.

Emile Heskey played for the remainder of the half, but had to be restrained again in the tunnel at the interval.

Caretaker manager Gary McAllister chose to substitute him for Marc Albrighton at half-time, and Emile Heskey was not allowed to remain at the stadium for the rest of the match.

Teammate Luke Young later said that Emile Heskey was "lucky he didn't get sent off".

Emile Heskey remained with Villa for one more season, in which he scored just once, in an August 2011 win over Blackburn.

Emile Heskey was released in May 2012 after being told he would not be offered a new contract.

Emile Heskey joined Cheshire League One club Egerton in 2017 as a coach, alongside Jlloyd Samuel, Jim Cherneski and Dean Gorre.

In May 2020 Emile Heskey revealed that he was on a UEFA Management course and was looking to take up an internship with Leicester City's women's side as part of it.

Fraser left a year later, and Emile Heskey succeeded him as head of women's football development.

Five days later, it was announced that Lydia Bedford would succeed Morgan as manager, but Emile Heskey was allowed to prepare for the team's upcoming League Cup tie against Manchester United.

Emile Heskey finished his under-18 career with eight appearances and five goals.

Emile Heskey was given his first call-up to the senior England team for a friendly against the Czech Republic on 18 November 1998, but did not play.

Emile Heskey was selected in the squad for the 2002 FIFA World Cup in South Korea and Japan, and was used as a makeshift option to play in England's left-wing role in the match against Sweden, but did not perform well out of his regular position.

Emile Heskey was named in the England squad for UEFA Euro 2004, but failed to perform well, and was the subject of much criticism.

Emile Heskey was recalled into the England squad for the 2006 FIFA World Cup qualifiers against Northern Ireland and Azerbaijan in 2005, after having been dropped following the match against Ukraine in August 2004.

Emile Heskey started the match against Israel and played an important role in the England attack, and by featuring he became the first England player to be capped for England whilst playing for Wigan Athletic.

Emile Heskey started the next match against Russia, fighting off competition from Peter Crouch for a place in the team, during which he created an assist for Owen's second goal.

Emile Heskey was called into manager Fabio Capello's first squad against Switzerland, but had to withdraw due to an injury.

Emile Heskey featured in the following 2010 FIFA World Cup qualification victories against Andorra and Croatia.

Emile Heskey played his 50th match for England in the 2010 World Cup qualifier against Belarus on 15 October 2008, after which he was credited as helping Wayne Rooney's improved form in international matches, with the two forming an effective strike partnership and keeping Owen out of the team.

Emile Heskey started in a friendly against Spain in February 2009, which drew an angry reaction by Villa manager Martin O'Neill, who wanted to know why Capello played Heskey after suffering from an injury.

Emile Heskey picked up a hamstring injury during this match, which forced him into withdrawing from the squad.

Emile Heskey was named in England's preliminary 30-man squad for the 2010 World Cup on 11 May 2010 and was eventually chosen for the final 23-man squad on 1 June.

Emile Heskey retired from international football on 15 July 2010, at the age of 32, having scored 7 goals in 62 appearances for England.

Emile Heskey played as a striker, being a mobile yet powerful targetman, gifted with pace, physical strength, and an ability to utilise his height to win aerial challenges; he was an intelligent and hard working player, known for his movement and athleticism.

Emile Heskey's play was likened to "a blunt instrument with which to bludgeon defences".

Emile Heskey was credited as being an unselfish player who would link-up well with other players and create space or chances for teammates, allowing other forwards to benefit.

Emile Heskey was not a prolific goalscorer, or particularly graceful or skilful from a technical standpoint, but was able to provide a significant number of assists when deployed as a second striker in an attacking partnership alongside another striker.

Emile Heskey was quoted as saying "Forwards are judged on their goalscoring but I like to think I bring a lot more to the game and I do get pleasure from assisting".

Emile Heskey was the partner of Kylee Pinsent but left her in 2004 and married Chantelle in May 2014 at Rookery Hall, Cheshire.

Emile Heskey started seeing Tagoe secretly in 2002, who worked part-time as a waitress at a lap-dancing bar in Liverpool, while still in a relationship with Pinsent.

Emile Heskey is the father of six children, three of them with former partner Pinsent and three with Tagoe.

Emile Heskey's son Jaden is a youth team player for Manchester City.