David Nugent

David James Nugent (born 2 May, 1985 in Huyton, Merseyside) is an England footballer who currently plays for Premier League club Portsmouth F.C..

Club career

Early career

Nugent, who started his career as a goalkeeper, was a member of the Liverpool F.C. youth academy but left in 2001, aged 15, without being offered a professional contract. It was only once he changed his position that he then became a professional with Bury F.C., joining the club's successful Youth and Centre of Excellence department. After making his debut as a substitute against Port Vale in March 2002 at the age of just 16, Nugent initially struggled to live up to his early potential, but an explosive start to the 2004-05 in English football Football League Two campaign saw several larger clubs take an interest.

Preston North End

Although a target for rivals Burnley F.C., Nugent opted to join Preston North End F.C. rather than Northampton Town F.C. from Bury F.C. in January 2005 for a fee of £100,000 and proved himself more than worthy at Championship level.

He scored 10 league goals in 32 Championship appearances in 2005-06 in English football, as Preston finished fourth, losing to Leeds United F.C. in the playoff semi-final, thus failing to gain promotion. Despite transfer speculation, Nugent spent the following season at Preston, scoring 15 goals in 43 appearances, and winning England recognition. Preston finished seventh in 2006-07 in English football.

Nugent left Preston during the summer of 2007.

Portsmouth

After both Sunderland A.F.C. and Portsmouth F.C. had bids in the region of £6m accepted for the player, Nugent was eventually unveiled as a Pompey player at a press conference alongside John Utaka on July 11th 2007. However, rumours followed just weeks later that Derby County were considering a bid for Nugent and that he would be leaving Portsmouth in the same transfer window he arrived in. In a post-match press conference following a Carling Cup game in which Nugent scored his first goal, Portsmouth manager Harry Redknapp stated Nugent would be free to leave the club if the right offer came in to help fund a move for more players. However, Nugent stated he wanted to stay at Portsmouth. Nugent is still yet to score a Premiership goal, his closest effort being one against Manchester City on 11 November, 2007, where his shot deflected off a City player and onto the post. Despite his lack of success in Premiership football, he has scored 3 goals in 4 appearances in the domestic cups.
On 31 December 2007 it was reported that Harry Redknapp was ready to offer Nugent for £5m-rated England national under-21 football team star Reading F.C. Leroy Lita in a straight swap.

A possible loan deal to Ipswich fell through in early March 2008 with Jim Magilton, the Ipswich manager, left questioning Nugent's integrity.

On Saturday 17th May 2008, David Nugent was used as a substitute for John Utaka in the 69th minute of the 127th FA Cup final, where he played on the right of midfield. Portsmouth went on to win the FA Cup 1-0 against Cardiff City F.C.. He has now stated he wants to stay at the club next season.

International career

Although he opted to represent England national football team, Nugent was also eligible to play for the Republic of Ireland national football team.

He made his debut for England national under-21 football team against Wales national under-21 football team in February 2005. He scored his first goal for the team in his fourth match, in the 2-2 draw with Moldova on August 15 2006. Teamed up front again with Arsenal's young Theo Walcott, he scored his second goal for England U21s in the 3-2 win over Switzerland on September 6 2006 that advanced the team into the play-off round of the UEFA European Under-21 Championship. He scored his third goal for the U21s against Spain national football team on February 6 2007 in a 2-2 draw, Stuart Pearce's first game as coach.

On March 19 2007, following much speculation after Steve McClaren confirmed he had been watching Nugent, David was called into the full England squad to replace the injured Darren Bent of Charlton Athletic F.C..

On March 28 2007, Nugent made his debut as a late substitute for England national football team in a UEFA Euro 2008 qualifying match against Andorra national football team in Barcelona and marked the occasion with a late ninetieth minute goal, tapping in Jermain Defoe's effort on into the back of the net. Nugent, in his post-match press interview, expressed genuine satisfaction over having accomplished a "1 Goal/1 Cap" national team record. Since then, Nugent has failed to secure another outing with the English Senior Team.

He was the first Preston North End player to play for the national team since Tom Finney some 49 years previously and the first England national team footballer from a club playing outside of football's top flight since David James (footballer) of West Ham United F.C. in 2003. He was also the first non-Premier League outfield player since Michael Gray of Sunderland A.F.C. in 1999.

Nugent is one of only three players to have exactly one substitute appearance and one goal for England, the others being Paul Goddard and Francis Jeffers.

In June 2007, he represented the Under-21s in the 2007 UEFA European Under-21 Football Championship in the Netherlands.

International goals