Jay Bothroyd

Jay Bothroyd (born May 5 1982 in Islington, London) is an England football (soccer) striker, of Guyana descent, currently playing for Cardiff City F.C..

Club career

Coventry City (2000-2003)

Having initially been on the books at Arsenal F.C., Bothroyd was sold as an eighteen year-old to Coventry City F.C., after throwing his shirt at the bench after the 2000 Premier League Youth Cup final against West Ham United F.C. after being substitute (soccer)d. In the three years he played for Coventry, he scored seventeen goals in total, despite making little impact in his first season, after making his debut against Preston North End F.C. in the Football League Cup.

A player of considerable talent but sometimes questionable motivation and prone to poor temperament, he only featured for Coventry after many other members of the squad had to be sold off to relieve the club's financial problems. He scored his debut goal in a defeat against Bradford City A.F.C. on 24 August 2001, and in the 2002-03 in English football season became the club's top-scorer with 11 goals. This brought interest from Perugia Calcio, and he transferred to the Italy side when his Coventry contract expired in 2003.

Perugia (2003-2005)

Bothroyd failed to settle in Italy, and joined Blackburn Rovers F.C. in August 2004 on loan from Perugia. After getting sent off against Norwich City F.C. for violent conduct (kicking opposing midfielder Mattias Jonson to the ground), he was unable to cement a place in the first team and returned to Perugia at the end of the season.

Charlton Athletic (2005-2006)

He signed for Charlton Athletic F.C. on 31 August 2005 having been released by Perugia due to their financial problems. His contribution here was perhaps most noted for his powerful free-kicks.

In the close season, Bothroyd was released by the Addicks, following the arrival of Iain Dowie as manager. He was then taken on trial at Crystal Palace F.C., but the south-Londoners decided not to offer him a deal. Bothroyd has since denied he was on trial with Crystal Palace, despite playing in Crystal Palace's pre-season tour of the USA.

Wolverhampton Wanderers (2006-2008)

Instead, he joined Wolverhampton Wanderers F.C. on 26 July 2006, becoming Mick McCarthy's first full signing for the Midlanders.

Bothroyd started the season in fine style, scoring 3 goals for his new club in their first 6 fixtures, including a 25 yard strike in injury time away at Leeds United F.C. to grab all 3 points. However, in the following game against Derby County, his fortunes took a turn for the worse as he had a weak penalty saved in a game that Wolves went on to lose 0-1.

Bothroyd's goal scoring petered out after this initial burst and he suffered an injury in December that kept him out of the busy Christmas period, though he returned to the squad in February 2007 and made several substitute appearances. The most vital of these came when he scored the winning goal as Wolves beat their bitter Black Country derby West Bromwich Albion F.C. 1-0 in a crucial encounter in the race for promotion.

The striker had settle for a place on the bench for the start of the 2007-08 in English football. He was eventually given a start against his former club Charlton Athletic F.C., where he scored one and created one in a 2-0 win and kept his starting place for the next three games, scoring Wolves' only goal of the game against Bristol City F.C. in a 1-1 draw. He later managed a run of eight successive starts around the Christmas period but failed to score.

After Wolves signed new strikers Sylvan Ebanks-Blake and brought in Kevin Kyle on loan during the January transfer window, Bothroyd found himself out of first team contention. To gain playing time, he moved to fellow Football League Championship side Stoke City F.C. on an initial month's loan on 14 March 2008, later extended to the end of the season, which ended in promotion to the Premier League. However, after featuring in just four games during his loan spell, he returned to his parent club who promptly put him up for transfer.

Cardiff City (2008-)

Bothroyd remained in the Football League Championship, joining Cardiff City F.C., who beat off interest from newly promoted Premier League side Hull City A.F.C., on 4 August 2008 in a three-year deal for a fee of £350,000, set to be paid in two instalments of £175,000. At the start of the season Bothroyd found himself in and out of the side as manager Dave Jones attempted to find his best strike partnership and, after a number of matches, Bothroyd has assumed the role of first choice strike partner to Scotland national football team international Ross McCormack. On 30 September, Bothroyd scored his first goal for the club when he found the net against one of his former clubs, Coventry City F.C. during a 2-1 win. It took Bothroyd just under a month to find the net again for the club when he scored twice during a 2-2 draw at Watford F.C..

International career

As a youngster Bothroyd represented England at several youth levels, getting as far as the England national under-21 football team. He won one cap for the side during a friendly against Mexico national under-21 football team at Filbert Street, scoring during the match with a spectacular overhead kick as England won 3-0.

In October 2008 it was revealed that Bothroyd is on the verge of a possible call-up to play for Jamaica national football team as he qualifies through his grandparents.