938 Anthony Gerrard

Biography

Anthony Gerrard was a no-nonsense Liverpudlian centre-back who spent most of the 2010-11 season on loan at Hull City after he fell out of favour at parent club Cardiff City – the team against which he made his Tigers debut in September 2010.  He dominated the defensive line during his season at the KC Stadium, scored a handful of important goals and led by example – qualities that led to Gerrard lifting several player of the season gongs as the Tigers finished the season midway up the Championship table.

Anthony Gerrard was born in Huyton, a Liverpool suburb east of the city – Anthony was a cousin former Liverpool captain and England star Steven Gerrard.  Anthony joined the Everton academy at the age of eight and worked his way through the age bands to sign his first professional contract in May 2004. In September 2004 Anthony, still just eighteen years old, spent a month on loan National League side Accrington Stanley and made 5 appearances. A knee injury sustained on his return to Everton prevented any chance of breaking into the Toffees’ first team and in March 2005 he joined League One side Walsall on a two month loan. he made his senior debut against Oldham Athletic in March 2005 and ended the season with 8 appearances.

In June 2005 Gerrard was released by Everton and he returned to Walsall on a permanent deal. In his first full season at Bescot Park Gerrard was a first team regular and voted Player of the Season as the Saddlers finished bottom of the table and were relegated to League Two. Despite missing a month of football during November 2006, Gerrard was again a first team regular as Walsall bounced straight back in the 2006/07 season and lifted the League Two title – Gerrard scored his first senior goal against Mansfield Town in September 2006. Over the next two seasons Anthony missed only six League matches as Walsall compiled two mid-table League One finishes. By May 2009 Gerrad had scored seven goals in 182 appearances, the first 8 of which were made on loan in the 2004/05 season.

In July 2009 Gerrard joined Championship side Cardiff City for a fee of around £250,000. He made his August 2009 debut for the Bluebirds against Scunthorpe United and scored his first goal for club against Coventry City in October 2009. He was practically ever-present for much of the season as Cardiff qualified for the end of season play-offs, but Gerrard was absent in both semi-final legs as Leicester City were defeated – he came on for the last sixteen minutes in the Wembley play-off final that Cardiff lost narrowly to Blackpool. After starting two League Cup ties for Cardiff in August 2010, Gerrard spent the rest of the season on loan at Hull City.

Anthony returned to Cardiff City for the 2011/12 season and regained his first team place for the first half of the season. He was prominent as Cardiff beat Premier League side Blackburn Rovers and three Championship sides to reach the February 2012 League Cup final against Liverpool at Wembley, which saw Anthony come on as an extra time substitute – the match went to penalties and after watching his cousin Steven miss the first Liverpool penalty, Anthony missed the decisive last penalty to hand Liverpool the victory. This was to be Anthony’s final appearance of Cardiff, he was not chosen as the Bluebirds reached the end of season play-offs only to lose the semi-final to West Ham United. By May 2012 Gerrard had scored four goals for Cardiff City in 74 appearances.

In August 2012 joined Championship side Huddersfield Town for a fee that likely saw Cardiff recoup their original outlay. He made his Terriers debut in an August 2012 League Cup tie against Preston North End and was part of the first team for much of the 2012/13 season, scoring his first goal for the club against Blackpool in December 2012. He remained an important part of the Huddersfield side during the 2013/14 season but was out of the first team during the first half of the 2014/15 season with Terriers’ manager Chris Powell preferring other options. Anthony made a brief return to the Huddersfield first team squad over the 2014 festive period but by January 2015 he was transfer listed and spent the last two months of the season at League One side Oldham Athletic where he made 6 appearances. Gerrard left Huddersfield Town in June 2015 having scored two goals in 91 appearances.

Gerrard began the 2015/16 season without a club, then in October 2015 he joined League One side Shrewsbury Town on a short term deal and made 15 appearances. later revealing that he played for the Shrews for no financial reward. In January 2016 he left Shrewsbury Town and quickly signed for League One side Oldham Athletic, the club where he had spent two months on loan ten months earlier. He made his January 2016 second debut for Oldham Athletic against Shrewsbury Town, the side he had just left, and was part of the Latics first team squad for the rest of the season.

At the start of the 2016/17 season Gerrard initially refused a contract offer from Oldham in the hope of attracting a club higher up the league, but after half a season without a club he returned to Boundary Park in January 2017 and signed a two year contract. He was a regular starter during the rest of the 2016/17 season and retained his first team shirt for most of the 2017/18 season as the Latics battled unsuccessfully against relegation to League Two – Gerrard’s final match for Oldham Athletic in April 2018 took his tally in his second spell at the club to three goals in 69 appearances.

In August 2018 Gerrard was sacked by Oldham Athletic for gross misconduct after sharing a racist trope on a players’ WhatsApp group. A week later he signed a half season contract at League Two side Carlisle United, which was later extended to the full season – Anthony spent the 2018/19 season back as a first team regular at Carlisle, making 44 appearances. In June 2019 he joined National League side Chesterfield but made only 11 appearances before mutually agreeing to terminate his contract – Gerrard retired from football when he left Chesterfield in January 2020.

Gerrard played three times for Ireland’s Under-18 side during the 2004/05 season and pledged himself to the Ireland senior team, but the call never came to step up to the full international level.

Details

Nationality: Ireland
Date/Place of Birth: 6 February 1986, Liverpool
Hull City First Game: 11 September 2010, Cardiff City A (Championship), 24 years, 217 days old
Hull City Final Game: 7 May 2011, Bristol City A (Championship), 25 years, 90 days old

Clubs

Everton (2002-2005), Accrington Stanley (2004, loan), Walsall (2004-2005, loan), Walsall (2005-2009), Cardiff City (2009-2012), Hull City (2010-2011, loan), Huddersfield Town (2012-2015), Oldham Athletic (2015, loan), Shrewsbury Town (2015-2016), Oldham Athletic (2016), Oldham Athletic (2017-2018), Carlisle United (2018-2019), Chesterfield (2019-2020)

Hull City Record

Career: 42 apps, 5 goals