Vassell playing for Leicester City in 2011
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Personal information | |||
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Full name | Darius Martin Clarke Vassell | ||
Date of birth | 13 June 1980 | ||
Place of birth | Birmingham, England | ||
Height | 1.70 m (5 ft 7 in) | ||
Playing position | Striker / Winger | ||
Youth career | |||
Romulus | |||
1996–1998 | Aston Villa | ||
Senior career* | |||
Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
1998–2005 | Aston Villa | 162 | (35) |
2005–2009 | Manchester City | 103 | (17) |
2009–2010 | Ankaragücü | 22 | (4) |
2010–2012 | Leicester City | 44 | (6) |
Total | 331 | (62) | |
National team | |||
1998–1999 | England U18 | 5 | (0) |
1999–2001 | England U21 | 11 | (1) |
2002–2004 | England | 22 | (6) |
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only. |
Darius Martin Clarke Vassell (born 13 June 1980) is an English retired footballer who played as a forward for Aston Villa, Manchester City, Ankaragücü and Leicester City.
Vassell began his career at his home town club Aston Villa in the Premier League, being developed by their academy and making his first team debut in 1998. He was sold for £2m in 2005 to another Premier League club, Manchester City, staying for four seasons before being released in 2009, moving abroad to Turkey for a season to play for the Süper Lig team Ankaragücü. In October 2010 he was brought back to England by his former international manager Sven-Göran Eriksson to play for the Championship side Leicester City.
Under Eriksson with England, Vassell scored six goals from 22 international caps awarded between 2002 and 2004, including appearances at the 2002 FIFA World Cup in Korea/Japan, and UEFA Euro 2004 in Portugal.
Vassell was born in Birmingham, West Midlands. He was raised in the Gravelly Hill area of Birmingham and went to the Yenton Primary School in Erdington and John Willmott School, in Falcon Lodge, Sutton Coldfield. He first played football with local junior team Romulus in the Birmingham Boys League scoring a record of 46 in a season and 6 in 1 match. Following this he signed for the Aston Villa youth team.