Anthony Gardner (born 19 September 1980 in Stafford) is an English football player who currently plays as a defender for Hull City.

Club career

Port Vale

Gardner started his career with Port Vale, where he scored four goals in 45 matches in all competitions, débuting in October of the 1998-99 season.

Tottenham Hotspur

Gardner signed for Tottenham Hotspur in January 2000 as a pre-emptive replacement for Sol Campbell where he worked his way up through the reserves before making his début as a substitute against Derby County in March 2001, before suffering knee ligament damage at the back end of the season. This ruled him out until December. Gardner scored his first goal for Tottenham Hotspur in a 3-2 victory over local rivals West Ham United in September 2002.

More recently, Gardner was on the fringes of the Tottenham Hotspur team, playing 17 league matches in 2005-06 due to injury, and just a handful of matches in 2006-07.

At the beginning of the 2007-08 season, Gardner found himself on the teamsheet due to the ongoing injuries of Ledley King and Michael Dawson. He did manage to make an impact - in vain - by scoring his team's only goal in their second Premier League game of the season at home to Everton on August 15 2007, which Spurs went on to lose 3-1. On 25 October 2007, he was injured playing against Getafe in the UEFA Cup He was stretchered off with a suspected broken ankle in the 42nd minute, being replaced by Michael Dawson

On 31 January 2008, Gardner signed for Everton on loan for the remainder of the 2007-08 season, but didn't make a single appearance for the blues.

Hull City

Prior to the 2008-09 season, Gardner was loaned to Hull City. The initial deal was to last until January 2009, but Hull had the option of purchasing him at any point during the loan period. Hull exercised their purchase option to make the loan move permanent in August for a fee of £2.5 million, making Gardner the club's record signing.

International career

Gardner has previously represented England at under-21 level, gaining one cap.

Gardner began to impress during season 2003-04 and earned his full England debut as cover for Gareth Southgate in March 2004. Since this substitute appearance against Sweden, Gardner has not featured for the England senior team again - he was called up for the 2005 two-game tour of the USA, but was ruled out due to a foot injury.

References

External links

• Anthony Gardner profile on Hull City official website
• Profile at 4thegame.com
• Profile at premierleague.com