Scott Carson is another star Manchester City player whose contributions we need to take our hats off to. He brings a lot to the table, alongside his fellow Sky Blues – Gemma Bonner and Laura Coombs. In this edition of Know Your Players, we go over fun facts and stats on our well-loved Manchester City footballers Scott Carson, Gemma Bonner, and Laura Coombs!
Scott Carson
A veteran with ample experience in the sport of football, Scott Carson has played for a host of top-tier clubs in his career including Liverpool, Leeds United, West Brom and Aston Villa. He then signed over on loan to City last year on the season’s deadline day in August. Standing at 191 cm tall, and playing at Number 33, his stats speak for themselves as our Blues took him in as the goalkeeper, next in line after Ederson and Claudio Bravo.
Fun Facts:
- Playing at an international level, Scott Carson has been capped four times by England.
- He has appeared 520 times in his career to date.
- His Premier League stats boast an impressive 433 saves, 1,385 goal kicks, 832 accurate long balls, and 30 clean sheets in a total of 145 appearances.
- He joined Derby County in 2015 and has been their number one shot-stopper, making over 150 appearances, 33 of which were in the last season.
- At his City signing, Carson said, “It’s something I didn’t expect but an opportunity I simply could not turn down. To be part of this squad – the Champions of England – is a dream come true.”
Gemma Bonner
Next, we’ve got the star defender playing at Number 4 for Manchester City Women’s Team, Gemma Bonner. After six years playing for Liverpool, the centre-back was the third signing of the summer of 2018 and came in with a passion that’s as fiery as her performance on the field. As far as she’s concerned, there are plenty more glory days to come for both club and country – and we’ll be there with her to watch and support.
Fun Facts:
- In the Women’s Super League, she’s one of City’s top goal-scoring defenders, netting three this season alone before the lockdown.
- Her Football IQ is what makes her such a formidable player. She’s shown a passing accuracy of 90.6% in the SheBelieves Cup. That’s higher than any other defender in the squad, including City partner and captain Steph Houghton!
- She previously played for Liverpool, where she captained the team to back-to-back league victories in 2013 and 2014. This is a feat that’s yet to be repeated.
- Since joining our Blues in 2018, the 28-year-old has made 57 appearances and ten goals – her favourite of which is the one she netted in the 1-0 victory against Bristol earlier in February.
Laura Coombs
Third on our list today is yet another ex-Liverpool footballer, Laura Coombs. She officially became a Cityzen in summer of last year. Playing at Number 7, she defines her footballing style as that of ‘an aggressive box-to-box midfielder’ and has been capped by England twice to date. Though it’s all smiles and camaraderie with her teammates, she puts her game face on and lets them know when to get down to business.
Fun Facts:
- Coombs began playing for Arsenal at 16 years old after training at their youth academy. She made her UEFA Women’s Champions League debut in September 2009. Here, they won 9-0 against Greek club FC PAOK Thessaloniki.
- In an interview with Goal in December last year, she shared how speaking to past and present City players helped with her decision to join, “At the end of the day, most players just want to improve or better themselves and everyone said, whether they’re [in City] now or they’ve left, they’re a better player than they were when they came here.” Sold.
- She played for Liverpool from 2017-2019, a time which she attributes as her most formative years as a footballer. The funny thing is, her City debut was a 1-0 victory against, you got it, Liverpool!
- In the match against Ipswich earlier in February, while three of her teammates scored a hat-trick each, she managed to net one as well, making it a fantastic 10-0 victory for our Blues.
Be sure to tune in next week for another edition of Know Your Players!
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