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Wayne Bridge18.   WAYNE BRIDGE

Defender
Born: Southampton, 5 August 1980
Height: 5 10
Weight: 12st 13lbs
Previous Clubs: Southampton
International Caps: England
Signing Date: 21 Jul 2003 for £7,000,000

Bridge has rocketed through the ranks from the Saints youth team to the full England side - coming on as substitute against Argentina and Nigeria in the World Cup finals. He has looked comfortable with every step up and is now one of the most highly-rated left-backs in the country.

A model of consistency, his run of 113 consecutive matches is a premiership record for an outfield player, beating ex-Saint Alan Shearer's total of 109. When he limped off against Liverpool in January 2003 with a calf strain he had not missed a minute of Premiership football in more than two years since the 1-1 draw at home to Middlesbrough on March 4, 2000.

Born in Southampton, he grew up in Winchester as an ardent Saints fan, watching his local team from the terraces and dreaming of emulating Rod Wallace. Began his career as a left winger but was switched to left-back by Dave Jones who was the first to tip him to play for England in that role. He signed professional forms with Saints in January 1998, and made his first team debut against Liverpool on the opening day of the 1998/99 season after John Beresford suffered a cruciate ligament injury which eventually finished his career.

Bridge made 24 appearances in total during an impressive first season in professional football. The following campaign saw the local lad press his claims as a regular in the starting eleven capping a fine season with a blistering free-kick in the final game win over Wimbledon.

Was voted the club's Player of the Year in 2000/1 and runner-up in 2001/02 and although strangely overlooked for the Under 21 side by Howard Wilkinson he was given his chance by David Platt and quickly earned promotion to the senior side. Went on to make his debut in the friendly against Holland and after travelling to the 2002 World Cup he should feature in England squads for many more years to come. Under contract until 2006.