Conor Washington

Conor Washington
Personal information
Full name Conor James Washington[1]
Date of birth (1992-05-18) 18 May 1992[2]
Place of birth Chatham, Kent, England
Height 5 ft 10 in (1.78 m)[2]
Playing position Striker
Club information
Current team
 Queens Park Rangers
Number 9
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2010–2012 St Ives Town 50 (52)
2012–2014 Newport County 39 (5)
2014–2016 Peterborough United 82 (27)
2016– Queens Park Rangers 26 (2)
National team‡
2016– Northern Ireland 6 (2)

* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 04:20, 28 September 2016 (UTC).

‡ National team caps and goals correct as of 20:14, 12 June 2016 (UTC)

Conor James Washington (born 18 May 1992) is a footballer who plays as a striker for Queens Park Rangers and the Northern Ireland national team.

He began his career in non-league football with St. Ives Town, joining Newport County for £5,000 in 2012. After helping them return to The Football League via the play-offs, he transferred to Peterborough United in January 2014. Two years later, he signed for Queens Park Rangers for an undisclosed fee.

Born in England, Washington qualified for Northern Ireland through a grandparent. He made his senior debut for the team in March 2016 and was chosen for that year's European Championship.

Early and personal life

Born in Chatham, Kent, England, Washington was eligible to play for Scotland through his mother, and through a grandmother to play for Northern Ireland.[3][4] After his parents moved to St Ives, Cambridgeshire during his childhood, he began to show his scoring capability by winning trophies as part of the Westfield Junior School squad.[5] After graduating school, he was turned down for an apprenticeship by both Norwich City and Peterborough United.[4] He subsequently worked as a postman for the Royal Mail,[4] whilst developing his football as a striker for St. Ives Town, scoring 52 goals in 50 matches in the United Counties League, Premier Division.[4][5]

Club career

Newport County

Washington joined Newport County on 1 October 2012 for a fee of £5,000,[4] after being spotted by their manager Justin Edinburgh.[6] He made his debut 26 days later in a 3–2 home loss to Woking, replacing Ben Swallow for the final nine minutes.[7] The only goal of his 15 appearances in his first season was the game's only on 9 April 2013 against Braintree Town at Rodney Parade.[8] Newport finished 3rd in the Conference Premier and reached the play-offs, though he was not selected in the matchday squad for the playoff final which Newport won 2–0 against Wrexham at Wembley Stadium to return to the Football League after a 25-year absence.[9]

Washington made his Football League debut in League Two versus Accrington Stanley on 3 August 2013, and his League Cup debut in the first round at Brighton & Hove Albion three days later, scoring the third goal in Newport's 3–1 win. His first Football League goal came on 10 August in County's 3–1 reverse at Northampton Town.

Peterborough United

On 28 January 2014, Washington joined Peterborough United for an undisclosed fee, with Shaun Jeffers moving the other way as part of the deal.[10] As part of the deal, Newport retained a 20% sell-on clause.[4]

He made his debut for the Posh on 8 February, replacing Jack Payne for the final 17 minutes of a 2–1 win away to Leyton Orient. His first goal in League One came on 8 March, concluding a 4–2 victory over Crewe Alexandra at London Road; he assisted two further goals.[11] Washington scored three more goals over the season, including two in a win of the same score at Shrewsbury Town on 26 April, and added another in the play-off semi-final defeat to Orient.[12]

On 7 November 2015, Washington scored the first two goals of a 3–0 win away to Burton Albion in the first round of the FA Cup,[13] and three weeks later he added his first professional hat-trick in a 4–0 victory at Scunthorpe United.[14]

Queens Park Rangers

On 19 January 2016, Washington joined Queens Park Rangers on a three-and-a-half year deal for an undisclosed fee[15] that was reported to be between £2.5m and £3m.[16] Four days later, he made his debut by replacing Junior Hoilett with seven minutes remaining in a 1–1 home draw against Wolverhampton Wanderers.[17]

After failing to score a goal in his first season at Loftus Road, Washington scored his first goal for the club in extra time of a League Cup first round match at home to Swindon Town on 10 August 2016, putting his team 2–1 ahead. The game ended 2–2 and he scored in their 4–2 penalty shootout victory.[18]

International career

Washington received his first call-up to the senior Northern Ireland squad on 16 March 2016 for friendlies against Wales and Slovenia;[4][19] he had only been to the nation once, for a Peterborough friendly.[3] He made his debut against Wales on the 24th, and four days later he scored his first goal, the only one against Slovenia at Windsor Park.[3] In June 2016 Washington was named in the Northern Ireland squad for the UEFA Euro 2016 tournament.[20]

Appearances

As of match played 12 June 2016.[21]
National team Year Apps Goals
Northern Ireland 2016 5 2
Total 5 2

References

  1. ↑ "The Football League Limited: Club list of registered players as at 16th May 2015" (PDF). The Football League. 16 May 2015. p. 54. Retrieved 1 December 2015.
  2. 1 2 "Conor Washington". 11v11. Retrieved 1 December 2015.
  3. 1 2 3 Ducker, James (28 March 2016). "Northern Ireland 1 Slovenia 0: Conor Washington strikes to extend unbeaten streak to ten matches". Telegraph. Retrieved 30 March 2016.
  4. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Pearlman, Michael (21 March 2016). "Conor Washington: The Northern Ireland striker made in Wales". BBC Sport. Retrieved 12 June 2016.
  5. 1 2 Taylor, Mark (24 March 2016). "Conor Washington: From St Ives Town to a Northern Ireland international". Cambridge News. Retrieved 12 June 2016.
  6. ↑ "Newport County sign striker Conor Washington". BBC Sport.
  7. ↑ "Newport 2-3 Woking". BBC Sport. 27 October 2012. Retrieved 12 June 2016.
  8. ↑ "Newport 1-0 Braintree". BBC Sport. 9 April 2013. Retrieved 12 June 2016.
  9. ↑ Hughes, Dewi (5 May 2013). "Wrexham 0–2 Newport". BBC Sport. Retrieved 5 May 2013.
  10. ↑ "Peterborough United sign Newport County's Conor Washington". BBC Sport.
  11. ↑ "Peterbrough 4-2 Crewe". BBC Sport. 8 March 2014. Retrieved 12 June 2016.
  12. ↑ Stevens, Rob (13 May 2014). "Leyton Orient 2-1 Peterborough". BBC Sport. Retrieved 12 June 2016.
  13. ↑ "Conor Washington stars as Peterborough beat Burton in FA Cup". Sky Sports. 7 November 2015. Retrieved 12 June 2016.
  14. ↑ "Scunthorpe 0-4 Peterborough: Conor Washington hat-trick sinks Scunthorpe". Sky Sports. 28 November 2015. Retrieved 12 June 2016.
  15. ↑ @QPRFC. "QPR sign Peterborough United forward Conor Washington for an undisclosed fee".
  16. ↑ Paul Vinnell. "QPR sign striker Conor Washington from Peterborough". Sky Sports.
  17. ↑ "QPR 1-1 Wolves". BBC Sport. 23 January 2016.
  18. ↑ "QPR 2-2 Swindon". BBC Sport. 10 August 2016. Retrieved 11 August 2016.
  19. ↑ "Michael Smith and Conor Washington called into NI squad". BBC Sport. BBC. 16 March 2016. Retrieved 16 March 2016.
  20. ↑ Whashington in Euro 2016 squad
  21. ↑ "Conor Washington". EU Football. Retrieved 30 March 2016.
This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the 11/21/2016. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.