Vieira and Woodgate Amongst Premier League’s Axed Stars

Published June 17, 2011 | By Rolly

A host of Premier League clubs have released up to 123 players this summer with Patrick Vieira, Jonathan Woodgate and Matthew Upson amongst the most high-profile stars let go this summer.

The official list of ‘free agents’ released on Thursday night features former World Cup winners, former England internationals and Premier League champions.

The list includes Manchester City midfielder Patrick Vieira, Tottenham’s injury-prone defender Jonathan Woodgate, Bolton forward Johan Elmander, as well as Arsenal legend Robert Pires who had a short stint at Aston Villa.

Manchester United midfielder Owen Hargreaves has also been released, whilst Paul Scholes, Gary Neville and Edwin Van der Sar have called time on their playing careers.

The full list of players released by their said clubs makes for sad reading as a host of professionals, including the likes of Sol Campbell and Eidur Gudjohnson seek to eek out a career elsewhere.

Arsenal: Thomas Cruise, Roarie Deacon, Mark Randall

Aston Villa: Durrell Berry, John Carew, Ellis Deeney, Calum Flanagan, Harry Forrester, Arsenio Halfhuid, Isaiah Osbourne, Robert Pires, Nigel Reo-Coker, Moustapha Salifou

Birmingham City: Marcus Bent, Lee Bowyer, Sebastian Larsson, James McFadden, Mitchell McPike, James O’Shea, Stuart Parnaby, Kevin Phillips, Daniel Preston, Luke Rowe, Robin Shroot, Maik Taylor

Blackburn Rovers: Jordan Bowen, Jason Brown, Zurab Khizanishvili, Benjani Mwaruwari, Michael Potts, Maceo Rigters

Blackpool: David Carney, Daniel Coid, Ishmel Demontagnac, Rob Edwards, Jason Euell, Marlon Harewood, Richard Kingson, Malaury Martin, Paul Rachubka, Andy Reid, Salaheddine Sbai

Bolton Wanderers: Tamir Cohen, Johan Elmander, Ricardo Gardner, Joey O’Brien, Jlloyd Samuel, Samuel Sheridan

Chelsea: Samuel Hutchinson, Carl Magnay, Danny Philliskirk, Jan Sebek, Michael Woods

Everton: Kieran Agard, Hope Akpan, Nathan Craig, Gerard Kinsella, Lee McArdle, Iain Turner

Fulham: Zoltan Gera, Edward Johnson, Diomansy Kamara, John Pantsil, Matthew Saunders

Liverpool: Jason Banton, Deale Chamberlain, Douglas Cooper, Sean Highdale, Steven Irwin, Nikola Saric

Manchester City: Javier Garrido, Scott Kay, James Poole, Shaleum Logan, Andrew Tutte, Javan Vidal, Patrick Vieira, James Wood

Manchester United: Conor Devlin, Owen Hargreaves, Gary Neville, Paul Scholes, Edwin van der Sar

Newcastle United: Sol Campbell, Shefki Kuqi, Patrick McLaughlin

Stoke City: Abdoulaye Faye, Eidur Gudjohnsen, Ibrahima Sonko

Sunderland: Michael Kay, Nathan Luscombe, Daniel Madden, Robert Weir, Nathan Wilson, Mvoto Jean-Yves, Bolo Zenden

Tottenham Hotspur: Jonathan Woodgate

West Bromwich Albion: Giles Barnes, Marcus Haber, Dean Kiely, Abdoulaye Meite

West Ham United: Anthony Edgar, Holmar Eyjolfsson, Daniel Gabbidon, Lars Jacobsen, Filip Modelski, Jonathan Spector, Adam Street, Matthew Upson

Wigan Athletic: Steven Caldwell, Daniel De Ridder, Joseph Holt, Jason Koumas, Thomas Lambert, Thomas Oakes, Francis Pollitt, Abian Serrano Davila

Wolverhampton Wanderers: Adriano Basso, Jody Craddock, John Dunleavy, Marcus Hahnemann, David Jones, Nathan Rooney

Posted in News | Tagged Axed Stars, Free Agents, Johnathan Woodgate, Patrick Vieira, Premier League, Released, Transfers

http://www.inthestands.co.uk/ Shaw

Love this. A lot of good players are on this list, and a few surprise me.

Lee Bowyer and Kevin Phillips would have been useful in the championship, but may have been cut off the wage bill.

West Ham might regret letting Jonathan Spector go, again he would have been a decent player in the championship – especially as he plays in an array of different positions.
http://www.premierleagueheroes.co.uk Leigh

Woodgate being released was a banker but there are quite a few surprises in this list. Reo-Coker can still do a job in the Prem along with Benjani, Gera and Kamara. I think Sol Campbell will be announcing his retirement soon and I wouldn’t be surprised if Kevin Phillips, Robert Pires and Patrick Viera called it a day too. Will be a busy summer!