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Gardner Profile
 Bolton Wanderers Ricardo Gardner celebrates scoring the opening goal of the game

Ricardo Gardner

Born: St Andrews, Jamaica, 25th September 1978

International Honours: Jamaica Full

Position: Wing-Back/Midfielder

Squad Number: 11

Former Clubs: Harbour View (Jamaica)

One of the most popular and longest serving members of the Bolton squad having been at the club for over seven seasons now. Ricardo is an important name on the team sheet due to the attacking threat he poses when moving out of defence.

He first came to Bolton in his late teens from Harbour View having caught the eye whilst playing for Jamaica in the 1998 World Cup in France. Many thought Colin Todd was made to take such a gamble on an unknown player especially given the fact that he cost £1 million, but it is safe to say that it was a gamble which paid off in the long run as Gardner has now appeared in over 200 games for the club.

At first Todd was keen to ease the Reggae Boy into English life and often masked the player from doing any media interviews in a similar way to which Sir Alex Ferguson did with Ryan Giggs when the Welshman was breaking through at Old Trafford.

A debut as a substitute for Arnar Gunnlaugsson in the chilly surroundings of Hartlepool's Victoria Park in August 1998 was perhaps not what Gardner had in mind when he chose to uproot and come to England but it certainly gave him a taste of the climate and culture which he needed to adjust to.

His league debut some two weeks later was much more explosive as he scored with the final kick of the game as a substitute in the thrilling 3-2 win over West Bromwich Albion at the Hawthorns.

Understandably, at first there where times when he looked out of place in the team, but as the months passed he gradually improved and managed to displace the vastly experienced Scott Sellars for Bolton's Play Off run in of 1998-1999, making an appearance for the Wanderers in the ill-fated Play Off Final against Watford at Wembley Stadium.

In the following season he really came into his own and was playing some of the best football of his career to date. This was something which was a bright spot for Bolton as they had to suffer the earlier blow of off the field problems following the sale of Per Frandsen to Blackburn and resignation of Todd as the manager.

Gardner hit nine goals for the 1999-2000 campaign, this currently his best ever seasonal tally since moving from his homeland. Sadly mid-way through that season he was ruled out for eight months with knee ligament damage following a game at Barnsley in February 2000, thus ruling him out of Bolton's promotion run in and FA Cup expliots.

In October 2000 he returned to the team sporting a rather bizarre blonde hairstyle in the dire goalless draw with Nottingham Forest to begin the first steps of his playing comeback.

At first he was reluctant to go into the 50/50 challenges through fear of breaking down again, but as the season progressed he ultimately grew in confidence, as was demonstrated when he scored a fine goal in the winter of 2000, ironically against Barnsley, the club whom he had sustained the earlier injury against.

Season 2000-2001 ended in fine style for Gardner as he scored the winning goal in the Play Off final victory over Preston North End which booked the Trotters their place back into the Premiership after a three year exile.

Many wondered if he would be up to the physical side of the Premiership, but he soon dispelled those speculations with some fine performances down the Bolton left hand side.

He continued to chip in with some fine goals, including strikes in the games with Newcastle United and West Ham United in February 2002, with the latter result being a hard fought 1-0 victory.

Sam Allardyce was rotating his side around for the following season and a number of players where asked to play out of position due to injuries to certain members of the first team squad and this resulted in Gardner now being asked to take on more defensive duties at left-wing back..

Many where sceptical about this move by Allardyce for such an attacking minded player, but for Gardner it wasn't such a shock as he had played in that position many times before for Jamaica.

Season 2003-2004 saw him pick up another knee ligament injury against Manchester United, but this time he managed to return in double quick time due to the club's excellent medical and sports science facilities.

Last season he deservedly picked up the clubs player of the year award after a string of impressive performances at left wing back which also made opposing managers and fans sit up and take note. Any scepicism from previous years about his defensive capabilities soon disappeared.

He is hoping to extend his current deal with the club which will run past 2008 and put him in line for a well deserved testimonial, and all of this coming before he is 30.

In the 2006-2007 season he made yet another successful comeback from a knee ligament operation by featuring in the most of the Wanderers games since Christmas.

He was a bit off the pace initially when making his comeback but soon redescovered the form which made him the Bolton Player of the Season just under twelve months previously.

Last year he missed the start of the season with the injury problems which had plagued him previously but an ironic injury to fellow left back Jlloyd Samuel allowed him to regain his place back in the side in the Autumn.

He scored his first goal in five years when opening the scoring in the UEFA Cup tie against German giants Bayern Munich in November but an injury sustained in the home draw with Manchester City at the end of March brought the curtain down on his season.

Over the 2008 summer he has penned a new contract with the club which will see him complete ten years at the club and beyond.

BOLTON RECORD:  283 appearances, 15 goals

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