Steven Gerrard

Born in Whiston, Merseyside, Gerrard started out playing for hometown team Whiston Juniors, where he was noticed by Liverpool scouts. He later joined the Liverpool Academy at the age of nine. Gerrard then had trials with various clubs at fourteen, but his success wasn't immediate — Gerrard never made it into the England schoolboys' team. Gerrard's trials included Manchester United, which he claimed in his 2006 autobiography was "to pressure Liverpool into giving me a YTS contract.He signed his first professional contract with Liverpool on 5 November 1997
Gerrard made his international debut in 2000, and has since represented England at the 2000 and 2004 European Championships, as well as the 2006 World Cup – where he was the team's top goalscorer with two goals – and the 2010 World Cup, where he first captained his country in the absence of regular captain Rio Ferdinand, who missed the tournament through injury. He was named as the permanent England captain shortly before the 2012 European Championship, where he was named in the UEFA Team of the Tournament.

Gerrard has been described as one of the greatest English midfielders in history, "a real leader, Gerrard is a tireless runner and has superb vision. His striking from distance is feared around the world and he is a prolific scorer for a midfielder. Gerrard came second only to Kenny Dalglish in the "100 Players Who Shook The Kop" – a Liverpool fan poll, and finished first in 2013. Zinedine Zidane said in 2009 that he considered Gerrard to be the best footballer in the world. In 2005, Gerrard was honoured as the UEFA Club Footballer of the Year and won the Ballon d'Or Bronze Award. Additionally, he has been named to the PFA Team of the Year seven times, the UEFA Team of the Year and FIFA World XI three times, he was named PFA Players' Player of the Year in 2006 and the FWA Footballer of the Year in 2009. In 2010, The Guardian named Gerrard to their World XI team, which compiled the greatest footballers of all time onto one squad.He is, to date, the only footballer ever to have scored a goal in an FA Cup Final, a League Cup Final, a UEFA Cup Final and a Champions League Final