Gary Gardner

Gary Gardner (born 29 June 1992) is an English professional footballer who plays as a central midfielder for EFL Championship club Birmingham City.

A product of the Aston Villa Academy, Gardner made his senior debut while on loan at Coventry City. He first played competitively for Aston Villa in late 2011, and went on to spend time on loan at Sheffield Wednesday, Brighton & Hove Albion, Nottingham Forest, Barnsley and Birmingham City, before joining Birmingham on a permanent contract in 2019.

He has made a number of appearances at under-age levels for England, including five for England U21. He is the younger brother of Birmingham City technical director Craig Gardner.

Club Career

Aston Villa

Youth career

Gardner started his career at Aston Villa with older brother Craig. His development was interrupted by an anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) injury sustained in December 2009. On his return, he became an important member of Aston Villa's under-18 and reserve sides.

Gardner scored twice in Aston Villa reserves' 10–1 win over Arsenal on 10 January 2011, firstly catching out Gunners' goalkeeper James Shea to break the deadlock before scoring another from the penalty spot. He also claimed assists for Andreas Weimann's and Jonathan Hogg's goals. The midfielder first played for Aston Villa's first team in a pre-season friendly, coming on as a substitute for captain Stiliyan Petrov in the 2011 Barclays Asia Trophy final loss to Chelsea.

He also represented Aston Villa in the inaugural season of the NextGen series, a European competition for younger footballers similar in format to the UEFA Champions League. During the group stage, Gardner scored single goals against Fenerbahce and Rosenborg. In Villa's last group match, Gardner scored all three goals in a 3–0 victory over Ajax.

This page also has a version in other languages :  Гари Гарднер (russian)