James Ward-Prowse

James Michael Edward Ward-Prowse (born 1 November 1994) is an English professional footballer who plays as a defensive midfielder for Premier League club Southampton and the England national team.

James Ward-Prowse
Ward-Prowse playing for Southampton in 2017
Personal information
Full name James Michael Edward Ward-Prowse[1]
Date of birth (1994-11-01) 1 November 1994[2]
Place of birth Portsmouth, England
Height 5 ft 8 in (1.73 m)[3]
Position(s) Defensive midfielder[4]
Club information
Current team
 Southampton
Number 8
Youth career
2003–2011 Southampton
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2011– Southampton 253 (27)
National team‡
2010–2011 England U17 7 (0)
2012–2013 England U19 4 (0)
2013–2014 England U20 7 (1)
2013–2017 England U21 31 (6)
2017– England 4 (0)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 17:03, 6 February 2021 (UTC)
‡ National team caps and goals correct as of 06:52, 9 October 2020 (UTC)

Originally a member of Southampton's youth system, Ward-Prowse made his first-team debut for the club in October 2011, and signed his first professional contract in May 2012. He became a regular for Southampton, and made his 200th appearance in all competitions in April 2018. He was appointed as captain in June 2020.

He has represented England at under-17, under-19 and under-20 levels and earned 31 caps and scored 6 goals at under-21 level, also serving as captain. He made his senior international debut in March 2017 in a 1–0 away defeat to then World champions Germany.

Early and personal life

Ward-Prowse was born in Portsmouth, Hampshire and is the son of John Ward-Prowse,[5] a barrister.[6] Although his family are Portsmouth supporters,[5] Ward-Prowse joined their rivals Southampton at the age of eight.[7]

Ward-Prowse and his partner, Olivia, have one son named Oscar born in 2018.[8]

Club career

Early years

Ward-Prowse joined the Southampton Academy at the age of eight, later featuring in every match for the under-18 team in the 2010–11 season before becoming a full-time scholar in 2011.[7] While at the Southampton academy, he secretly trained with non-league Havant & Waterlooville in order to "toughen" himself.[6]

2011–2014
Ward-Prowse playing for Southampton in 2012

He was first called up to the senior team in October 2011, when he made his full debut for the Southampton first team at the age of 16 in the League Cup against Crystal Palace.[9][10] In his second starting appearance for the team, Ward-Prowse scored Southampton's first goal in a 2–1 win over Coventry City to help his side through to the fourth round of the FA Cup.[7][11] Following the club's promotion to the top flight in May 2012, Ward-Prowse was one of four youth players offered a professional contract for their return to the Premier League, along with Jack Stephens, Luke Shaw, and Calum Chambers.[12]

Ward-Prowse made his Premier League debut for Southampton on the opening day of the 2012–13 season, playing the first 65 minutes of a 3–2 loss against reigning champions Manchester City.[13] After the match, his performance was described by manager Nigel Adkins as "outstanding".[14] After a substitute appearance against Wigan Athletic,[15] the 17-year-old returned to the starting line-up for the third match of the campaign against Manchester United, continuing to draw praise from commentators.[16] In November, shortly after his 18th birthday, Ward-Prowse signed a five-year contract with Southampton, amidst speculation that he might leave the club in the near future.[17]

In a home match against Queens Park Rangers in March 2013, Ward-Prowse was involved in a late attack which could have saved the hosts a point when he provided a cross to be headed at goal by centre-back Maya Yoshida, only for substitute goalkeeper Robert Green to save and secure the win for the visitors.[18] He later provided the assist for a Jason Puncheon equaliser in the penultimate match of the season against fellow strugglers Sunderland on 12 May, picking up play from strikers Jay Rodriguez and Rickie Lambert to cross for the winger to secure an important point for Southampton in the 75th minute of play.[19]

Despite making 15 league appearances for his club throughout the season, many of these came as a substitute, and as a result it was reported at the end of the season that Ward-Prowse was "not content sitting on the bench".[20] The midfielder did, however, win the Scholar of the Season accolade at the Southampton club awards ceremony in May, beating academy teammates Luke Shaw and Dominic Gape to the title.[21]

At the beginning of the 2013–14 season, Ward-Prowse came into favour with manager Mauricio Pochettino to start the first match of the season against West Bromwich Albion, almost scoring in one of the few attacking moves of an otherwise uneventful encounter which ended 1–0 to Southampton thanks to a last-minute penalty from Lambert.[22] The midfielder also played the full 90 minutes of the following match against Sunderland, registering an assist with a free kick in the 88th minute which was headed in for a late equaliser by centre-back José Fonte.[23]

Ward-Prowse was an ever-present at the start of the 2014–15 season, until on 20 September, when he fractured his foot in a win over Swansea City. He was subsequently ruled out for 10 weeks.[24]

2015–present
Ward-Prowse playing for Southampton in 2015

He signed a new five-and-a-half-year contract in January 2015.[25] On 11 April, he scored his first Premier League goal, opening the scoring in a 2–0 win against Hull City with a penalty kick.[26] He was given a straight red card on 2 May for a foul on Sunderland's Jermain Defoe, conceding a penalty from which Jordi Gómez scored the winning goal.[27]

On 3 October 2015, Ward-Prowse was a half-time substitute for Oriol Romeu in a 3–1 win at reigning champions Chelsea.[28] This was his 100th Southampton appearance, making him the fourth-youngest player to reach that figure.[29]

Ward-Prowse was praised by manager Ronald Koeman after scoring two goals in a 3–0 win home win against West Bromwich Albion on 16 January 2016: a free kick and a penalty.[30][31] He amassed 39 appearances and scored twice during the 2015–16 season.[32] On 13 May 2016, he signed a new six-year contract, keeping him at the club until 2022.[33]

Ward-Prowse scored his first goal of the 2016–17 season on 25 September with an injury-time strike to seal a 3–0 away win over West Ham United.[34] He doubled his tally on 22 January 2017, opening the scoring in a 3–0 home victory over reigning Premier League champions Leicester City as Southampton ended a run of four successive league defeats.[35]

He made his 200th appearance in all competitions for Southampton on 7 April 2018.[36]

In June 2020, Ward-Prowse replaced Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg as Southampton captain, initially until the end of the 2019–20 season.[37] On 17 August 2020, Ward-Prowse signed a new contract until June 2025.[38]

International career

Youth

Ward-Prowse began his international career with the England under-17 team, gaining seven caps for the team in two tournaments between 2010 and 2011.[39] In 2012, he made the step up to the under-19 team, for whom he played four times, and in 2013 joined the under-20s for the 2013 FIFA U-20 World Cup in Turkey; the midfielder played all three matches in the tournament, none of which England won.[39]

At the age of 18, Ward-Prowse received his first call-up to the England under-21 team from Gareth Southgate in August 2013, for the 2015 UEFA European Under-21 Championship qualification matches against Moldova and Finland.[40] He played for 64 minutes in the first match,[41] and for the full 90 against Finland, in which he had some of England's most clear goal-scoring opportunities.[42] He scored his first under-21 goal on 15 October, scoring a free kick from 20 yards in a 5–0 win against Lithuania.[43] During the 2014 Toulon Tournament, he scored a "stunning" free kick against Brazil during the group stages.[44] This was later voted "Goal of the Tournament"; Ward-Prowse was also voted as one of the best three players in the tournament.[45]

In April 2015, Roy Hodgson called Ward-Prowse a "big prospect" and hinted at a possible senior team call-up by saying "he'll be in our thoughts because we like him very much."[46]

On 29 May 2016, he captained England under-21s to their first Toulon Tournament victory since 1994, by beating hosts France 2–1.[47] Ward-Prowse was nominated for the Vauxhall England Under-21 Player of the Year award, but eventually lost out to Southampton teammate Nathan Redmond.[48]

In June 2017, he captained the under-21s at that year's edition of the European Under-21 Championship where England reached the semi-finals, eventually losing to Germany in a penalty shoot-out.[49]

Senior

On 16 March 2017, he earned his first call-up to the senior England squad for a friendly against Germany and a World Cup qualifying match against Lithuania.[50] Six days later, he made his senior debut along with teammate Nathan Redmond in a 1–0 away loss to Germany, replacing West Bromwich Albion's Jake Livermore after 82 minutes.[51]

In March 2019, Ward-Prowse was recalled to the senior national team for England's first two matches of UEFA Euro 2020 qualifying.[52] He was brought on after 82 minutes in England's 5–1 away win over Montenegro on 25 March. This was Ward-Prowse's first competitive appearance for England[53] with his first start coming away to Iceland during a 1–0 win on 5 September 2020.[54]

Playing style

Mainly playing as a midfielder, Ward-Prowse can also be deployed as a right-back.[55] He is particularly known for his skill and accuracy at taking free kicks.[56] He holds the Southampton F.C. record for Premier League free kick goals, has the league's best free kick conversion rate since 2003, when Opta started recording them,[57] and is considered one of the top set-piece specialists in the game.[58] Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola remarked that Ward-Prowse is "The best free-kick taker I have seen in my life" [59]

Career statistics

Club
As of match played 6 February 2021
Appearances and goals by club, season and competition
Club Season League FA Cup League Cup Europe Total
DivisionAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoals
Southampton 2011–12[60] Championship 001110—21
2012–13[61] Premier League 1501030—190
2013–14[62] Premier League 3403020—390
2014–15[63] Premier League 2513020—301
2015–16[32] Premier League 33210203[lower-alpha 1]0392
2016–17[64] Premier League 30420506[lower-alpha 1]0434
2017–18[65] Premier League 3032110—334
2018–19[66] Premier League 2672010—297
2019–20[67] Premier League 3853030—445
2020–21[68] Premier League 2252110—256
Career total 253272032109030330
  1. Appearances in UEFA Europa League

International
As of match played 8 October 2020[69]
Appearances and goals by national team and year
National teamYearAppsGoals
England 201710
201910
202020
Total40

Honours

Southampton

England U21

References
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