Ben Watson (born 9 July 1985) is an English former professional

footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugb ...

who played as a

midfielder A midfielder is an outfield position in association football. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in that case known as defensive midfielders. As central midfielders often go across boundarie ...

. He has previously played for

Wigan Athletic Wigan Athletic Football Club () is an English professional association football club based in Wigan, Greater Manchester, England. The team competes in the Championship, the second tier of the English football league system. Founded in 1932, ...

Crystal Palace Crystal Palace may refer to: Places Canada * Crystal Palace Complex (Dieppe), a former amusement park now a shopping complex in Dieppe, New Brunswick * Crystal Palace Barracks, London, Ontario * Crystal Palace (Montreal), an exhibition building ...

Watford Watford () is a town and borough in Hertfordshire, England, 15 miles northwest of Central London, on the River Colne. Initially a small market town, the Grand Junction Canal encouraged the construction of paper-making mills, print works, and ...

, Nottingham Forest and

Charlton Athletic Charlton Athletic Football Club is an English professional football club based in Charlton, south-east London, which compete in . Their home ground is The Valley, where the club have played since 1919. They have also played at The Mount in ...

and had loan spells at

Queens Park Rangers Queens Park Rangers Football Club, commonly abbreviated to QPR, is a professional football club based in Shepherd's Bush, West London, England, which compete in the . After a nomadic early existence, they have played home matches at Loftus Ro ...

and

West Bromwich Albion West Bromwich Albion Football Club () is an English professional football club based in West Bromwich, West Midlands, England. They compete in the EFL Championship, the second tier of English football. The club was formed in 1878 and has pl ...

. He has also represented England at U21 level. Watson won an

FA Cup The Football Association Challenge Cup, more commonly known as the FA Cup, is an annual knockout football competition in men's domestic English football. First played during the 1871–72 season, it is the oldest national football compet ...

winners medal in

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, by scoring a stoppage time header and the only goal of the game against

Manchester City Manchester () is a city in Greater Manchester, England. It had a population of 552,000 in 2021. It is bordered by the Cheshire Plain to the south, the Pennines to the north and east, and the neighbouring city of Salford to the west. The t ...

. This was the first time

had won the FA Cup.

Club career

Crystal Palace

Born in

Camberwell Camberwell () is a district of South London, England, in the London Borough of Southwark, southeast of Charing Cross. Camberwell was first a village associated with the church of St Giles and a common of which Goose Green is a remnant. This ...

, London, Watson made his debut aged 17 towards the end of the 2002–03 season against

, giving a good performance to keep his place in the side for the final four games of the season. He scored his first goal for the club at the start of the following season in a 1–1 draw against

Millwall Millwall is a district on the western and southern side of the Isle of Dogs, in east London, England, in the London Borough of Tower Hamlets. It lies to the immediate south of Canary Wharf and Limehouse, north of Greenwich and Deptford, eas ...

, and gradually featured in the Palace side more regularly over the next few seasons, surpassing 200 appearances for the Eagles before his 23rd birthday. He has also represented England in the under-21 team. In 2006, he was one of six nominees for the "''

League Cup In several sports, most prominently association football, a league cup or secondary cup generally signifies a cup competition for which entry is restricted only to teams in a particular league. The first national association football tournament t ...

New Talent Award''", drawn up by the

Football Writers' Association The Football Writers' Association (FWA) is an association of football journalists and correspondents writing for English newspapers and agencies. It presents the Footballer of the Year Award, the oldest and most distinguished award given in the d ...

. He was also named as Palace's "''Young Player of The Year''" at the end of the season, and was rewarded with a new contract, keeping him at the club until 2009.

Interest from other clubs

At the outset of the 2008–09 season, Watson had one year left on his contract at Palace. The club reportedly offered him a new contract that would have made him Palace's highest-paid player, which was subsequently turned down. He also turned down a move to Nottingham Forest, who claimed he was demanding too high a salary, amidst rumours that he was seeking an offer from

. However a move never materialised before the end of the summer, and Watson returned to the Palace side, scoring five times in just 18 appearances before suffering an injury in early December. This turned out to be Watson's last appearance for the Eagles.

Wigan Athletic

In late January,

Middlesbrough Middlesbrough ( ) is a town on the southern bank of the River Tees in North Yorkshire, England. It is near the North York Moors national park. It is the namesake and main town of its local borough council area. Until the early 1800s, the ...

offered £2m for Watson and were expected to sign the midfielder, who underwent a medical examination.

entered the race to sign him late on, and were successful in securing the deal after matching Boro's offer. He made his debut for the club in a 0–0 draw against

Aston Villa Aston Villa Football Club is a professional football club based in Aston, Birmingham, England. The club competes in the , the top tier of the English football league system. Founded in 1874, they have played at their home ground, Villa Park, ...

on 31 January, and scored his first league goal for Wigan in the 2–1 away victory over

Sunderland Sunderland () is a port city in Tyne and Wear, England. It is the City of Sunderland's administrative centre and in the Historic counties of England, historic county of County of Durham, Durham. The city is from Newcastle-upon-Tyne and is on t ...

at the Stadium of Light. On 23 March 2009 he followed this up with a goal in his next game at home against

Hull City Hull City Association Football Club is a professional football club based in Hull, East Riding of Yorkshire, England, that compete in the . They have played home games at the MKM Stadium since moving from Boothferry Park in 2002. The club's t ...

Loans to QPR and West Bromwich Albion

On 1 September 2009, Watson signed for

Championship In sport, a championship is a competition in which the aim is to decide which individual or team is the champion. Championship systems Various forms of competition can be referred to by the term championship. Title match system In this system ...

side

(QPR) on loan until January 2010. Watson then made his debut 11 days later on 12 September in a 1–1 draw against

Peterborough United Peterborough United Football Club is an English professional football club based in Peterborough, Cambridgeshire, England. The team compete in League One, the third tier of the English football league system. Peterborough have a long-standing ...

Loftus Road Loftus Road is a football stadium in White City, London, England, which is home to Queens Park Rangers. In 1981, it became the first stadium in British professional football to have an artificial pitch of Omniturf installed. This remained in ...

. He scored his first goal for QPR in a 5–2 win over Barnsley on 26 September 2009. Watson was sent off on 21 October in a 4–1 win over struggling

Reading Reading is the process of taking in the sense or meaning of letters, symbols, etc., especially by sight or touch. For educators and researchers, reading is a multifaceted process involving such areas as word recognition, orthography (spell ...

, serving a two match ban. On 22 February 2010, Watson signed on loan for

club

, initially until the end of the 2009–2010 season. He scored his first goal for West Brom against Preston North End on 20 March 2010. Having not made a league appearance for Wigan Athletic during the 2009–10 season, Watson hinted that he would like to sign a permanent deal at West Brom if the club could gain promotion to the

Premier League The Premier League (legal name: The Football Association Premier League Limited) is the highest level of the men's English football league system. Contested by 20 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation with the English Fo ...

. He was recalled from his loan early by Wigan on 1 April 2010.

Return to Wigan Athletic

Watson made his return to the first-team on 4 April in a 2–1 defeat against

Fulham Fulham () is an area of the London Borough of Hammersmith & Fulham in West London, England, southwest of Charing Cross. It lies on the north bank of the River Thames, bordering Hammersmith, Kensington and Chelsea. The area faces Wandswor ...

, and scored in Wigan's 3–2 win over

Arsenal An arsenal is a place where arms and ammunition are made, maintained and repaired, stored, or issued, in any combination, whether privately or publicly owned. Arsenal and armoury (British English) or armory (American English) are mostl ...

at the

DW Stadium The DW Stadium is a stadium in Robin Park, in Wigan, within the Metropolitan Borough of Wigan, Greater Manchester, England. The ground is owned and managed by Wigan Football Company Limited, which is 85% owned by Wigan Athletic and 15% owned ...

on 18 April 2010. He kept his place in the team for the rest of the season, finishing with five league appearances for the club. Watson lost his place in the starting eleven at the beginning of the 2010–11 season, limiting his playing time for the first half of the season. He regained his place in the side after Christmas, and was a regular starter for the rest of the season. Now being deployed in a

deep-lying playmaker A midfielder is an outfield position in association football. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in that case known as defensive midfielders. As central midfielders often go across boundari ...

role, his impressive form in the second half of the season helped the team escape relegation and retain their place in the Premier League. In August 2011, Watson signed a new three-year contract at the club. In November 2012, in a match against

Liverpool Liverpool is a City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. With a population of in 2019, it is the List of English districts by population, 10th largest English district by population and its E ...

, Watson suffered a broken right leg in a challenge with

Raheem Sterling Raheem Shaquille Sterling (born 8 December 1994) is a professional footballer who plays as a winger and attacking midfielder for club Chelsea. Born in Jamaica, he represents the England national team. Born in Jamaica to Jamaican parents, S ...

. Wigan lost the match 3–0. Watson made his return to first-team action in May 2013 against

in a 3–2 away victory for Wigan, playing out of his usual position as a sweeper. Watson scored the winning goal in the

2013 FA Cup Final The 2013 FA Cup Final was an association football match between Manchester City and Wigan Athletic on 11 May 2013 at Wembley Stadium in London, England, organised by the Football Association (FA). It marked the 132nd final of the Football Asso ...

against

, a stoppage time header that gave Wigan Athletic their first FA Cup. On 13 May 2014, Watson signed a new one-year deal with the ''Latics''.

Watford

Watson joined

on 23 January 2015. He made his league debut the following day in a 7–2 win over

Blackpool Blackpool is a seaside resort in Lancashire, England. Located on the northwest coast of England, it is the main settlement within the borough also called Blackpool. The town is by the Irish Sea, between the Ribble and Wyre rivers, and is ...

. Almost a year later, Watson scored his first goal for the Hornets, which he scored directly from a corner in a 1–2 loss at home to

. Watson was not awarded the goal until more than a week after the game, as it was initially recorded as an

Aleksandar Kolarov Aleksandar Kolarov (; born 10 November 1985) is a Serbian former professional footballer. Although primarily a left-back, Kolarov could also operate as a centre-back and anywhere along the left flank and was known for his overlapping attacking ru ...

own goal, before a Premier League panel awarded it to Watson. In 2018, Watson's contract was cancelled by mutual consent at the end of the January transfer window.

Nottingham Forest

Watson joined Nottingham Forest on 5 February 2018 on a -year contract. During the 2018–19 season, Watson found first team opportunities at Forest limited, and was told by manager

Martin O'Neill Martin Hugh Michael O'Neill, (born 1 March 1952) is a Northern Irish professional football manager and former player who played as a midfielder. Starting his career in Northern Ireland, O'Neill moved to England where he spent most of his play ...

that he was free to leave the club. However, Watson went on to become a key figure during the following campaign under new manager

Sabri Lamouchi Sabri Lamouchi (born 9 November 1971) is a French football manager and former professional player who played as a midfielder. He was the manager of Qatar Stars League club Al-Duhail. Early life Lamouchi was born in Lyon, France, and is of Tun ...

, who described Watson as being the 'brains' of his side. He scored his first goal for the club in a 1–0 win over

Barnsley Barnsley () is a market town in South Yorkshire, England. As the main settlement of the Metropolitan Borough of Barnsley and the fourth largest settlement in South Yorkshire. In Barnsley, the population was 96,888 while the wider Borough ha ...

on 21 September 2019. Watson left Nottingham Forest at the end of his contract following the 2019–20 season. Although Forest were hopeful that he would agree an extension, Watson reportedly wished to move to London to be closer to his family.

Charlton Athletic

Watson joined Charlton ahead of the 2020–21 season. He scored his first goal for Charlton in a 1–1 draw against

Shrewsbury Town Shrewsbury Town Football Club is a professional association football club based in Shrewsbury, Shropshire, England. The team competes in League One, the third tier of English football. The club plays its home games at the New Meadow, having mo ...

on 5 December 2020. On 22 June 2021, it was confirmed that Watson had signed a new one-year deal with the club ahead of the 2021–22 season. On 10 May 2022, it was confirmed that Watson would leave Charlton Athletic when his contract expired. On 10 August 2022, Watson announced his retirement from professional football at the age of 37.

Career statistics

Honours

Crystal Palace *

Football League First Division play-offs The English Football League Championship play-offs are a series of play-off matches contested by the association football teams finishing from third to sixth in the EFL Championship table and are part of the English Football League play-offs. , ...

2004 2004 was designated as an International Year of Rice by the United Nations, and the International Year to Commemorate the Struggle Against Slavery and its Abolition (by UNESCO). Events January * January 3 – Flash Airlines Flight ...

Wigan Athletic *

2012–13 1 (one, unit, unity) is a number representing a single or the only entity. 1 is also a numerical digit and represents a single unit of counting or measurement. For example, a line segment of ''unit length'' is a line segment of length 1. I ...

Watford *

Football League Championship The English Football League Championship (often referred to as the Championship for short or the Sky Bet Championship for sponsorship purposes) is the highest division of the English Football League (EFL) and second-highest overall in the E ...

runner-up: 2014–15

References

External links

* at officialplayerwebsites.com * *
Watson at Nottingham Forest Official Website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Watson, Ben (footballer 1985 07) 1985 births Living people Footballers from Camberwell English footballers England under-21 international footballers Association football midfielders Crystal Palace F.C. players Wigan Athletic F.C. players Queens Park Rangers F.C. players West Bromwich Albion F.C. players Watford F.C. players Nottingham Forest F.C. players Charlton Athletic F.C. players Premier League players English Football League players FA Cup Final players