Jason David Ian Puncheon (born 18 June 1986) is an English 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, rugby ...

who plays 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 ...

for

Cypriot First Division The Cypriot First Division ( el, Πρωτάθλημα Α΄ Κατηγορίας) is the top tier football league competition in Cyprus, run by the Cyprus Football Association. Since February 2016, it is sponsored by Cyta and is thus official ...

club Anorthosis Famagusta . Following his goal against Everton on his

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 ...

debut, he has scored in all of the top four divisions of English league football, scoring for Barnet in

League Two The English Football League Two (often referred to as League Two for short or Sky Bet League Two for sponsorship purposes, and known as the Football League Two from 2004 until 2016) is the third and lowest division of the English Football Le ...

, Milton Keynes Dons and

Southampton Southampton () is a port City status in the United Kingdom, city in the ceremonial county of Hampshire in southern England. It is located approximately south-west of London and west of Portsmouth. The city forms part of the South Hampshire, S ...

in League One,

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, ea ...

in the

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 ...

and Blackpool, Southampton and Crystal Palace in the Premier League.

Club career

Early career

Born in

Croydon Croydon is a large town in south London, England, south of Charing Cross. Part of the London Borough of Croydon, a local government district of Greater London. It is one of the largest commercial districts in Greater London, with an extens ...

, Greater London, Puncheon began his career with Wimbledon, and moved with the team to Milton Keynes, where the club became Milton Keynes Dons in 2004. He was released in January 2006. He moved to Barnet in June of the same year, after brief spells with

Fisher Athletic Fisher Athletic F.C. were a semi-professional football club from South East London, which last played in the Conference South, which is one of the two leagues that form the sixth tier of the English football league system. The Bermondsey-based ...

and

Lewes Lewes () is the county town of East Sussex, England. It is the police and judicial centre for all of Sussex and is home to Sussex Police, East Sussex Fire & Rescue Service, Lewes Crown Court and HMP Lewes. The civil parish is the centre ...

. He was named

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 competit ...

Player of the Third Round in 2007 and the following season after scoring a succession of brilliant goals (including a last minute 35-yard free kick versus Bradford) was named in the PFA Team of the Season.

Plymouth Argyle

Plymouth Argyle Plymouth Argyle Football Club is a professional football club based in the city of Plymouth, Devon, England. As of the 2021–22 season, the team are competing in League One, the third tier of English football. They have played at Home Park ...

signed Puncheon from Barnet for £250,000 in 2008. He endured an unsuccessful 18-month spell at the club, making six league appearances. He was loaned to former club MK Dons three times in two years, where he scored 12 goals in 61 appearances.

Southampton

On 30 January 2010, Puncheon joined

which then led to his loan deal at MK Dons to be cut short. He scored his first goal in a 5–1 victory over Walsall, and scored again a few days later, in a 5–0 victory over Huddersfield. At the start of the 2010–11 season, he was a regular in the first team. However, when Alan Pardew lost his job just days after a 4–0 win away to

Bristol Rovers Bristol Rovers Football Club are a professional football club in Bristol, England. They compete in League One, the third tier of the English football league system. They play home matches at the Memorial Stadium in Horfield, they have been ...

, Southampton hired Nigel Adkins as manager. Under Adkins, he stayed in the first team, but found himself under increasing pressure from

Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain Alexander Mark David Oxlade-Chamberlain (born 15 August 1993) is an English professional footballer who plays as a midfielder for club Liverpool. After rising to prominence with Southampton during the 2010–11 season aged 17, Oxlade-Ch ...

for his place. Eventually Adkins lost patience with Puncheon's erratic performances, and dropped him to the bench in favour of 17-year-old Chamberlain, who was later sold to Arsenal for a reported £15m. On 16 November 2010, Puncheon moved on an emergency loan deal to

. He scored his first goal on his first game for Millwall in their 1–0 victory over

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 a ...

. On 1 January 2011, Puncheon scored a

hat-trick A hat-trick or hat trick is the achievement of a generally positive feat three times in a match, or another achievement based on the number three. Origin The term first appeared in 1858 in cricket, to describe H. H. Stephenson taking three wi ...

in the 3–0 victory over Crystal Palace. On 31 January 2011, Puncheon joined

on loan until the end of the season. He made his debut, scoring a goal, at Everton on 5 February. He scored his second goal against Chelsea on 7 March at

Bloomfield Road Bloomfield Road is a single-tier football stadium in Blackpool, Lancashire, England, which has been the home of Blackpool F.C. since 1901. It is the third stadium in the club's existence, the previous two being Raikes Hall Gardens and the ...

. Puncheon re-joined the Saints after Blackpool's failed attempt to fight off relegation. On 31 August 2011, Puncheon joined

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 ...

on loan until 2 January 2012. He returned to the Saints after his unsuccessful loan spell at QPR, but on 21 January 2012, he publicly criticised Executive chairman Nicola Cortese. However just days later, it was revealed that Puncheon had apologised to Cortese and would be available for selection in the first team. He then started the next two matches: a 1–1 draw in the

and a 1–1 draw in the Championship against

Cardiff City Cardiff City Football Club ( cy, Clwb Pêl-droed Dinas Caerdydd) is a professional association football club based in Cardiff, Wales. It competes in the Championship, the second tier of the English football league system. Founded in 1899 as R ...

. He scored his first goal of the 2012–13 season with a 30-yard volley in a league cup win at

Stevenage Stevenage ( ) is a large town and borough in Hertfordshire, England, about north of London. Stevenage is east of junctions 7 and 8 of the A1(M), between Letchworth Garden City to the north and Welwyn Garden City to the south. In 1946, Ste ...

. He scored his first Premier League goal for Southampton in a 4–1 home victory 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 P ...

. His second came when Southampton won 3–1 away to Queens Park Rangers. He scored his third Premier League goal in the 61st minute against

Reading Reading is the process of taking in the sense or meaning of Letter (alphabet), letters, symbols, etc., especially by Visual perception, sight or Somatosensory system, touch. For educators and researchers, reading is a multifaceted process invo ...

to secure Southampton a vital 1–0 victory and move them out of the relegation zone. His fourth was scored to give

a 2–2 draw away to the Champions of Europe Chelsea. On 9 February 2013, he scored his fifth in Southampton's 3–1 home win against 2011–12 champions

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 two ...

. On 1 March 2013, Puncheon signed a new contract with Southampton, expiring in 2016.

Crystal Palace

On 21 August 2013, Puncheon signed a one-year loan with Crystal Palace. He missed a penalty as Palace lost 2–0 away to

Tottenham Hotspur Tottenham Hotspur Football Club, commonly referred to as Tottenham () or Spurs, is a professional football club based in Tottenham, London, England. It competes in the Premier League, the top flight of English football. The team has playe ...

on 11 January 2014, but made up for his miss by scoring the only goal of their 1–0 win against

Stoke City Stoke City Football Club is a professional football club based in Stoke-on-Trent, Staffordshire, England, which competes in the . Founded as Stoke Ramblers in 1863, it changed its name to Stoke in 1878 and then to Stoke City in 1925 after Sto ...

the following weekend. On 31 January 2014, Puncheon made his loan spell into a permanent move, for a fee of around £1.75m. Puncheon's three goals in January and a further three in back-to-back wins in April that lifted Palace away from the relegation zone, led boss Tony Pulis to issue a 'hands off' warning to other clubs interesting in signing Puncheon. On 16 August 2014, in Palace's first match of the new season away to

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 mostly ...

, Puncheon took a corner which was headed in by

Brede Hangeland Brede Paulsen Hangeland (born 20 June 1981) is a Norwegian former professional footballer who played as a central defender. He began his career with Viking, where he won the Norwegian Cup in 2001. In 2006, he moved to Copenhagen, and went on to ...

for the first goal of the game. He was sent off for his second booking in the 89th minute, after which Arsenal scored their winning goal. On 17 January 2015, Puncheon scored his third goal of the season and second in as many games against

Burnley Burnley () is a town and the administrative centre of the wider Borough of Burnley in Lancashire, England, with a 2001 population of 73,021. It is north of Manchester and east of Preston, at the confluence of the River Calder and River ...

in a 3–2 away win. Crystal Palace had come from 2 goals down to claim victory to boost their survival hopes. Palace manager Alan Pardew praised Puncheon's performance, describing him as "the best player on the pitch by a country mile". On 6 April 2015, Puncheon scored the winning goal for Crystal Palace against

. Puncheon's goal came from a freekick which went past Manchester City's goalkeeper

Joe Hart Charles Joseph John Hart (born 19 April 1987) known professionally simply as Joe Hart is an English professional footballer who plays as a goalkeeper for Scottish Premiership club Celtic. He began his career at his hometown club Shrewsbury ...

. He opened the scoring in the 2016 FA Cup Final against Manchester United with a goal in the 78th minute, but Palace went on to lose the match 2–1 after extra time. On 18 July 2017, Puncheon replaced

Scott Dann Scott Dann (born 14 February 1987) is an English professional footballer who plays as a centre back for club Reading. He began his Football League career with Walsall, before moving on to Coventry City and then to Birmingham City in 200 ...

as captain. In January 2018, manager

Roy Hodgson Roy Hodgson (born 9 August 1947) is a former English football manager and player. He managed 22 different teams in eight countries, beginning in Sweden with Halmstads BK in the 1976 season. He later guided the Switzerland national team to ...

announced that Puncheon would play no further part in the 2017–18 season following a

cruciate ligament Cruciate ligaments (also cruciform ligaments) are pairs of ligaments arranged like a letter X. They occur in several joints of the body, such as the knee joint and the atlanto-axial joint. In a fashion similar to the cords in a toy Jacob's ...

injury sustained while playing against

. In May 2019, Crystal Palace issued a statement that Puncheon would leave the club at the end of the 2018–19 season after having made 169 appearances and scored 16 goals.

Loan to Huddersfield Town

On 4 January 2019, Puncheon signed for Premier League club

Huddersfield Town Huddersfield Town Association Football Club is a professional football club based in Huddersfield, West Yorkshire, England, which compete in the . The team have played home games at the Kirklees Stadium since moving from Leeds Road in 1994. ...

on loan until the end of the season.

Pafos

In August 2019, Puncheon completed a move to Cypriot football with First Division side

Pafos Paphos ( el, Πάφος ; tr, Baf) is a coastal city in southwest Cyprus and the capital of Paphos District. In classical antiquity, two locations were called Paphos: Old Paphos, today known as Kouklia, and New Paphos. The current city o ...

Personal life

Puncheon is of Jamaican descent and is eligible for the

Jamaica national football team The Jamaica national football team, nicknamed the "Reggae Boyz", represents Jamaica in international football. The team's first match was against Haiti in 1925. The squad is under the supervising body of the Jamaica Football Federation (JFF ...

. In December 2017, Puncheon was arrested and charged with possession of an offensive weapon, common assault, and a public order offence of "causing fear or provocation of violence" after a fight outside a nightclub in

Reigate Reigate ( ) is a town in Surrey, England, around south of central London. The settlement is recorded in Domesday Book in 1086 as ''Cherchefelle'' and first appears with its modern name in the 1190s. The earliest archaeological evidence for huma ...

. On 5 January 2018, Puncheon appeared in court where he denied the charge of assault. The charge of possessing an offensive weapon was withdrawn and he was bailed to appear again in court on 4 June. He later changed his plea to guilty and was given a community order requiring him to carry out 210 hours of unpaid work, and pay the doorman involved £250 compensation.

Career statistics

Honours

Southampton *

Football League One The English Football League One (often referred to as League One for short or Sky Bet League One for sponsorship purposes, and known as the Football League One from 2004 until 2016) is the second-highest division of the English Football Lea ...

runner-up:

2010–11 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 ...

Crystal Palace *

runner-up: 2015–16 Individual *

PFA Team of the Year The Professional Footballers' Association Team of the Year (often called the PFA Team of the Year, or simply the Team of the Year) is an annual award given to a set of 55 footballers across the top four tiers of men's English football; the Premi ...

: 2007–08 League Two, 2009–10 League One

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Puncheon, Jason 1986 births Living people Footballers from Croydon English footballers Association football wingers English expatriate footballers Expatriate footballers in Cyprus English expatriate sportspeople in Cyprus Wimbledon F.C. players Milton Keynes Dons F.C. players Fisher Athletic F.C. players Lewes F.C. players Barnet F.C. players Plymouth Argyle F.C. players Southampton F.C. players Millwall F.C. players Blackpool F.C. players Queens Park Rangers F.C. players Crystal Palace F.C. players Huddersfield Town A.F.C. players Pafos FC players English Football League players Isthmian League players National League (English football) players Premier League players Black British sportsmen English people of Jamaican descent English people convicted of assault FA Cup Final players