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Jack Hobbs
Personal information
Full name	Jack Hobbs
Date of birth	18 August 1988 (1988-08-18) (age 21)
Place of birth	Portsmouth, England
Height	6 ft 3 in (1.91 m)
Playing position	Centre back, Defensive midfielder
Club information
Current club	Leicester City
Number	25
Senior career1
Years	Club	App (Gls)*
2005 2005–2009 2008 2008–2009 2009–	Lincoln City Liverpool → Scunthorpe United (loan) → Leicester City (loan) Leicester City	01 (0) 02 (0) 09 (1) 44 (1) 33 (0)
National team2
2007–	England U19	03 (0)
1 Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 21:35, 16 March 2010 (UTC). 2 National team caps and goals correct as of 20:12, 16 August 2008 (UTC). * Appearances (Goals)

Jack Hobbs (born 18 August 1988) is a professional English football player, currently playing for Leicester City as a defender.

Football career

Lincoln City

From Moulton, a small village near Spalding, Lincolnshire, Hobbs played for Moulton Harrox from the age of 10. The former Spalding Grammar School student left Moulton Harrox a few years later when he joined Lincoln City. Whilst at Lincoln City he was allowed to play for Spalding Athletic for one season at under 13.

Hobbs quickly made an impression in the youth set-up and, at the age of 14, scored his first goal in his fourth appearance for the Lincoln City U19 side in a 1–1 draw with Bradford City U19 on 22 March 2003.^[1] In March 2004 he was offered and accepted a three-year scholarship with the Imps, commencing at the start of the 2004-2005 season.^[2] His progress continued to be rapid and, at the age of just 16 years and 149 days, Hobbs made his league debut on 15 January 2005 coming off the bench to play just 3 minutes of League 2 football at home for Lincoln City, in the 1–1 draw against Bristol Rovers, in the process becoming the youngest ever player to play for the Sincil Bank based club in the Football League.^[3]

Liverpool

Hobbs moved from Lincoln City to Liverpool for a reported £750,000 on 2 August 2005 after spending a trial there. He made his Liverpool reserves debut at the age of 16 in a mini-derby with Everton and signed a three-year professional contract with the Merseyside club on his seventeenth birthday after initially agreeing to a pre-contract with the club. The young defender spent the 2005–2006 season in the centre of midfield for the reserves having been put there by Paco Herrera. Hobbs also captained the reserves team after David Raven went on loan to Tranmere Rovers and played an important role in helping the club to win the FA Youth Cup against Manchester City.

During the summer of 2006, Hobbs made his first appearances for the first team in friendly matches against Crewe and Wrexham, before going on tour of Switzerland with the first team. He endured a nightmare match against Kaiserslautern which Liverpool lost 3–2, with Hobbs placed at fault, although he did redeem himself a few days later when he was one of only a select few to come out of a 2–0 defeat to Zürich club Grasshopper with any credibility.

On 28 April 2007, Hobbs was named amongst the substitutes for the first time in Liverpool's Premier League match against Portsmouth at Fratton Park, however he did not make it onto the pitch. Hobbs went on to represent England at under 19 level on 3 occasions at the end of the 2006–07 season. He was expected to start the game against Reading in the Carling Cup on the 25 September 2007, but he started on the bench and came on to make his first-team debut as a late substitute in a 4–2 win. Hobbs later made his first full debut with Liverpool against Cardiff City in the Carling Cup on the 31 October 2007, playing all 90 minutes and gaining praise from pundits and teammates for his composed performance.^[4] His first appearance in the Premier League came when he replaced Jamie Carragher after 51 minutes in the 4–0 win against Bolton on 2 December 2007. On the 8 December he made his first League start in place of Sami Hyypiä against Reading in which Liverpool lost the game three goals to one. Following that he put in a good display against Chelsea FC, in a League Cup quarter-final tie, a match Liverpool lost 2–0.

He joined Scunthorpe on 24 January, 2008 on a season-long loan deal.^[5] He scored his first senior goal on 15 February against Stoke.^[6] The following season he was unable to gain a first team place as Liverpool's central defence was well covered.

Leicester City

Hobbs and his teammates prepare to defend against a corner kick from Cardiff City in the FA Cup on 23 January 2010.

Hobbs rushes to congratulate Michael Morrison for his goal against Cardiff City.

Looking to gain first team experience, Hobbs joined League One side Leicester City on another season-long loan.^[7] He scored his first goal (his second in his career) for Leicester in a 4-2 home win over Huddersfield Town on 24 January, 2009.^[8] Hobbs proved an imposing presence in defence, helping Leicester secure their promotion as league champions.^[9]

Alongside Leicester's League One title, Hobbs was named in the PFA League One Team of the Year and was voted Leicester City supporters club young player of the season for the 2008-09 season.^[10] A day later Leicester signed Hobbs on a permanent deal for an undisclosed fee on 24 April 2009,^[11] signing a four-year contract after a very successful season with the club.

On the 18th of March 2010, it was revealed that England U21 manager Stuart Pearce was looking to give him a call to the squad. He has been described by him and his coaches as a fantastic young prospect, who will be capable of Premier League Football in the future.

Career statistics

Correct as of 15 Feb 2010

• NOTE: teams in Italics indicate loan period

Honours

Liverpool

• FA Youth Cup: 2006

Leicester City.

• League One: 2008-09

Individual

• PFA Team of the Year: 2008-09

References

External links

• Jack Hobbs career stats at Soccerbase
• Lincoln City F.C. Official Archive Profile
• Official Liverpool profile
• LFChistory.net player profile