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Emile Ivanhoe Heskey (born 11 January 1978 in
Evington, Leicester, England) to an Antiguan
father and Barbudan mother is a professional
Football (soccer)|football player for Birmingham
City F.C. and also for the England national
football team|English national team.

Heskey attended the same school as Gary Lineker,
and like Lineker, started his professional
football career at Leicester City F.C.|Leicester
City.  He made his league debut in 1995, and then
made 30 appearances for the Foxes in 1995/96 -
helping City earn promotion to the Premiership. 
He starred alongside Michael Owen in the England
Under-18 team which finished third in the European
Championships in France.  Prior to his
professional debut, he was a ball boy at the 1994
Football league Division 1 play-off final, which
took place at The Empire Stadium, Wembley, between
Leicester City and Derby County.

Heskey won his first major honour in English
football when he helped Leicester to victory over
Middlesbrough F.C.|Middlesbrough in the League
Cup|Worthington Cup final, repeated in 2000 with a
2-1 win against Tranmere Rovers F.C.|Tranmere
Rovers and in 2001 when Liverpool F.C.|Liverpool
defeated Birmingham City F.C.|Birmingham City. 

The towering striker made his England debut in a
friendly against Hungary national football
team|Hungary in Budapest in a 1-1 draw and on his
first start, against Argentina national football
team|Argentina at Wembley Stadium|Wembley, he gave
a performance which won him the Man of the Match
award. That showing ensured he was in England's
2000 European Football Championship|Euro 2000
squad. However his two substitute performances in
the tournament were poor as England crashed out. 

Considered one of football's 'nicest guys', Heskey
joined Liverpool in April 2000 in an £11 million
move that was one of the worst kept secrets in
football.  Heskey's move set the record transfer
fee for the Merseyside club.

He made his Anfield debut in the Premiership clash
with Sunderland A.F.C.|Sunderland and played well
but the season finished with continuing doubts
about his goalscoring prowess. During the 2000/01
season Heskey put an end to those scoring worries
by smashing home 23 goals for the Reds and
rocketing himself up the England pecking order. 

He continued his scoring exploits against Spain
national football team|Spain in February 2001 when
he scored one of England's three goals in the
friendly victory. But Heskey was relegated to the
bench for England's next match against Finland
national football team|Finland, although came on
for the final 20 minutes of the game for Steve
McManaman. 

He has also played on the left-wing under
Sven-Göran Eriksson|Sven Goran Eriksson. He was
restored to his forward role for the World Cup
qualifier against Germany in September 2001 and
scored the final goal in England's 5-1 victory in
Munich. But he lost his scoring touch again during
the 2001/02 season, but he still managed to score
14 goals for Liverpool. 

One of Eriksson's favourites, he was selected in
the squad for the Football World Cup 2002|2002
World Cup in Japan and Korea, and started in the
left-wing role against Sweden, but looked far more
effective when moved back into the forward line to
partner Michael Owen. He netted against Denmark
national football team|Denmark as England reached
the quarter-finals, but many England fans do not
believe he is the best option for England's
attacking line. This is backed up by his strike
rate statistic, the worst of any post-war regular
England striker.

And after scoring just nine goals in the 2002/03
season - and only five in the Premiership - his
cause was not helped. Despite his critics Heskey
continues to be an integral part of the squad and
took over the captaincy from Michael Owen when
England beat Serbia and Montenegro national
football team|Serbia and Montenegro 2-1 in his
hometown of Leicester in June 2003. 

In the 2003/04 season Heskey faced increasing
competition from Milan Baros as Michael Owen's
strike partner. Despite this he scored 7 league
goals and secured a place in the England squad for
the 2004 European Football Championship|Euro 2004
tournament in Portugal.

At the end of the FA Premier League
2003-04|2003/04 season, Heskey signed for
Birmingham City F.C. for Pound
Sterling|£6.25 million, as a replacement for
the retiring Christophe Dugarry, thus becoming
Birmingham's most expensive player.

Despite Birmingham's mediocre 2004/5 season,
Heskey is considered to have been probably the
most prominent and consistent player for the
Blues, winning four club awards at the end of the
season - Player's Player of the Season, Fan's
Player of the Season, Top Goalscorer (11) and Man
of the Match|Most Man of the Match Awards.