Frank Simek

Born in St. Louis, Missouri, Simek played soccer as a child in the United States but did not think of the game as a career until his family moved to London after his father was assigned to a position at the English office of Anheuser-Busch when Frank was 12. He was signed by Arsenal to a development contract, but decided to move back to St. Louis, where he played at Saint Louis University High School, as well as Metro F.C., then under the direction of Dave Fernandez and Dale Schilly. However, during this time Arsenal called him back to play on the youth team. While at Arsenal he rose to assume the captaincy of the reserve side, but had difficulty breaking into the first team; he found himself behind Lauren, Kolo Touré, Emmanuel Eboué and Justin Hoyte in the pecking order. He played a single match for Arsenal, in the League Cup against Wolverhampton Wanderers on December 2, 2003.

Sheffield Wednesday

Simek joined the Owls on a free transfer from Arsenal in the summer of 2005 and made his Sheffield Wednesday debut on the opening day of the 2005–06 season away at Stoke City. He went on to win a regular starting spot, ousting fan-favorite Lee Bullen from his preferred right-back position. Simek scored his first goal in his first season at Wednesday away at Millwall. The goal gave the Owls a 1–0 win and helped them in their battle against relegation. Simek then managed to get his first home goal against Colchester in the 2006–2007. Simek had managed to gain a regular…