Freddy Eastwood

West Ham United

Eastwood began his career as a West Ham United Academy player after turning down a scholarship offer at Southend where he had been a promising youth player. At West Ham, Eastwood played in the same youth team as Jermain Defoe, Anton Ferdinand, and Glen Johnson but was not considered good enough by manager Glenn Roeder and was released by the Hammers in May 2003. After being released, he considered quitting football altogether and worked briefly as a car salesman.

Grays Athletic

Eastwood joined Conference South side Grays Athletic in August 2003. He scored 37 league and cup goals in his first season, winning the Grays' Golden Boot and prompting attention from a number of professional clubs including Northampton Town, Swindon Town and Charlton Athletic as well as Southend United.

Southend United

Eastwood joined Southend United in October 2004, initially on loan. On his debut, he scored the opener after 7.7 seconds, an English league record for a debut, and went on to score two more to record his first of three hat-tricks for the club as Southend beat top-of-the-table Swansea City 4–2. Eastwood joined Southend on a permanent basis in November 2004 for an undisclosed fee in a three-year deal from Grays. He finished the 2004–05 season with 24 goals from 42 appearances in all competitions and scored the opening goal in his club's 2–0 win over Lincoln City in the League Two Play-off Final at the Millennium Stadium in Cardiff in May 2005…

His paternal grandmother was born in Wales, so Eastwood was eligible to play in the Welsh national team. He was selected for the squad for the international friendly against New Zealand in May 2007 and the crucial Euro 2008 qualifier against Czech Republic in June, however an existing back injury did not heal as quickly as hoped and Eastwood was forced to withdraw from the squad. He was selected for the squad to play Bulgaria and went on to score his debut international goal in the first half of their 1–0 victory on 22 August 2007. John Toshack, the Wales manager, said, "It was a really special goal [...] Now we have got a player up front who knows his business. We have been aware of his goalscoring exploits and have worked hard to make sure he became a Wales international." Despite being out of favour at Wolves during the 2007–08 season, Eastwood was selected for Wales and scored both goals in a 2–0 win over Luxembourg in March 2008. He has scored four goals in ten international appearances. His final appearance for Wales came in February 2011 in Wales' Nations Cup match with Republic of Ireland at the Aviva Stadium in Dublin.

International

Wales' score listed first, score column indicates score after each Eastwood goal.

Eastwood was born to a Romanichal family in Epsom, Surrey and was often seen exercising his horse on the A127 road in Essex on the morning of a match day when playing for Southend United. He appealed to the British Government in August 2006 to keep his home on a travellers' site in Basildon after Basildon Council refused planning permission. Eastwood and his family were told in November 2006 that the decision of Basildon Council would not be upheld by the Government and he was free to stay there for at least the next five years. Eastwood was fined by magistrates in July 2009, after he had been caught fly-tipping rubbish which included an electricity bill and bank statements containing his name. Eastwood's son, also named Freddy, formerly played in Southend United's youth academy.