Jay Simpson

As of 4 February 2017

Arsenal

Born in Enfield, London, Simpson was with Norwich City before he joined Arsenal at the age of nine, and played in an under-18s game at just 13 years of age. He featured prominently for Arsenal's reserve team whilst at Islington Arts and Media School, and was on the bench for the first team's League Cup match against West Bromwich Albion on 24 October 2006, but did not play. On 19 February 2007, he made history by becoming the first player ever to score a hat-trick at the Emirates Stadium, for Arsenal's under-18 team in an FA Youth Cup match against Cardiff City, in a 3–2 win.

After his loan spell at Millwall came to an end, Arsenal manager Arsène Wenger stated that he believed Simpson had a future at Arsenal by stating "At the moment it is too early to say if he [Jay Simpson] has a future, but I think so yes. He has done extremely well and has scored goals. I always thought Jay was a very good player and the fact he can get good experience at Millwall makes us all happy, because he is not only a good player but a very nice boy." Simpson made his Arsenal first team debut in a 6–0 win over Sheffield United in the third round of the League Cup on 23 September 2008, coming on as a substitute for Nicklas Bendtner in the 71st minute. In the fourth round, he scored his first two senior Arsenal goals against Wigan Athletic in a 3–0 win on 11 November, in what was his first senior start for the club.

Loan spells

On 31 August 2007 he was loaned from Arsenal…

Simpson was capped by England at youth level.

Simpson is of Jamaican descent. He and his wife, Isabelle, have three children.