Jon Flanagan

Liverpool

Early career

While still in the U18 team, Flanagan made his reserve-team debut at Hull City in March 2010. Promoted to the reserve team at the start of the 2010–11 season, he first featured in the Lancashire Senior Cup triumph over Oldham Athletic. He was subsequently picked out as one of the reserve team to watch by The Times sport writer Tony Barrett.

2010–11 season

Flanagan made his first team debut when he started the Premier League match against Manchester City at Anfield on 11 April 2011, being handed the number 38 shirt and playing at right-back. Liverpool went on to win the match 3–0, with the 18-year-old playing the full 90 minutes.

"The young boy is not bad. For us that is really encouraging as well because it is a reflection of the work that is being done at the academy and if we have a strong academy it can only benefit us for years to come." Flanagan continued his spell in the first team to cover for the long-term injuries of Martin Kelly and Glen Johnson, making his second start the following weekend and playing the full match in a 1–1 draw at the Emirates Stadium against Arsenal, a match in which he accidentally knocked out stand-in captain Jamie Carragher through a clash of heads. The incident did not faze the 18-year-old, however, as he gave an assured performance. In the following home match, against Birmingham City and playing alongside fellow Liverpool Academy graduate Jack Robinson, Flanagan again played the…

Flanagan is eligible to represent both England and the Republic of Ireland. In May 2011, Flanagan was called up to the England under-19 squad for the first time, although he had to withdraw due to a calf injury. In August 2011, he was named in the provisional squad for England's 2013 Under-21s qualifying matches for the first time. He made his debut in the 6–0 win over Azerbaijan. On 28 May 2013, Flanagan was named in manager Peter Taylor's 21-man squad for the 2013 FIFA U-20 World Cup. He made his debut on 16 June in a 3–0 win in a warm-up match against Uruguay. On 12 May 2014, he was named as one of seven reserves for England's 2014 FIFA World Cup squad and trained with the squad at their pre-tournament training camp in Portugal. On 4 June 2014, Flanagan made his England senior debut, replacing Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain in the second half of a friendly against Ecuador in the United States. For the 2014 FIFA World Cup, Flanagan was announced by Roy Hodgson as one of the standby players.

Flanagan earned numerous plaudits for his style of play since his breakthrough into the Liverpool first team in November 2013; most notably, the World Cup-winning former Brazil captain and full-back Cafu heralded Flanagan as his "successor", applauding his "speed, strength and determination" and stating he "has everything required to be one of the best full-backs in the world". This led to fans dubbing Flanagan "the Scouse Cafu".

Flanagan was born in Liverpool, Merseyside. He is the nephew of former footballer Bradley Orr. Flanagan was arrested after admitting to assaulting his girlfriend, Rachael Wall, in Liverpool City Centre on 22 December 2017. After pleading guilty, in January 2018 he was sentenced to 40 hours of unpaid work and a 12-month community order.