Teddy Sheringham

Millwall

Sheringham began his professional career at Millwall in 1982 at the age of 16, after impressing a scout when playing for non-league club Leytonstone & Ilford during a youth team game against Millwall. He was signed up, initially as an apprentice and scored on only his second appearance for the club in a match away at Bournemouth in January 1984. After being loaned out by the club twice in 1985 to Aldershot and later a Swedish side, Djurgården, he quickly became a first choice selection at Millwall and during the late 1980s formed a striking partnership with Tony Cascarino. He was the club's top goalscorer in four seasons (1986–87, 1987–88, 1988–89 and 1990–91) and played in every game of the season twice, in 1986–87 and 1990–91.

The 1987–88 season saw the club promoted to the First Division, then the highest tier of English league football, for the first time. Sheringham scored the first goal in Millwall's first home game in Division One. Millwall briefly topped the table at the start of October 1988 and the goals of Sheringham (15) and Cascarino (15) kept Millwall in the top four for most of the season before fading after Easter to finish in 10th position. Sheringham said in his autobiography: "It was a crazy exhilarating time. There we were, little Millwall, in our first season in the First Division and topping the table until about March. Everybody said it couldn't last and of course it couldn't and it didn't, but we gave them all a good run for their…

Something of a late developer on the international scene, Sheringham did not win his first England cap until the age of 27 in 1993. Under the reign of manager Terry Venables (1994–96) Sheringham came to be the preferred strike partner for Alan Shearer. During this time, England had a wealth of strikers with the likes of Andy Cole, Ian Wright, a young Robbie Fowler and Les Ferdinand all battling to partner Shearer in the England team. The two formed a famous partnership at international level, as they complemented each other's strengths: Shearer the out-and-out goalscorer, big, strong and powerful, Sheringham just 'dropping off' his strike partner, finding spaces, creating play and providing key passes, forming the link between Shearer and the England midfield. The pairing came to be known as 'The SAS' ('Shearer and Sheringham') and their most successful time together came in Euro 96, held in England. Their most famous contribution was in the 4–1 victory over the Netherlands, a game in the opening group stages in which they both scored twice against one of the strongest teams in the tournament. Though England were eventually knocked out in the semi-finals, many believed that that squad of players such as Sheringham and his contemporaries including Paul Gascoigne, Steve McManaman, Tony Adams and Paul Ince, had done the nation proud. At this time, the England squad were also criticised heavily in the media for their part in several off the field incidents during the lead up to…

A versatile forward, Sheringham was capable of playing as a striker and also as a supporting forward, courtesy of his ability both to score and create goals. Due to his vision, his ability to read the game, and his short passing ability, Sheringham was capable of playing off another striker, in a deeper, creative role, where he served as an assist provider, in particular in later years, as he lost pace and stamina. He also possessed good technical ability and upper body strength, which allowed him to retain possession in the box and hold up the ball when playing with his back to goal, and subsequently lay it off to his teammates. As a centre-forward in his prime, he was also very effective and extremely prolific, due to his accurate finishing, opportunism in the area, intelligence, and his ability in the air, which enabled him to be regarded as one of the top Premier League forwards of his generation.

Upon his retirement from professional football in 2008, Sheringham has been a noticeable figure on the world poker scene, playing in various competitions worldwide. In 2010, he made the final table in the €5,000 No Limit Hold'em Main Event in the EPT Vilamoura, finishing 5th out of a field of 384 players, winning €93,121.