Theo Walcott

Early career

As a child Walcott started playing football for his local village team and later for nearby Newbury. He scored more than 100 goals in his one and only season for Newbury, before leaving there for Swindon Town. He spent only six months there before leaving for Southampton after he rejected a chance to join Chelsea. Nike agreed to a sponsorship deal with Walcott when he was fourteen years old.

Southampton

In the 2004–05 season, Walcott starred in the Southampton youth team that reached the final of the FA Youth Cup against Ipswich Town. In addition he became the youngest person to play in the Southampton reserve team, aged 15 years and 175 days, when he came off the bench against Watford in September 2004. However, he did not play in the Premier League, and Southampton were relegated to the Championship at the end of the 2004–05 season. Before the start of the 2005–06 season, Walcott linked up with the first-team's tour of Scotland, just two weeks after leaving school. He became the youngest-ever player with the Southampton first team, at 16 years and 143 days, after coming on as a substitute in Southampton's 0–0 draw at home to Wolverhampton Wanderers in the Championship. Walcott made his full first-team debut away to Leeds United on 18 October 2005, and became Southampton's youngest senior goalscorer after 25 minutes of the 2–1 defeat. He scored again away at Millwall four days later, and yet again in his full home debut against Stoke City the…

2006 World Cup

On 8 May 2006, 17-year old Walcott was named in Sven-Göran Eriksson's squad for the 2006 FIFA World Cup. On 25 May 2006, Walcott came on as a second-half substitute for the England B team against Belarus. On 30 May 2006, he became England's youngest-ever senior player by appearing in a 3–1 friendly win over Hungary at Old Trafford aged 17 years and 75 days. Despite being one of only two fully fit strikers in the England squad (the other being Peter Crouch), he did not play during the tournament. Eriksson defended his decision, claiming that the experience would serve Walcott well for future tournaments. After the World Cup, Eriksson stepped down as England manager. New appointment Steve McClaren put Walcott into the England Under-21s, claiming he was "toughening up" on his squad selections.

2007 and 2009 Under-21 European Championships

On 15 August 2006, Walcott became the youngest player ever to score for the England under-21 team when he scored the opener after three minutes in England's 2–2 draw with Moldova at Ipswich Town's ground Portman Road. The match against Moldova was his first cap for the England under-21s. Walcott scored two goals against Germany to seal qualification for England to the Under-21 European Championship, in the playoff second leg in October 2006, with his second drawing comparisons with Thierry Henry. Over the summer of 2009, Walcott participated in England under-21 team's 2009 UEFA European Under-21 Championship…

Walcott was well known for his rapid pace, with then Barcelona manager Pep Guardiola declaring that "you would need a pistol to stop him." He has been likened by Arsenal manager Arsène Wenger to the club's all-time leading scorer, Thierry Henry. FIFA World Player of the Year winner Lionel Messi has described Walcott as "one of the most dangerous players I have ever played against." In addition to his speed, Walcott also possessed good balance, movement and technique.

Walcott was born to a black British Jamaican father and a white English mother. He was born in Stanmore, London, but grew up in Compton, Berkshire. He attended Compton Church of England Primary School and The Downs School. He grew up as a Liverpool fan due to his father's support of Liverpool. When Chelsea asked him to be a ball boy, he used the opportunity to meet his Liverpool idols:"I was playing in a tournament for Swindon when Southampton and Chelsea showed an interest. Chelsea invited me to be a ball-boy for a match against Liverpool and it was fantastic to meet my heroes Michael Owen and Robbie Fowler. I was a Liverpool fan simply because my dad followed them. Unfortunately I wasn't born when the team had their golden era, but I enjoyed watching the likes of Michael Owen, Robbie Fowler and Steve McManaman when I was growing up. When Liverpool won the Champions League last year, I went mad. I was shouting so loud I think I woke up the entire village where I live!"