Tag: Darren Ambrose

Play-offs seeking Seagulls just missed out in spite of Westlake’s guile

LEFT-SIDED midfielder Ian Westlake almost pushed a buoyant Albion into the third-tier play-offs when on loan from Leeds United.

He scored twice in 11 games for Dean Wilkins’ Seagulls in the spring of 2008 but Albion missed out, finishing the season in seventh place, seven points adrift of the play-off places. Westlake’s parent club came fifth (having been deducted 15 points for failing to comply with insolvency rules) and lost 1-0 to Doncaster Rovers in the play-off final.

His Albion goals came in away wins at Luton Town (2-1) and Bristol Rovers (2-0) and Wilkins was full of praise for his contribution, telling the Argus: “He has got good energy and quality on the ball and we have got a good character as well.”

Westlake celebrates with Albion fans at Kenilworth Road

After extending his loan beyond the initial month, the manager added: “He has brought balance to the side by being left-footed but he has also brought his enthusiasm and personality as well.”

The player himself said: “I am contracted to Leeds but now I am a Brighton player and everything is about Brighton for me and that is what I am concentrating on.

“The team have done really well in the month I’ve been here, so it’s nice to be a part of the next one.

“It has been really enjoyable. I want to play, so I am a lot happier at the moment and the boys have made me feel really welcome.”

Swindon Town’s Peter Brezovan blocks this Ian Westlake shot

In a matchday programme interview, Westlake declared: “I really like it down here and I grew up on the coast (he was born in Clacton-on-Sea), so it is nice to get back by the sea.

“If I am here winning games and pushing for the play-offs I would love to stay.”

Westlake was among familiar faces at the Withdean because former Ipswich Town teammate Nicky Forster was among the goals up front and close friend Matt Richards was in defence.

“It’s nice to be in a team with some guys I know and some new guys who are friendly and wanting to win games,” he said.

Westlake’s family were prominent in water sports and, as well as being a talented swimmer, he represented England Schools at water polo.

However, football won out and he joined the Ipswich school of excellence in the early 1990s, signing associated schoolboy forms with Town in September 1998. He progressed to join their academy in 2000 and signed a two-year scholarship.

Tractor Boy Westlake

He signed his first professional contract in the summer of 2002, shortly after George Burley’s side dropped from the Premier League to the Championship, and he has since spoken about how that relegation helped launch his career.

“I might never have played professional football had it not been for relegation,” Westlake reflected in a March 2109 interview with the Colchester Daily Gazette. “Administration meant the club were forced to sell players and that opened the door for people like myself, Darren Bent and Darren Ambrose.

“It gave us our chance and, as odd as it sounds, I personally feel I owe my career to relegation.”

Westlake made his debut in a 1-0 home defeat against Gillingham in October 2002 but spent most of the rest of that season in the reserves. In the first half of the 2003-04 season, he was more often than not a sub but he cemented a starting place from January through to the end of that campaign and was voted Player of the Year.

He was twice a Championship play-off semi-finals loser playing for Joe Royle’s Ipswich against West Ham, in 2004 and 2005, when Bobby Zamora was among the goals for the Hammers.

“Overall, though, I’ve got great memories and was lucky to be part of Royle’s side,” Westlake told the Gazette’s Matt Plummer. “We were so attacking and always tried to outscore sides.

“It was a great way to play football and it’s not something I experienced anywhere else in my career.

“At other clubs we were endlessly drilled on defending and being solid but it was more fun at Ipswich. As players, our freedom levels were through the roof and it makes me smile just thinking about it.

“Don’t get me wrong – we trained hard and were super-fit. But it was all about attacking and in Darren Bent and Shefki Kuqi we had two of the top scorers in the Championship.

“Jim Magilton was so creative in midfield and then players like myself and Tommy Miller had legs and could get from box to box. It was a great team to be part of.”

Westlake racked up 100 appearances (+ 25 as a sub) for the Tractor Boys before joining Leeds in August 2006 for a fee of £400,000 + former Albion left-back Dan Harding in part exchange.

Ian Westake played under Gus Poyet at Leeds United

Westlake made 21 starts + eight appearances off the bench playing alongside the likes of Shaun Derry, Kevin Nicholls and Jonathan Douglas but a groin injury sidelined him for a while and Leeds, by then with Dennis Wise in charge, assisted by Gus Poyet, were relegated to the third tier.

Even so, Westlake enjoyed being coached by Poyet, as he told Andy Naylor shortly after the Uruguayan was appointed Albion manager in November 2009. “Everyone liked him at Leeds,” he said. “He is one of those people that you want to play for.

“Gus did nearly all of the coaching at Leeds so I would imagine he will be quite a hands-on manager. It was always enjoyable. They were good sessions, hard work but fun.”

Although Westlake was a regular in the first half of the 2007-08 season, he found himself on the outside looking in when Gary McAllister replaced Wise in the dugout, and the move to the Albion got him back playing first team football.

As it turned out, any hopes that the move might have been made permanent were quashed by the elbowing of Wilkins as manager in favour of the returning Micky Adams, who had other – ultimately unsuccessful – options to try.

Westlake was loaned out again in the 2008-09 season, linking up with Cheltenham Town. When the Robins entertained the Seagulls in January 2009, as sure as eggs is eggs, Westlake opened the scoring for the home side. However, Albion turned round a 2-0 deficit to salvage a point with a Forster goal and an injury-time equaliser by Adam Hinshelwood.

Westlake at Cheltenham in a midfield tussle with Albion’s Tommy Fraser

Westlake made the move to Cheltenham permanent that month but the same financial problems that led to Lloyd Owusu being freed to join Russell Slade’s Albion rescue mission that spring saw Westlake join Oldham Athletic on loan until the end of the season.

He joined Wycombe Wanderers on a two-year contract in July 2009 but injuries curtailed his appearances to just eight starts and two games off the bench, and he eventually needed surgery on an ankle.

In 2011 he moved to Canada to play for Montreal Impact, scoring twice in 13 games for the NASL side. Future Leeds boss Jesse Marsch said on signing him: “Ian’s soccer qualities and competitive nature make him a very good fit for our team moving forward. I know Ian will come into work every day and give everything he has. He is a real competitor and an excellent player on the field.” 

Ian Westlake in action for Montreal Impact

They re-signed him as they prepared to switch to Major League Soccer but he was released in February 2012 after a new ‘six foreigners only’ ruling came into force.

Disillusioned with football, Westlake returned to Suffolk and started his own lettings and property development business although 18 months later he pulled his boots back on to play non-league for Needham Market, of the Ryman League North.

In an interview with Mike Bacon of the East Anglian Daily Times in June 2013, he said: “I moved to various clubs after Leeds, but it seemed every time I went somewhere within a few months a new manager came in.

“Invariably, you are regarded as ‘a previous boss’ man’, and the new manager moves you on.

“It doesn’t matter what you do, new managers want their own men in. Quite honestly there is only so much of that you can take.

“When the new MLS ruling about six foreigners came into force and the manager at Montreal released me, that was it for me to be honest.”

But he got back in the groove with Needham Market and made 77 appearances across two seasons, even though he was dogged by knee and hamstring problems at times.

A matchday pundit at Portman Road

He hung up his boots at the end of the 2014-15 season, when the side won the Ryman Division One North title, and he subsequently returned to Portman Road as a matchday pundit for the club’s TV coverage of games alongside lead commentator Glenn Wheeler.

In that 2019 Gazette interview, Westlake said: “I don’t really miss football, to be honest. I’ve managed to fill the void with a million other things, including playing table tennis.

“I have my own lettings company and project manage new builds across Ipswich. I always wanted to get out and do other things.

“I had coaching opportunities but never saw myself in that world. It was weird sitting exams again and felt like going back to school but it was satisfying learning something new.

“I’m putting everything into my work and thankfully it’s going very well, but I’ll always be thankful for my years as a professional footballer. They were great memories.”

Zamora’s wait for England while dad’s Trinidad came knocking

TEN DAYS after Barry Fry’s prediction about Bobby Zamora playing for England, he made his debut for the country’s under 21 side.

It was 16 April 2002 and the Brighton striker went on as a sub for Leeds’ Alan Smith in a 1-0 friendly defeat v Portugal at Stoke’s Britannia Stadium. Paul Konchesky, a fellow graduate of the East London boys’ team Senrab, was left-back that day.

While plenty of observers expected Zamora eventually to step up to the full England side, he had to wait until he was 30 to make his first (and only) start at that level, and not before being wooed to switch allegiance and play for Trinidad and Tobago.

That happened in 2005, when the Caribbean country’s Dutch coach, Leo Beenhakker, wanted him to play in a World Cup qualifier against Guatemala. Zamora told the News of the World: “Trinidad is my dad’s country and to play in the finals would be a dream but West Ham are more important.

“I am only thinking about the club at the moment and do not want to be distracted from that. The club mean everything to me and if I can help us have a good season that is all that matters.”

After an injury-hit 2007-08 season, though, West Ham sold him to Fulham in the summer of 2008. The following year it was reported Zamora and his old Senrab teammate Jloyd Samuel had both obtained Trinidad & Tobago passports in time to play in a 2010 World Cup qualifier.

Injury prevented Zamora from getting involved but Samuel did play twice for the Soca Warriors even though he had won seven England under 21 caps. (Samuel tragically died in a road accident aged 37 in 2018).

Zamora top-scored with 19 goals in Fulham’s memorable 2009-10 season under Roy Hodgson. The south London side finished 12th in the Premier League and made it through to the final of the Europa League (the first season of the revamped competition previously known as the UEFA Cup).

Zamora had been a fitness doubt before the game against Athletico Madrid in the People’s Park Stadium in Hamburg and he had to give way to Clint Dempsey 10 minutes into the second half.

The game went into extra time with the score 1-1 after 90 minutes and agonisingly Fulham succumbed to an extra time winner scored by Diego Forlan. Sergio Aguero, later of Man City fame, beat defender Aaron Hughes and crossed for Forlan to flick the ball home four minutes from the end.

Nevertheless, Zamora’s goalscoring form had caught the attention of England manager Fabio Capello and his deputy Franco Baldini who were keen to call him up for the 2010 World Cup.

Sadly, those hopes were dashed by an achilles injury, and Zamora conceded: “I told Fabio that I was struggling and I knew that, had I gone, I wouldn’t have done myself or England justice.”

The player told The Independent: “It’s been an up and down season because it’s been so good on the pitch and I’ve scored some important goals. To now pick up this injury has kicked me in the teeth.

“It’s come during the last couple of weeks and when there was the possibility of going to the World Cup with England. That’s football, it’s a cruel game.”

He added: “The World Cup’s a massive tournament. It’s not about myself, it’s about England.

“Capello wished me all the best, hoped that I get fit and would be available next season.”

True to his word, Zamora was one of five uncapped players included in Capello’s squad immediately after the disappointment in South Africa.

One of the first people to contact him was former West Ham teammate, Teddy Sheringham, who he said he learnt so much from. “I got a long text message from Teddy. He said I might be nervous beforehand but that I deserved this opportunity, and he said once I’d taken part in my first training session, I would realise that I deserved to be there. He was spot on; after that I did not look out of place and I embraced being part of the squad.”

The call up came in something of a crazy week for Zamora because only days earlier his wife gave birth to twin girls, Gisele and Siena.

“The twins were born last Monday, they came out (of hospital) on Friday, then I had a match on Saturday, was back home for one day and then I was away with England, so I have not seen them as much as I wanted to, but I am sure I will find some time when I get back home,” he said.

“The twins are a massive part of my life now, and with getting the call-up to play for your country is a massive honour. I am lost for words. I am extremely proud to be called up to play for my country.”

Capello sent him on as a second half substitute for Frank Lampard to play up front alongside Wayne Rooney in England’s 2-1 friendly win over Hungary at Wembley on 11 August 2010.

Having made that breakthrough, the day after he signed a new four-year contract with Fulham he agonisingly suffered another setback when he broke a leg (above) and sustained ankle ligament damage during a 2-1 win over Wolves. He was sidelined for five months.

Capello didn’t consign him to history, though, and called him up again in May 2011 (his teammate David Stockdale was in the same squad) to face Switzerland in a Euro 2012 qualifier. But neither were involved in the disappointing 2-2 Wembley draw.

His first start for England finally came six months later in a 1-0 home win over Sweden, the first time in 43 years that England had beaten the Scandinavian country. Zamora’s close friend (and another former Senrab graduate) John Terry was England captain and joining the striker in making first starts were right-back Kyle Walker and Everton’s Jack Rodwell.

Richard Williams in The Guardian clearly felt sorry for the debutant centre forward, though, writing: “Poor Bobby Zamora. Offered the opportunity to score England’s 2,000th goal on Tuesday night, a perennially unfortunate footballer was forced instead to stand and watch as Stewart Downing’s cross glanced off the side of Gareth Barry’s head and then off Daniel Majstorovic’s forehead before evading Andreas Isaksson’s dive as it looped inside the post for the most anticlimactic of own goals.”

Reporting on the narrow victory over the Swedes, Williams added: “Whichever side the ball went, Zamora made sure he was available. A double exchange of passes with Walcott in the 17th minute put Zamora in on goal, but after Isaksson blocked his first effort the follow-up was poked past the post from five yards.

“Any centre forward will ultimately be judged by the goals he scores rather than his total of assists, and Zamora spurned a wonderful chance in the 65th minute when Downing scampered down the left once more before pulling the ball back at precisely the right pace and angle for the striker to meet it with a first‑time connection. Jonas Olsson, however, flew in to deflect the shot for a corner.”

Zamora was subbed off in the 70th minute to be replaced by Darren Bent and the Guardian sports writer concluded: “England – and Zamora in particular – really should have inflicted greater punishment on such humdrum opposition.”

Bent had also replaced Zamora in his first start for England under 21s. That came in February 2003 in a 1-0 defeat to Italy in Carrara.

A month before his move to Spurs, he also started England’s 3-2 friendly win over Serbia and Montenegro at Hull’s Kingston Communications Stadium, on that occasion being replaced by Darren Ambrose. (His future Fulham and Albion teammate Steve Sidwell was in midfield that day).

Eight days later, in a UEFA under 21 championship preliminary match, he went on as a sub for Shola Ameobi as England beat Slovakia at the Stadium of Light, Sunderland.

Zamora showed England quality at an early age

After that under 21s debut against Portugal, he was selected in the squad for the UEFA under 21 championship finals in Switzerland. On 20 May 2002, David Platt sent him on as a sub for Gareth Barry in a 2-1 defeat to Italy in Basle.

Two days later, in the third group match, again a sub, he replaced Jermain Defoe as England lost 3-1 to Portugal and were eliminated from the competition.

On two other occasions Zamora was an unused sub but he didn’t add to his six caps. And, after

Capello quit the England job in February 2012, Zamora didn’t play for the full England side again.

• Ahead of Albion’s new year clash with West Ham, find out why Zamora’s move to the Boleyn Ground was so ideal in the next instalment.