James Tavernier

James Tavernier

Tavernier playing for Carlisle United in 2011
Personal information
Full name	James Henry Tavernier[1]
Date of birth	31 October 1991
Place of birth	Bradford, England
Height	1.75 m (5 ft 9 in)[2]
Playing position	Right Back
Club information
Current team	Rangers
Number	2
Youth career
-2001	Farsley Celtic
2001–2008	Leeds United
2008–2009	Newcastle United
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps^†	(Gls)^†
2009–2014	Newcastle United	2	(0)
2011	→ Gateshead (loan)	13	(0)
2011	→ Carlisle United (loan)	16	(0)
2011–2012	→ Sheffield Wednesday (loan)	6	(0)
2012	→ Milton Keynes Dons (loan)	7	(0)
2013	→ Shrewsbury Town (loan)	1	(0)
2013–2014	→ Rotherham United (loan)	27	(5)
2014–2015	Wigan Athletic	11	(0)
2015	→ Bristol City (loan)	12	(3)
2015–	Rangers	34	(10)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 19 March 2016. † Appearances (goals)

James Henry Tavernier (born 31 October 1991) is an English professional footballer who plays as a right-back for Scottish Championship club Rangers.

He began his professional career at Newcastle United, spending most of his tenure on loans at six lower teams, including Rotherham United where he won the League One play-offs. In 2014, he signed for Wigan Athletic, where he admitted that he struggled.^[3] He spent the second half of his only Wigan season on loan at Bristol City, playing more consistently as they won League One.

Tavernier signed for Rangers in 2015, winning a double in his first season. He scored the goal that won Rangers the Scottish Championship, and was man of the match as they won the Scottish Challenge Cup, scoring a long-range volley in the final.

Career

Leeds United

Born in Bradford, West Yorkshire, Tavernier joined the Leeds United youth system at the age of nine after being picked up from local club Farsley Celtic, where he played six seasons having played a season in goal before moving to a central midfield role.^[4]

Newcastle United

Tavernier moved to Newcastle United in 2008. He made his first team debut in a 2–0 defeat against Peterborough United in the League Cup third round on 22 September 2009, playing the full 90 minutes.^[5]

On 7 January 2011, Tavernier joined Gateshead of the Conference National, along with Newcastle teammate Jóan Símun Edmundsson, on a 28-day loan.^[6] He made his debut the next day, in a 1–1 home draw against Kidderminster Harriers.^[7] Afterwards, his loan deal at the club was extended until 9 April.^[8] Gateshead manager Ian Bogie commented by saying Tavernier had a big future in the game.^[9] He was recalled by Newcastle on 24 March because of a suspension picked up by defensive cover player James Perch in a reserve team game.^[10] Tavernier appeared on the bench for Newcastle's 4–1 win over Wolverhampton Wanderers on 2 April.^[11]

2011–12 season

On 11 August 2011, Tavernier joined Football League One team Carlisle United on an initial one-month loan^[12] that was extended to mid-November. Just like his Gateshead counterpart, Carlisle manager Greg Abbott was impressed by Tavernier.^[13] He came back to Newcastle after a successful loan spell during which he made 17 appearances.^[14]

Tavernier joined fellow third-tier team Sheffield Wednesday on 21 November, on loan until 9 January 2012.^[15]

On 31 January 2012, Tavernier joined a third League One team, Milton Keynes Dons, on loan until the end of the season.^[16] His loan spell was cut short after he was recalled by Newcastle due to injuries to first-team defenders.

2012–13 season

Tavernier made his European debut on 23 August 2012, playing the entirety of Newcastle's 1–1 draw at Atromitos in UEFA Europa League qualification. He totalled seven appearances for the team across four competitions that season, making his Premier League debut on 29 September by coming on for Steven Taylor in the 56th minute of a 2–2 draw away to Reading.^[17]

2013–14 season

Tavernier joined Shrewsbury Town on 26 July 2013 on an initial month-long loan,^[18] but returned to his parent club early having aggravated a pre-existing metatarsal injury.^[19]

Tavernier joined Rotherham United on 28 November 2013 on a short-term emergency loan deal.^[20] Two days later on his debut at the New York Stadium, he scored his first career goal to conclude a 4–1 win over Gillingham.^[21] He totalled five goals in 27 games – all starts – including both on 29 March 2014 in a 2–1 win over Bristol City.^[22] Tavernier won promotion to The Championship with Rotherham, beating Leyton Orient on penalties in the play-off final at Wembley Stadium on 25 May.

Wigan Athletic

Tavernier signed for Wigan Athletic for an undisclosed fee on 28 June 2014.^[23] He made his Championship debut on 9 August, replacing Don Cowie for the final 18 minutes of a 2–2 draw with Reading at the DW Stadium in the first game of the season.

Tavernier signed for Bristol City on loan on 15 January 2015 for the remainder of the season.^[24] He scored three times in 12 games for the champion Robins, including two on 14 April in a 6–0 win at his hometown team Bradford City.^[25]

Rangers

On 20 July 2015, Tavernier and Wigan teammate Martyn Waghorn both signed three-year contracts with Scottish Championship club Rangers for £200,000 each.^[26] He scored on his debut five days later from a free kick in a 6–2 win at Hibernian in the first round of the Scottish Challenge Cup,^[27] and added another eight days later in a 3–0 win over Peterhead in the same round of the Scottish League Cup at Ibrox.^[28]

He scored his first league goal for the Gers in a 5–1 win over Alloa Athletic on 16 August. Tavernier scored again for Rangers from an edge of the box free kick against Hibernian a week later, putting Rangers on top of the Championship; he was awarded Ladbrokes Championship Player of the Month for August due to his consistently strong performances over the month, and his manager Mark Warburton also received the Manager of the Month award.^[29]

In October, after having scored nine goals by that stage in the season, Tavernier admitted that he and Waghorn were short of confidence before moving to Rangers, due to the inconsistency and squad rotation at Wigan.^[3] On 5 April 2016, he scored the only goal of the home win over Dumbarton that gave the team the title and promotion back to the top flight for the first time since liquidation four years earlier.^[30] Five days later in the Challenge Cup Final at Hampden Park, he netted a long-range volley in the first half of a 4–0 victory against Peterhead, and was named man of the match.^[31] On 17 April, in a Scottish Cup semi-final against Old Firm rivals Celtic, he missed in the penalty shootout after a 2–2 draw, but Rangers nonetheless won 5–4.^[32]

Tavernier became a fan favourite at Rangers for his regular attacks, although his defensive role was sometimes an issue.^[31]

Career statistics

As of 19 March 2016^[33]

Club	Season	League			FA Cup		League Cup		Other[lower-alpha 1]		Total
		Division	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals
Newcastle United	2009–10	Championship	0	0	0	0	1	0	0	0	1	0
	2010–11	Premier League	0	0	0	0	1	0	0	0	1	0
	2011–12	Premier League	0	0	1	0	0	0	0	0	1	0
	2012–13	Premier League	2	0	1	0	1	0	4	0	8	0
	2013–14	Premier League	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
	Total		2	0	2	0	3	0	4	0	11	0
Gateshead (loan)	2010–11	Conference Premier	13	0	0	0	0	0	5	0	18	0
Carlisle United (loan)	2011–12	League One	16	0	0	0	0	0	1	0	17	0
Sheffield Wednesday (loan)	2011–12	League One	6	0	2	0	0	0	0	0	8	0
Milton Keynes Dons (loan)	2011–12	League One	7	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	7	0
Shrewsbury Town (loan)	2013–14	League One	1	0	0	0	1	0	0	0	2	0
Rotherham United (loan)	2013–14	League One	27	5	0	0	0	0	1	0	28	5
Wigan Athletic	2014–15	Championship	11	0	1	0	1	0	0	0	13	0
Bristol City	2014–15	League One	12	3	0	0	0	0	1	0	13	3
Rangers	2015–16	Scottish Championship	29	7	4	0	3	3	4	1	40	11
Career Total			124	15	9	0	8	3	16	1	157	19

Note

1. Appearances and goals in the UEFA Europa League, FA Trophy, Football League Trophy, play-offs and Scottish Challenge Cup.

Honours

Club

Rotherham United

• League One play-off: 2014

Bristol City

• League One: 2014–15

Rangers

• Scottish Championship: 2015–16
• Scottish Challenge Cup: 2015–16

Individual

• Scottish Championship Player of the Month: August 2015

References

1. "Search 1984 to 2006 – Birth, Marriage and Death indexes". Findmypast.com. Retrieved 22 September 2009.
2. "Player Profile". BBC. Retrieved 4 April 2012.
3. McInnes, Andrew (22 October 2015). "We were damaged goods when we signed for Rangers: James Tavernier on how he and Martyn Waghorn have rediscovered their love for the game at Ibrox". Daily Record. Retrieved 11 April 2016.
4. "When I first started at playing at Farsley Celtic Boys Club I actually spent a season in goal then moved in to central midfield. When Leeds came in for me, that's where I was playing."
5. "Peterborough 2–0 Newcastle". BBC Sport. 22 September 2009. Retrieved 27 May 2010.
6. "Gateshead swoop for Magpie pair". Gateshead F.C. 7 January 2011. Retrieved 7 January 2011.
7. "Gateshead 2–2 Kidderminster Harriers". Gateshead F.C. 9 January 2011. Retrieved 10 January 2011.
8. "Tavernier loan to Gateshead is extended". Evening Chronicle. 8 February 2011. Retrieved 8 February 2011.
9. "Gateshead boss believes in Tavernier". Wordpress. 7 January 2011. Retrieved 7 January 2011.
10. "Newcastle recall young star James Tavernier". Evening Chronicle. 24 March 2011. Retrieved 24 March 2011.
11. "Newcastle 4–1 Wolves". BBC Sport. 2 April 2011. Retrieved 2 April 2011.
12. "Tavernier Loaned To Cumbrians". Newcastle United F.C. 11 August 2011. Retrieved 11 August 2011.
13. "James Tavernier impresses Carlisle boss Greg Abbott". BBC. 22 August 2011. Retrieved 10 December 2011.
14. "Loan Watch: Tav signs off, Soderberg signs on". Newcastle United F.C. 6 November 2011. Retrieved 8 November 2011.
15. "Tavernier Joins Sheffield Wednesday on Loan". Newcastle United F.C. 21 November 2011. Retrieved 21 November 2011.
16. "Tavernier Joins Dons On Loan". Newcastle United. 31 January 2012.
17. Magowan, Alistair (29 September 2012). "Reading 2-2 Newcastle". BBC Sport. Retrieved 10 April 2016.
18. "Town land defender on loan". Shrewsweb. 26 July 2013.
19. "GT on departing loan duo". Shrewsweb. 20 August 2013.
20. "Millers land Magpies defender". Rotherham United FC. 28 November 2013.
21. "Rotherham United 4-1 Gillingham". BBC Sport. 30 November 2013. Retrieved 10 April 2016.
22. "Tavernier fires Millers to victory". Rotherham Advertiser. 29 March 2014. Retrieved 10 April 2016.
23. King, Dan (28 June 2014). "Tavernier Signs For Wigan". Newcastle United FC.
24. "George Saville and James Tavernier join Bristol City on loan". BBC Sport. 15 January 2015. Retrieved 10 April 2016.
25. Mitchell, Brendon (14 April 2015). "Bradford City 0-6 Bristol City". BBC Sport. Retrieved 10 April 2016.
26. "Rangers sign James Tavernier and Martyn Waghorn from Wigan". BBC Sport. 20 July 2015. Retrieved 10 April 2016.
27. "Petrofac Training Cup: Rangers hammer Hibernian". Sky Sports. 25 July 2015. Retrieved 11 April 2016.
28. "Rangers 3-0 Peterhead". BBC Sport. 2 August 2015. Retrieved 11 April 2016.
29. Wilson, Richard (15 September 2015). "Rangers: Monthly prizes for Mark Warburton & James Tavernier". BBC Sport. Retrieved 11 April 2016.
30. McDermott, Scott (5 April 2016). "Rangers 1-0 Dumbarton: James Tavernier scores only goal of the game to seal Championship title". Daily Mirror. Retrieved 11 April 2016.
31. Dawes, Olly (11 April 2016). "Rangers fans react on Twitter to James Tavernier's goal and performance v Peterhead". HITC. Retrieved 11 April 2016.
32. Miller, Nick (17 April 2016). "Rangers 2-2 Celtic". The Guardian. Retrieved 18 April 2016.
33. "James Tavernier Career Stats". Soccerbase. Retrieved 4 October 2010.

External links

• James Tavernier career statistics at Soccerbase