Rhoys Wiggins

Rhoys Wiggins

Rhoys training with Charlton Athletic in 2014
Personal information
Full name	Rhoys Barrie Wiggins
Date of birth	4 November 1987
Place of birth	Uxbridge, England[1]
Height	5 ft 10 in (1.78 m)
Playing position	Left-back
Club information
Current team	Bournemouth
Youth career
	Crystal Palace
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps^†	(Gls)^†
2006–2009	Crystal Palace	1	(0)
2008–2009	→ Bournemouth (loan)	13	(0)
2009–2010	Norwich City	0	(0)
2010	→ Bournemouth (loan)	19	(0)
2010–2011	Bournemouth	35	(2)
2011–2015	Charlton Athletic	123	(1)
2015–2016	Sheffield Wednesday	6	(0)
2016–	Bournemouth	0	(0)
National team^‡
2004	Wales U17	1	(0)
2005–2006	Wales U19	6	(0)
2006–2008	Wales U21	10	(1)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 21 January 2016. † Appearances (goals) ‡ National team caps and goals correct as of 30 July 2009

Rhoys Barrie Wiggins (born 4 November 1987, London) is a Welsh footballer who plays for Bournemouth as a left-back.

Playing career

Wiggins came through the academy at Crystal Palace, playing regularly for their reserve side. However, tragedy struck in the pre-season of 2006, when he ruptured knee ligaments during a friendly against feeder academy Crystal Palace Baltimore, part of the Eagles' tour of the USA. He was sidelined for the rest of that season, and several recurrences of that injury kept him out of the following season as well. However Neil Warnock decided to offer him a new contract, seen by many as his final chance at Palace.

Impressive performances in Wales U21's 2009 European Under-21 Championship qualification play-off defeat to England led to Wiggins being given his first start for the Eagles' first team shortly afterwards.

However, this one appearance for Palace was not added to, and he ended the season on loan at Bournemouth. With his contract at Palace expired, Wiggins was offered to choice between staying at Palace or moving on, and he opted to sign for Norwich City. After failing to make an appearance for Norwich, on the 22nd Jan 2010 he resigned for Bournemouth on a months loan and on the 24 Feb 2010 it was extended for a second month.^[2]

Wiggins signed a permanent contract with Bournemouth at the start of the 2010/11 season. He then registered the first goal of his career in a 3–0 home win against Dagenham and Redbridge. He quickly followed up this goal with a long range free kick in a 2–1 defeat away to Oldham a week later. This impressive form saw him receive a first Wales national team call-up from manager Brian Flynn. Wiggins wasn't included in the matchday squad.

On 30 June 2011 Wiggins signed a three-year contract at Charlton Athletic.^[3] On 17 September 2011, he scored his first goal for the club in the away win against Rochdale. He cemented the left-back berth ahead of Cedric Evina. In April 2012, Wiggins was selected in the League One PFA Team of the Year.

On 30 January 2014, Wiggins signed a new four and a half year deal, securing his future to Charlton until 2018.^[4]

On 5 August 2015, he completed a transfer to Sheffield Wednesday for an undisclosed fee.^[5] Wiggins made his Owls debut in Wednesday's 4-1 League Cup win over Mansfield Town at Hillsborough on 11 August 2015.

On 30 January 2016, Bournemouth re-signed Wiggins, for a fourth time, who had played just nine times for Sheffield Wednesday.^[6]

International Career

Whilst at Crystal Palace Wiggins regularly turned out for the Wales U-21 team. His appearances for the Welsh U-21s also led to a call-up to the Welsh national squad for a friendly against Trinidad and Tobago in May 2006,^[7] however he remained on the bench.^[8] In October 2014, eight years on from his last call up, he was called into the Wales senior squad for the Euro 2016 qualifying matches versus Bosnia-Herzegovina and Cyprus.^[9]

Career statistics

As of match played 28 December 2015^[10]

Club	Season	League			FA Cup		League Cup		Other		Total
		Division	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals
Crystal Palace	2008–09	Championship	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	0
Bournemouth (loan)	2008–09	League Two	13	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	13	0
Norwich City	2009–10	League One	0	0	1	0	0	0	2	0	3	0
Bournemouth (loan)	2009–10	League Two	19	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	19	0
Bournemouth	2010–11	League One	35	2	2	0	1	0	2	0	40	2
Charlton Athletic	2011–12	League One	45	1	2	0	0	0	0	0	47	1
	2012–13	Championship	20	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	20	0
	2013–14	Championship	38	0	2	0	0	0	0	0	40	0
	2014–15	Championship	21	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	21	0
Sheffield Wednesday	2015–16	Championship	6	0	0	0	3	0	0	0	9	0
Bournemouth	2015–16	Premier League	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Career total			198	3	7	0	4	0	4	0	213	3

References

1. Rollin, Glenda; Rollin, Jack, eds. (2012). Sky Sports Football Yearbook 2012–2013 (43rd ed.). London: Headline. p. 451. ISBN 978-0-7553-6356-8.
2. "Double Swoop for City". Norwich City F.C. 24 July 2009. Archived from the original on 2 March 2012. Retrieved 18 October 2013.
3. "Double deal sealed". Charlton Athletic. 30 June 2011. Archived from the original on 2 March 2012. Retrieved 18 October 2013.
4. "Rhoys Wiggins signs new contract". Charlton Athletic. 2014-01-30.
5. "Rhoys Wiggins checks in at Hillsborough". Sheffield Wednesday. 2015-08-05.
6. "Rhoys Wiggins joins Bournemouth from Sheffield Wednesday". BBC Sport. 1 February 2016. Retrieved 1 February 2016.
7. "Wales U21 5-1 Estonia U21". BBC. 24 May 2006. Retrieved 30 October 2015.
8. "Wales 2-1 Trinidad & Tobago". BBC. 27 May 2006. Retrieved 30 October 2015.
9. "Euro 2016: Wales' Joe Allen & Aaron Ramsey miss qualifiers". BBC. 1 October 2014. Retrieved 30 October 2015.
10. "Rhoys Wiggins". Soccerbase. Retrieved 3 February 2016.

External links

• Rhoys Wiggins player profile at cpfc.co.uk
• Rhoys Wiggins career statistics at Soccerbase