Steven Gerrard, (born May 30, 1980, Whiston, England), English professional football (soccer) player and manager who was considered one of the most-complete footballers in the world in the early 2000s.
At the age of nine, Gerrard was seen by Liverpool FC, a local upper-division football team. At the age of 17, he committed to a professional contract with Liverpool after participating in their youth team. In 1998, he made his first-team debut, and the following year, he started to regularly contribute. By the 2000–01 season, when Liverpool won the League, Football Association (FA), and Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) cups and Gerrard was named England’s Young Player of the Year, Gerrard had established himself as a great midfielder.
At just 23 years old, Gerrard was selected Liverpool’s captain in 2003. He helped Liverpool win its first Champions League championship in 21 years in the 2004–05 season, scoring a crucial goal in the club’s thrilling three–goal comeback victory over AC Milan. He was involved in a public contract dispute with Liverpool during the off-season that followed, and he almost left for Chelsea FC before deciding to stay with his original club. Later, Gerrard assisted Liverpool in winning the 2005–06 FA Cup and UEFA Super Cup, and at the conclusion of the campaign, he was voted the Professional Footballers’ Association Player of the Year.
For the second time in three years, Liverpool reached the Champions League final in 2007, when they fell to AC Milan 2-1. In the 2008–09 Premier League season, Gerrard set a career high with 24 goals, earning him Footballer of the Year honors from the Football Writers’ Association.
The following four seasons, Gerrard and Liverpool finished outside the top five Premier League spots. The team’s performance in the nonleague competitions during the 2011–12 season, when Liverpool won the League Cup and finished second in the FA Cup, was one encouraging development during that period.
The team made a breakthrough in 2013–14, dominating the Premier League for six of the final seven weeks of the campaign until giving up the title in the final week to finish second. Gerrard spent one more season at Liverpool before departing the club at the end of the 2014–15 campaign with 186 goals in his career, seventh most in club history. Later, he joined the Major League Soccer (MLS) team Los Angeles Galaxy. Before quitting club football in 2016, Gerrard spent two seasons with the Galaxy.
Gerrard made his senior national team debut in 2000 after playing for the English under-21 team. He participated in the Euro 2000 tournament once, but an injury prevented him from competing in the 2002 World Cup. When England advanced to the quarterfinals of the Euro 2004 and the World Cup 2006, Gerrard was a key player. During England’s World Cup qualifying, when the team was later eliminated in the round of 16, Gerrard was named captain of the squad.
However, England was eliminated from the 2014 World Cup after just two games (both losses), which was the earliest the nation had ever been eliminated from the tournament’s finals. Shortly after the World Cup, Gerrard announced his retirement from playing for England internationally.
After retiring from playing, Gerrard stayed on the sidelines, first serving as Liverpool’s development coach in 2017 and then taking over as manager of Rangers, one of Scotland’s most illustrious clubs, in 2018. He was appointed the manager of the English team Aston Villa in 2021. In 2006, he was appointed as a Member of the Order of the British Empire (MBE).
