David Batty

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For the antiques expert, see David Battie.

David Batty
Personal information
Full name David Batty[1]
Date of birth (1968-12-02) 2 December 1968 (age 55)[1]
Place of birth Leeds, England
Height 5 ft 8 in (1.73 m)[2]
Position(s)
Defensive midfielder[1]
Youth career
0000–1987 Leeds United
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
1987–1993 Leeds United 211 (4)
1993–1996 Blackburn Rovers 54 (1)
1996–1998 Newcastle United 83 (3)
1998–2004 Leeds United 90 (0)
Total 438 (8)
International career
1988–1989 England U21 7 (1)
1989–1992 England B 5 (0)
1991–1999 England 42 (0)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals

David Batty (born 2 December 1968) is an English former professional

defensive midfielder
.

Batty played for Leeds United, Blackburn Rovers and Newcastle United. Whilst with Leeds he was part of the team that won the old Football League Second Division and the Football League First Division in its final year before the formation of the Premier League. He would go on to lift that title itself when he was part of the Blackburn team that won the League in 1995, but did not get a medal. In total he made 438 league appearances during a 17 year career, scoring eight goals. He was capped 42 times by the England national team. He represented the nation at UEFA Euro 1992 and the 1998 FIFA World Cup.

Following retirement in 2004, Batty has lived his life away from the media spotlight and very rarely gives interviews about his career, it is well publicised by some of his former teammates that he cared very little for football and merely saw it as a job he did because he was good at it, as opposed to loving the sport.[3][4]

Club career

Leeds United

Born in

1991–92. As a tireless and sometimes ruthless forager of the ball there were few equals, but there was more to his game than simply breaking up opposition attacks; having won the ball, his distribution was excellent, making him the springboard for many counterattacks.[citation needed] If there was one aspect missing from his game it was the lack of goals, as evidenced by cries of "shoot" from Leeds fans when Batty received the ball anywhere within the opponents half.[citation needed
]

In October 1993 Leeds manager Howard Wilkinson needed funds to finance the rebuilding of his team, and reluctantly accepted an offer of £2.75 million for Batty from Blackburn Rovers, who were managed by Kenny Dalglish. Wilkinson used the funds to buy Carlton Palmer for £2.6 million eight months later.[8]

Blackburn Rovers

At this point Blackburn were an emerging force in the newly created

1994–95, only playing five games for them that season. He refused a winners medal at the end of the season, stating that his contribution had been minimal.[9] By the following season Batty was available to help Blackburn's Champions League campaign. However, the team failed to reach the lucrative knock-out stages; Batty's contribution to the campaign is best remembered for an incident involving himself and his teammate Graeme Le Saux, when they started fighting each other during the Champions' League game against Spartak Moscow.[10]

In 1996 Batty requested a transfer from Blackburn Rovers, and moved to Kevin Keegan's Newcastle United for £3.75 million.[11]

Newcastle United

With Batty providing midfield bite and cover for the defence, Newcastle were able to challenge the dominant team of the day,

1998 FA Cup Final, in which Batty started. The arrival of new manager Ruud Gullit in August 1998 marked the start of a team rebuild, and Batty made the move back to Leeds United in December 1998 for £4.4 million.[citation needed
]

Return to Leeds United

Batty rejoined a resurgent Leeds team under the management of

Euro 2000 Championships.[citation needed
]

Batty's experience was a key factor in Leeds qualification for the

UEFA Cup and the Champions League; however, when O'Leary was sacked by Leeds in 2002 Batty found himself out of favour with subsequent managers, and in May 2004 he was released by Leeds and retired from football.[12] He was injured in a game against former club Newcastle United on 7 January 2004. This would turn out to be the final game of his career.[13]

International career

Batty's performances for Leeds resulted in him making his England debut under

sent off in the 84th minute of the game.[15]

Personal life

Since his retirement Batty has featured in 'The Match', in which a team of former professionals faced a team of celebrities in a charity match staged at Newcastle's St James' Park ground.[16]

Since retirement, some of Batty's former teammates including

caravan in Filey but stated "The reality is a little more mundane: Batty is simply enjoying a low-key retirement with his family in Yorkshire as he always planned to."[3]

Career statistics

Club

Appearances and goals by club, season and competition[17]
Club Season League FA Cup League Cup Europe Other Total
Division Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals
Leeds United 1987–88 Second Division 23 1 1 0 0 0 — 2[a] 0 26 1
1988–89 Second Division 30 0 1 0 3 0 — 1[a] 0 35 0
1989–90 Second Division 42 0 1 0 2 0 — 4[a] 0 49 0
1990–91 First Division 37 0 6 0 6 0 — 4[a] 0 53 0
1991–92 First Division 40 2 0 0 4 0 — 1[a] 0 45 2
1992–93 Premier League 30 1 3 0 2 0 4[b] 0 1[c] 0 40 1
1993–94 Premier League 9 0 — — — — 9 0
Total 211 4 12 0 17 0 4 0 13 0 257 4
Blackburn Rovers 1993–94 Premier League 26 0 4 0 2 0 — — 32 0
1994–95 Premier League 5 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 5 0
1995–96 Premier League 23 1 1 0 4 0 5[b] 0 1[c] 0 34 1
Total 54 1 5 0 6 0 5 0 1 0 71 1
Newcastle United 1995–96 Premier League 11 1 — — — — 11 1
1996–97 Premier League 32 1 3 0 2 0 7[d] 0 1[c] 0 45 1
1997–98 Premier League 32 1 6 1 2 0 7[b] 0 — 47 2
1998–99 Premier League 8 0 — 2 0 1[e] 0 — 11 0
Total 83 3 9 1 6 0 15 0 1 0 114 4
Leeds United 1998–99 Premier League 10 0 0 0 — — — 10 0
1999–2000 Premier League 16 0 0 0 2 0 4[d] 0 — 22 0
2000–01 Premier League 16 0 2 0 0 0 8[b] 0 — 26 0
2001–02 Premier League 36 0 1 0 1 0 6[d] 0 — 44 0
2002–03 Premier League 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 — 0 0
2003–04 Premier League 12 0 1 0 1 0 — — 14 0
Total 90 0 4 0 4 0 18 0 — 116 0
Career total 438 8 30 1 33 0 42 0 15 0 558 9
  1. ^ a b c d e Appearance(s) in Full Members' Cup
  2. ^ a b c d Appearances in UEFA Champions League
  3. ^
    FA Charity Shield
  4. ^
    UEFA Cup
  5. ^ Appearances in UEFA Cup Winners' Cup

International

Appearances and goals by national team and year[18]
National team Year Apps Goals
England 1991 7 0
1992 4 0
1993 3 0
1994 1 0
1995 2 0
1996 2 0
1997 8 0
1998 10 0
1999 5 0
Total 42 0

Honours

Leeds United

Newcastle United

Individual

References

  1. ^ a b c "David Batty". Barry Hugman's Footballers. Retrieved 4 April 2021.
  2. ^ "David Batty: Overview". Premier League. Retrieved 4 April 2021.
  3. ^ a b Ciaran Kelly (25 November 2022). "David Batty 'living life to full' and Newcastle and Leeds United favourite's fury at Pizza Hut". Chronicle. Retrieved 21 December 2022.
  4. ^ a b Alex James (14 May 2020). "The Blackburn Rovers title winner who didn't like football - the curious case of David Batty". LancsLive. Retrieved 21 December 2022.
  5. ^ "David Batty". 11v11.com. AFS Enterprises. Retrieved 4 April 2021.
  6. ^ "Rewind to the 1980s". Leeds United F.C. 23 May 2009. Retrieved 24 January 2010.
  7. ISBN 978-1-84454-660-2
  8. ^ Guy Hodgson (25 March 1994). "Football: Batty effect takes over at Blackburn: Guy Hodgson on the best and worst buys of the season". The Independent. Retrieved 24 January 2010.
  9. ISBN 978-1-84983-942-6
    .
  10. ^ "Le Saux and Batty shame Blackburn". The Independent. 23 November 1995. Retrieved 15 August 2014.
  11. ^ Guy Hodgson (24 February 1996). "Batty finally set for Newcastle". The Independent. Retrieved 24 January 2010.
  12. ^ Walker, Graham (14 May 2004). "Six Departures Confirmed". Leeds United F.C. Archived from the original on 16 June 2004. Retrieved 2 May 2020.
  13. ^ "Newcastle 1–0 Leeds". BBC Sport. 7 January 2004. Retrieved 30 October 2011.
  14. ^ David Batty Statistics FIFA. Retrieved 22 January 2010.
  15. ^ "Archive:David Batty". The Football Association. Retrieved 24 January 2010.
  16. ^ "Sky One:The Match". BSkyB. Retrieved 24 January 2010.
  17. ^ David Batty at the English National Football Archive (subscription required)
  18. ^ "David Batty - International Appearances". Rec.Sport.Soccer Statistics Foundation.
  19. ISBN 978-0-7472-7905-1
    .
  20. ISBN 978-0-356-17911-7
    .
  21. ^ Fox, Norman (8 August 1992). "Football / Charity Shield: Cantona offers no charity". The Independent. London. Retrieved 24 March 2024.
  22. ^ Moore, Glenn (18 May 1998). "Football: Gunners train sights on European glory". The Independent. London. Retrieved 4 April 2021.
  23. ISBN 978-0-09-179135-3
    .
  24. ISBN 978-1-85291-581-0
    .
  25. ISBN 978-1-85291-588-9
    .
  26. ^ Mitchinson, Rory (16 May 2022). "Joelinton scoops Newcastle United Player of the Year award". Newcastle United F.C. Retrieved 19 October 2023.

External links

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