Chris Mepham

Christopher James Mepham (born 5 November 1997) is a professional footballer who plays as a centre back for Championship club AFC Bournemouth and the Wales national team. He is a product of the Brentford and Chelsea academies.

Chris Mepham
Mepham with AFC Bournemouth in December 2019
Personal information
Full name Christopher James Mepham[1]
Date of birth (1997-11-05) 5 November 1997[2]
Place of birth Hammersmith, England
Height 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m)[3]
Position(s) Centre back
Club information
Current team
 AFC Bournemouth
Number 6
Youth career
2008–2012 Chelsea
2012–2016 Brentford
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2016–2019 Brentford 43 (1)
2019– AFC Bournemouth 45 (2)
National team‡
2017 Wales U20 1 (0)
2017 Wales U21 4 (0)
2018– Wales 14 (0)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 22:42, 2 February 2021 (UTC)
‡ National team caps and goals correct as of 18 November 2020 (UTC)

Club career

Early years

A centre back and occasional right back,[4] Mepham began his career in the academy at Premier League club Chelsea at the age of 10.[5] He was released at the age of 14 and was then turned down by Watford and Queens Park Rangers.[6]

Youth years (2012–2016)

Mepham joined the academy at Brentford in 2012,[5] after being spotted by the club's Head of Academy Recruitment while making a one-off appearance for North Greenford United's reserve team.[6] After making three appearances for the youth team as an U16,[7] Mepham signed a scholarship deal in June 2014.[5] On 2 February 2016 it was announced that Mepham had signed his first professional contract to be a member of the club's development squad and he finished his scholarship having made 43 appearances and scored two goals for the youth team.[4][7][8][9] After consistently good performances for the reformed B team during the first half of the 2016–17 season, Mepham signed a two-year contract extension on 6 January 2017 and the following day,[10] he made his senior debut as a late substitute for Harlee Dean during a 5–1 FA Cup third round victory over Eastleigh.[11] A successful 2016–17 season saw Mepham named as the club's B Team Player of the Year.[12]

Breakthrough (2016–2019)

After the departure of centre-back Harlee Dean on 30 August 2017,[13] Mepham was promoted into the first team squad and signed a new five-year contract.[14] He made his first start for the club in a 3–1 EFL Cup third round defeat to Norwich City on 19 September 2017 and gave away the penalty which led to the Canaries' opening goal.[15][16] After appearing sporadically throughout the autumn,[15] a head injury suffered by John Egan in December allowed Mepham a run in the team from the Christmas period until early February 2018.[15][17] An achilles injury suffered by Andreas Bjelland in mid-March allowed Mepham back into the team and he scored the first senior goal of his career with the equaliser in a 1–1 draw with Sheffield United on Good Friday.[15][18] He finished the 2017–18 season with 23 appearances and one goal.[15]

Mepham began the 2018–19 season as the Bees' undisputed first-choice centre back in league matches, but was sent off for the first time in his career for two bookable offences committed during a 1–0 defeat to Bristol City on 20 October 2018.[19] He made 27 appearances before departing the club for a club-record transfer fee in January 2019.[19][20][21] During his two-and-a-half seasons as a professional at Griffin Park, Mepham made 48 appearances and scored one goal.[22]

AFC Bournemouth

On 22 January 2019, Mepham signed a long-term contract with Premier League club AFC Bournemouth for an undisclosed fee,[20] reported to be £12 million.[23] Eight days later, he made his debut for the club as a substitute for Junior Stanislas late in a 4–0 win over Chelsea.[19] He continued to be regularly selected within the back line at Bournemouth due to the absence of Steve Cook through injury. Mepham finished the 2018–19 season with Bournemouth having made 13 Premier League appearances in total.

On 10 August 2019, Mepham scored his first Premier League goal, and his first ever goal for the Cherries, in a 1–1 home draw against newly promoted Sheffield United.[24] Mepham made a further ten appearances in the Premier League for the Cherries throughout the first half of the 2019–20 season, including a starring role in the 0–1 away win and clean sheet at Chelsea on 14 December.[25] However, Mepham would suffer a "significant knee injury" in the FA Cup game against Luton Town on 4 January, which would potentially rule him out for up to three months.[26]

International career

He was called into the Wales U20 squad for the 2017 Toulon Tournament and made one appearance,[27] in a 2–2 group stage draw with Ivory Coast on 5 June 2017.[28] He made his U21 debut with a start in a 3–0 2019 UEFA U21 Championship qualifying victory over Switzerland on 2 September 2017.[29] Mepham captained the U21 team for the first time in a 0–0 qualifying draw with Romania six weeks later.[30]

In March 2018, Mepham won his maiden call-up to the senior team for the 2018 China Cup.[31] He made his debut as a substitute for Ben Davies after 70 minutes of a 6–0 victory over China on 22 March 2018.[32] Two months later, he made his first international start, in a 0–0 friendly draw with Mexico on 28 May.[33]

In October 2019 he pulled out of the Wales squad due to injury.[34]

Personal life

Mepham was born in Hammersmith, Greater London.[35] He attended Queensmead School in South Ruislip and is a Queens Park Rangers supporter.[36][37] His uncle Roy was a member of the Brentford youth team in the 1960s.[5]

Career statistics

Club
As of match played 2 February 2021
Appearances and goals by club, season and competition
Club Season League FA Cup EFL Cup Other Total
DivisionAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoals
Brentford 2016–17[11] Championship 001000—10
2017–18[15] Championship 2111010—231
2018–19[19] Championship 2200020—240
Total 4312030—481
AFC Bournemouth 2018–19[19] Premier League 130———130
2019–20[38] Premier League 1211020—151
2020–21[39] Championship 201000000201
Total 4521020—482
Career total 883305000963

International
As of match played 2 February 2021[40]
Appearances and goals by national team and year
National teamYearAppsGoals
Wales 201840
201960
202040
Total140

Honours

Individual

References
  1. "Club list of registered players: As at 19th May 2018: Brentford" (PDF). English Football League. p. 8. Retrieved 16 June 2018.
  2. "Chris Mepham: Overview". ESPN. Retrieved 12 September 2020.
  3. "Chris Mepham". AFC Bournemouth. Retrieved 12 September 2020.
  4. "Brentford FC Youth Team duo sign first professional contracts". Brentford F.C. Retrieved 25 August 2017.
  5. "Brentford FC". Brentford F.C. Retrieved 25 August 2017.
  6. James, Stuart (21 March 2018). "Chris Mepham: 'It's surreal that Ryan Giggs wants to have a chat with you'". The Guardian. Retrieved 22 March 2018.
  7. "Brentford FC". Brentford F.C. Retrieved 25 August 2017.
  8. "Brentford FC". Brentford F.C. Retrieved 25 August 2017.
  9. "Youth Team Player Stats". Brentford F.C. Archived from the original on 7 September 2016. Retrieved 6 January 2017.
  10. "Brentford FC Chris Mepham signs contract extension". Brentford F.C. Retrieved 25 August 2017.
  11. "Games played by Chris Mepham in 2016/2017". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 31 January 2017.
  12. "Brentford FC 2016/17 Awards Winners". Brentford F.C. Retrieved 26 May 2017.
  13. Moore, Tom (7 September 2017). "Brentford hand first team promotion to young defender". Get West London. Retrieved 7 September 2017.
  14. "Brentford FC Chris Mepham signs new long-term contract". Brentford F.C. Retrieved 18 September 2017.
  15. "Games played by Chris Mepham in 2017/2018". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 30 March 2018.
  16. "Brentford vs Norwich City on 19 Sep 17 – Match Centre – Brentford FC". Brentford F.C. Retrieved 19 September 2017.
  17. Moore, Tom (2 January 2018). "Dean Smith outlines hopes and plans for Brentford's youngsters". Get West London. Retrieved 2 January 2018.
  18. Moore, Tom (10 March 2018). "Brentford boss on Bjelland injury and Millwall loss". Get West London. Retrieved 1 April 2018.
  19. "Games played by Chris Mepham in 2018/2019". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 4 August 2018.
  20. "Chris Mepham leaves Brentford to join AFC Bournemouth". Brentford F.C. Retrieved 31 January 2019.
  21. Phil Giles' January Round Up (Interview). Brentford F.C. 31 January 2019. Event occurs at 0:59. Retrieved 31 January 2019 – via YouTube.
  22. Chris Mepham at Soccerbase
  23. "Chris Mepham joins Bournemouth from Brentford for £12m". Sky Sports. Retrieved 31 January 2019.
  24. "AFC Bournemouth 1–1 Sheffield United". BBC Sport. Retrieved 6 March 2020.
  25. "Chelsea 0–1 AFC Bournemouth". BBC Sport. Retrieved 6 March 2020.
  26. "Chris Mepham: Bournemouth defender is ruled out for up to three months with injury". BBC Sport. Retrieved 6 March 2020.
  27. "Brentford FC Chris Mepham heading to Toulon Tournament". Brentford F.C. Retrieved 27 May 2017.
  28. Chris Mepham at Soccerway. Retrieved 5 June 2017.
  29. "Brentford FC Mepham and Balcombe help home nations to wins". Brentford F.C. Retrieved 3 September 2017.
  30. "Brentford FC Mepham and Mads captain nations in Euro Qualifiers". Brentford F.C. Retrieved 15 November 2017.
  31. "Brentford FC Chris Mepham gets maiden full Wales Call-up". Brentford F.C. Retrieved 15 March 2018.
  32. "Brentford FC Wins for Mepham and Dalsgaard on international stage". Brentford F.C. Retrieved 23 March 2018.
  33. "Chris Mepham impresses on full debut for Wales". Brentford F.C. Retrieved 29 May 2018.
  34. "Chris Mepham: Injured Bournemouth defender out of Wales squad". BBC Sport. 4 October 2019.
  35. "Chris Mepham: Profile". worldfootball.net. HEIM:SPIEL. Retrieved 12 September 2020.
  36. "newsletter – Queensmead School – football". Retrieved 25 August 2017.
  37. "Brentford FC BRENTFORD 'GAVE EVERYTHING' IN WEST LONDON DERBY". Brentford F.C. Retrieved 8 September 2017.
  38. "Games played by Chris Mepham in 2019/2020". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 19 September 2019.
  39. "Games played by Chris Mepham in 2020/2021". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 2 October 2020.
  40. "Mepham, Chris". National Football Teams. Benjamin Strack-Zimmerman. Retrieved 22 May 2019.
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