David Partridge

David William Partridge (born 26 November 1978) is retired professional footballer who played as a central defender. He represented Wales in international football, making seven appearances. Partridge's club career included spells at Dundee United and Motherwell in Scotland, Bristol City in England and St. Patrick's Athletic in Ireland, as well as several other clubs on loan. He ended his career in English non-League football, with Cambridge United and Thurrock.

This article is about the Welsh footballer. For other uses, see David Partridge (disambiguation).

David Partridge
Personal information
Full name David William Partridge[1]
Date of birth (1978-11-26) 26 November 1978
Place of birth Westminster, London, England
Height 6 ft 1 in (1.85 m)
Position(s) Central defender
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
1996–1999 West Ham United 0 (0)
1999–2002 Dundee United 62 (0)
2002 → Leyton Orient (loan) 8 (0)
2002–2005 Motherwell 86 (2)
2005–2007 Bristol City 11 (0)
2006 → Milton Keynes Dons (loan) 18 (0)
2006 → Leyton Orient (loan) 1 (0)
2007 → Brentford (loan) 0 (0)
2007 → Swindon Town (loan) 0 (0)
2007–2008 Brentford 0 (0)
2008–2010 St Patrick's Athletic 52 (1)
2010–2011 Cambridge United 19 (0)
2011 Thurrock 4 (0)
Total 261 (3)
National team
Wales U16
Wales U18
1997 Wales U21 1 (0)
2005–2006 Wales 7 (0)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only

Club career

Dundee United

Born in Westminster, London, Partridge joined West Ham United as an apprentice in August 1996 but did not break into the first-team and joined Dundee United for a fee of £40,000 in March 1999.[2] An agreed move to Plymouth Argyle, where he would have linked up with his former Dundee United manager, Paul Sturrock, in August 2001,[3] fell through and Partridge eventually joined English Division Three side Leyton Orient in January 2002 on a three-month loan, having made 75 league and cup appearances for Dundee United in three seasons.[2] Having made three appearances, Partridge was sent off on his home debut for Leyton Orient,[4] after fracturing the jaw of Swansea City defender Terry Evans with a deliberate elbow.[5] Following his return, he made a further four appearances for Leyton Orient in his loan spell.[2]

Motherwell

Partridge joined Motherwell on a free transfer in July 2002.[6] Manager Terry Butcher had spotted Partridge playing for West Ham reserves and brought him to Dundee United where he was working at the time. When Butcher took over at Motherwell, he made Partridge his first signing.[7] His performances for Motherwell led to him being called up for the Wales national football squad in January 2005.[8] Butcher said of Partridge, "It just shows what players can achieve if they knuckle down and work hard [...] He's a left-footed centre-half and there are not many good ones about. If you do well at Scottish Premier level, which is still a good standard, then you have a great chance to show what you can do on the international stage. David is in a good position to go on from here and establish himself with Wales, I've always had a good feeling about him."[7] Partridge made a total of 86 league and cup appearances in three seasons for Motherwell.[2]

Bristol City

Partridge joined Bristol City for £150,000 at the start of the 2005–2006 season, signing a three-year contract.[9] Manager Brian Tinnion described him as "..a left-sided central defender, a tough character who will inspire."[9] He made 13 league and cup appearances for Bristol City in the 2005–2006 season[2] but following the arrival of Gary Johnson as manager and a breach of club discipline for which Partridge and other players were fined two weeks' wages after being arrested on suspicion of violent disorder following an incident in a nightclub in October 2005,[10] he was sent out on loan to Milton Keynes Dons in January 2006 until the end of the season.[11] He was transfer listed in May 2006 after returning from Milton Keynes Dons[12] and joined Leyton Orient on a one-month loan at the start of the 2006–2007 season with a view to a permanent transfer.[13] However, in September 2006, he was sentenced to two months in prison alongside teammates Bradley Orr and Steve Brooker for his part in the "drink-fuelled brawl" at a nightclub in the previous October.[14] He was released after one month but was unable to win back a first-team place at Bristol City and joined Brentford on a one-month loan in January 2007.[15] On his third appearance for Brentford against Yeovil, he was sent off for headbutting and subsequently his loan spell was not extended.[16] Partridge returned to Bristol City and then joined Swindon Town on a one-month loan in March 2007.[17] His lack of fitness however meant that he did not make an appearance for Swindon and he returned to Bristol City the following month.[18] A broken hand suffered during the summer of 2007 meant that he missed all of pre-season training and was ruled out of the start of the 2007–08 season.[19] His contract with Bristol City was terminated by mutual consent in August 2007.[20]

Brentford

Partridge signed a one-month contract at Brentford on 20 December 2007 as a free agent.[21] However, he made no appearances for the Football League Two side.

St Patrick's Athletic

Partridge signed for League of Ireland runners-up St Patrick's Athletic on 29 January 2008.[22] Initially used at left back, he soon settled into a centre-half spot where he impressed greatly as a solid, no-nonsense defender with very good distribution of the ball out of defence. Injury and suspensions have halted his progress with the Saints though he returned to the first team for the 2009 season.

Non-League football

Partridge was signed by Conference National side Cambridge United in January 2010 as a replacement for the departing Wayne Hatswell.[23][24]

He was released by Cambridge at the end of the 2010–11 season,[25] and joined Thurrock at the start of the 2011–12 season.

International career

He has represented Wales at Under-18 and Under-16 level, as well as securing an Under-21 cap against Turkey in 1997.[26][27] He was called up to the senior squad and made his debut in a 2–0 friendly win over Hungary in February 2005.[8][28] He went on to make further appearances in Wales' 2006 World Cup qualifying campaign against Austria,[29] Slovenia[30] England,[31] Poland[32] and Northern Ireland.[33] His last appearance for Wales was the friendly game against Trinidad & Tobago in May 2006.[34]

References
  1. "David Partridge". Barry Hugman's Footballers. Retrieved 4 April 2017.
  2. "David Partridge". Soccerbase. Racing Post. Retrieved 26 August 2007.
  3. "Partridge departs for Plymouth". BBC Sport. 11 August 2001. Retrieved 26 August 2007.
  4. "L Orient 2–2 Swansea". BBC Sport. 9 February 2002. Retrieved 24 January 2010.
  5. "Season over for Evans". BBC Sport. 11 February 2002. Retrieved 24 January 2010.
  6. "Triple swoop for 'Well". BBC Sport. 22 July 2002. Retrieved 26 August 2007.
  7. "Partridge gets Butcher's backing". BBC Sport. 27 January 2005. Retrieved 26 August 2007.
  8. "Toshack welcomes new Wales faces". BBC Sport. 26 January 2005. Retrieved 26 August 2007.
  9. "Partridge seals Bristol City move". BBC Sport. 25 July 2005. Retrieved 26 August 2007.
  10. "Footballers quizzed after brawl". BBC Sport. 13 October 2005. Retrieved 26 August 2007.
  11. "Partridge joins MK Dons on loan". BBC Sport. 19 January 2006. Retrieved 26 August 2007.
  12. "Partridge listed by boss Johnson". BBC Sport. 10 May 2006. Retrieved 26 August 2007.
  13. "Partridge quits City for O's loan". BBC Sport. 27 July 2006. Retrieved 26 August 2007.
  14. "Football stars jailed over brawl". BBC Sport. 1 September 2006. Retrieved 26 August 2007.
  15. "Partridge seals Brentford switch". BBC Sport. 3 January 2007. Retrieved 26 August 2007.
  16. "Partridge's hopes of new start at Brentford are ended". Richmond and Twickenham Times. 9 February 2007. Retrieved 26 August 2007.
  17. "Robins swoop to sign four players". BBC Sport. 23 March 2007. Retrieved 26 August 2007.
  18. "Unfit Partridge back to Bristol". BBC Wiltshire. 18 April 2007. Archived from the original on 9 November 2012. Retrieved 26 August 2007.
  19. "Defender's injury blow". Bristol City official site. 3 August 2007. Archived from the original on 22 July 2011. Retrieved 26 August 2007.
  20. "Partridge ends Bristol City deal". BBC Sport. 29 August 2007. Retrieved 4 September 2007.
  21. "Brentford clinch Partridge swoop". BBC Sport. 20 December 2007. Retrieved 20 December 2007.
  22. Fitzmaurice, Aidan (8 February 2008). "St Pats' magnificent seven". UEFA. Retrieved 7 March 2008.
  23. "U's Swoop to Sign Defender". Cambridge-United.co.uk. 26 January 2010. Archived from the original on 29 February 2012. Retrieved 26 January 2010.
  24. "Cambridge United sign defender David Partridge". BBC News. 28 January 2010. Retrieved 20 February 2010.
  25. "Partridge one of trio leaving U's". BBC News. 9 May 2011.
  26. Woods, Natasha (30 January 2005). "Partridge finally prepares to spread his wings". The Sunday Herald. Retrieved 26 August 2007.
  27. "Tosh tracks Partridge". Sunday Mirror. 19 December 2004. Retrieved 26 August 2007.
  28. "Partridge revels in Wales debut". BBC Sport. 10 February 2005. Retrieved 26 August 2007.
  29. "Austria 1–0 Wales". BBC Sport. 30 March 2005. Retrieved 26 August 2007.
  30. "Wales 0–0 Slovenia". BBC Sport. 17 August 2005. Retrieved 26 August 2007.
  31. "Wales 0–1 England". BBC Sport. 3 September 2005. Retrieved 26 August 2007.
  32. "Poland 1–0 Wales". BBC Sport. 7 September 2005. Retrieved 26 August 2007.
  33. "N Ireland 2–3 Wales". BBC Sport. 8 October 2005. Retrieved 26 August 2007.
  34. "Wales 2–1 Trinidad & Tobago". BBC Sport. 27 June 2006. Retrieved 26 August 2007.
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