Manchester United
Which team did the player Tom Cleverley belong to from 2008 to 2009?
Tom Cleverley Thomas William Cleverley ( born 12 August 1989 ) is an English professional footballer who plays as a midfielder for club Watford . After starting his career in the youth set-up at Bradford City , Cleverley joined Manchester United at the age of 12 . Between 2007 and 2009 , he played for Manchester Uniteds reserve team and occasionally in first-team friendly matches . Cleverley was loaned to League One club Leicester City at the start of 2009 , for whom he made his first Football League appearances , helping the team secure the League One title and promotion to the Championship . He spent the 2009–10 season on loan with Watford in the Championship , where he scored 11 goals in 33 league matches and was voted as their Player of the Season . On 31 August 2010 , he joined Wigan Athletic on a season-long loan , where he scored four goals in 25 appearances and helped them to avoid relegation on the final day of the season . He returned to Manchester United for the start of the 2011–12 season and made his first competitive appearance in the FA Community Shield victory against Manchester City . He won the Premier League with Manchester United in 2013 . Cleverley played for Great Britain at the 2012 Summer Olympics , and later that year made his debut for the England national team . Club career . Early career . Cleverley was born in Basingstoke , Hampshire , but grew up in Bradford , West Yorkshire . He went to Hanson School . He was part of Bradford Citys youth set-up , but joined Manchester United as an 11-year-old trainee in July 2000 . During the 2005–06 season , he made nine appearances for the under-18 team . He also received a taste of reserve team football when he was named on the bench for the teams 4–1 away win over Everton on 21 February 2006 . His first appearance for the reserves came in a 0–0 away draw to Bolton Wanderers almost a year later , on 15 February 2007 , by which time he had become a regular in the under-18 team . However , just over a month later , he suffered a long-term injury and was ruled out for seven months . He returned to action in October 2007 , playing for the reserves in a 1–1 home draw with Liverpool . The 2007–08 season marked Cleverleys emergence as a regular in the Manchester United reserve team , making 21 appearances as the team went on to win both the Manchester Senior Cup and the Lancashire Senior Cup , in which he scored in the final against Liverpool . He also scored his first goals in a Manchester United shirt on 23 January 2008 , when he scored both of Uniteds goals in a 2–0 away win over Bolton Wanderers in the Premier Reserve League . His consistent performances for the reserves earned him the captaincy of the team in the absence of regular captain Sam Hewson , as well as a nomination for the Denzil Haroun Reserve Player of the Year award – he lost out to Richard Eckersley . In recognition of his performances for the reserves , on 24 July 2008 , Cleverley was called up to the Manchester United first team for the remainder of their tour of South Africa and the match against Portsmouth in Nigeria . He made his first-team debut against Kaizer Chiefs in the final of the 2008 Vodacom Challenge , coming on in place of Rodrigo Possebon at half-time , before he scored the third of Uniteds four goals just after the hour mark . He returned to regular reserve team duty for the 2008–09 season , but was given a first-team squad number – 35 – when the first-team squad list was announced on 15 August 2008 , and was named on the bench for Uniteds League Cup matches against Middlesbrough and Queens Park Rangers . Loan spells . Leicester City . On 16 January 2009 , Cleverley joined Leicester City on loan for the remainder of the 2008–09 season and was given the number 7 shirt . He made his debut on 19 January 2009 in a 2–0 away win over Yeovil Town , coming on as an 85th-minute substitute for Matty Fryatt . Cleverley scored his first Leicester City goal few weeks later on 3 February 2009 , in a 4–1 win over Walsall . Cleverley then scored his second goal for the club on 7 March 2009 , in a 4–0 win over Cheltenham Town . After two goals in 15 matches for Leicester , Cleverleys loan spell came to a premature end after he suffered a season-ending shoulder injury against Colchester United . He then returned to Manchester United for treatment and underwent surgery on his shoulder on 2 April 2009 . Although his loan had ended , Cleverley was presented with a medal on 24 April after Leicester secured their promotion as champions of League One . Towards the end of the season , along with James Chester and Corry Evans , Cleverley was nominated by Manchester United reserve team manager Ole Gunnar Solskjær for the Denzil Haroun Reserve Player of the Year award . Watford . After being featured and scored in the pre–season friendly match against Valencia , Cleverley was told by Alex Ferguson that he would be loaned out to gain further first-team experience . On 18 August 2009 , Cleverley signed for Watford on loan and was able to play in their match away to Nottingham Forest that evening . He started the match and was booked within four minutes of the start of the second half , but then sealed a 4–2 win with a goal in the second minute of injury time at the end of the match . He then scored another goal on his home debut four days later , scoring Watfords second goal in a 2–2 draw with Blackpool , and became Watfords joint-top scorer with the second goal in a 2–0 win over Preston North End in November . Shortly afterwards , he extended his loan deal at Watford until the end of the 2009–10 season . Cleverley scored a further five goals in 20 appearances for Watford before a knee ligament injury in April 2010 ended his season prematurely . He went on to win the teams Player of the Season award . Wigan Athletic . On 1 July 2010 , Cleverley signed a new contract with the club , keeping him until 2013 . Cleverley returned to Manchester United for the beginning of the 2010–11 season and travelled with the squad for their pre-season tour of North America in July 2010 . He came on as a substitute for Ryan Giggs at half-time in the first match of the tour against Celtic in Toronto and scored Uniteds third goal in a 3–1 win . He then netted his second of the tour on 28 July 2010 , scoring Uniteds fourth in their 5–2 win in the 2010 MLS All-Star Game ; he controlled Darren Fletchers flick into the box before lifting the ball over Wilman Condes head and side-footing it past Nick Rimando . On 31 August 2010 , Wigan Athletic confirmed they had agreed a season-long loan deal for Cleverley , with Manchester United retaining the option to recall the player from his loan spell in January . On 11 September 2010 , Cleverley made his debut for Wigan which was also his Premier League debut , replacing Mauro Boselli in the 75th minute and assisting Antolin Alcaraz in a 1–1 home draw against Sunderland . However , Cleverley suffered a knock , resulting a knee injury in training and was sidelined for weeks . Cleverley then made his first-team return on 16 October 2010 , coming on as a substitute for Ronnie Stam in the 79th minutes , in a 2–2 draw against Newcastle United . On 27 November , he scored his first goal for the club , also his first ever Premier League goal , in a 3–1 defeat away to West Ham United . Seven days later he scored his second for Wigan and first home goal in a 2–2 draw against Stoke City . However , following a Dubious Goals Panel ruling , this goal was taken away from Cleverley and credited as a Rory Delap own goal . On 31 January 2011 , Manchester United agreed to let Cleverley stay on loan at Wigan until the end of the season . Cleverley scored the decisive goal in a 2–1 away win over Wolverhampton Wanderers which lifted Wigan out of the relegation zone . However , Cleverley suffered a hamstring injury that kept him out for a month . Cleverley then made his return from the first team on 5 February 2011 , where he came on as a substitute for Victor Moses in the 67th minutes , in a 4–3 win over Blackburn Rovers . After making return to the first team , Cleverley then scored and set up one of the goal , which turned out to be a winning goal , in a 2–1 win over Birmingham City on 19 March 2011 . Cleverley was one of Wigans stand-out performers and ended the season with three goals and two assists in 25 league appearances . Return to Manchester United . 2011–12 season . Paul Scholes retirement before the 2011–12 season left an opening in Manchester Uniteds central midfield . Cleverley was identified by manager Alex Ferguson as a potential homegrown replacement for Scholes . Cleverley was praised by Ferguson after playing the full 90 minutes in a 2–1 victory over Barcelona in a pre-season friendly match . Ferguson said that Cleverley was Uniteds best player against Barcelona and he indicated that there is a strong possibility that he could be among the starting 11 in the opening fixture of the 2011–12 Premier League season against West Bromwich Albion . Cleverley made his competitive debut for United in the 3–2 comeback win over derby rivals Manchester City in the 2011 FA Community Shield . He came on as a second-half substitute for Michael Carrick after United went 2–0 down at half time and provided the assist for Nanis equaliser . He started his first Premier League match for Manchester United on 14 August 2011 , playing the full 90 minutes away to West Bromwich Albion in the first match of the 2011–12 season . After impressing in his opening match , Cleverley started Manchester Uniteds second match of the campaign against Tottenham Hotspur on 22 August , getting an assist in the process . He played the full match against Arsenal on 28 August 2011 , which Manchester United won 8–2 . Cleverley sustained a ligament damage in his foot after being tackled heavily by Boltons Kevin Davies in the 3rd minute of Uniteds next match , a 5–0 away victory at Bolton Wanderers . It was later confirmed by the club that he would be sidelined for a month with the injury . The following month in October 2011 , Cleverley signed a new contract keeping him at the club until 2015 . On 25 October 2011 , Cleverley made his return from injury in the League Cup , a 3–0 win against Aldershot Town . He made another appearance 4 days later , away to Everton , where he played for 56 minutes and they went on to win 1–0 . He left the field of play after 57 minutes due to an ankle injury , but his performance was later hailed by his manager , Alex Ferguson , as outstanding . Although his injury was initially less serious than the one that kept him sidelined for weeks , Cleverleys injury had him sidelined even further until Christmas . On 20 January 2012 , Ferguson stated I am hopeful in 10 days time he will be training then we can kick on . Cleverley was due to return for the match at Old Trafford against Liverpool on 11 February 2012 , but he was an unused substitute . He eventually returned in a UEFA Europa League 2–0 away win against Ajax at the Amsterdam Arena . However , since his return , Cleverley appeared in the first team occasionally towards the end of the season and made seventeen appearance in all competitions . Despite this , Cleverley said the season , quoting : Ive had some bad luck and now I have just got to get on with it . From a great start it became the hardest season of my life . But it has made me mentally stronger . 2012–13 season . On 26 September 2012 , he scored his first goal , in a 2–1 win against Newcastle United in the League Cup . His first league goal was on 7 October 2012 , also against Newcastle United . He scored his second league goal on 15 December with a fine first-time finish from the edge of the area in a 3–1 win against Sunderland . On 5 January 2013 , Cleverley scored a goal from a Javier Hernández cross in a 2–2 draw against West Ham United in a third Round FA Cup tie . However , he struggled to regain his first-team place and spent most of the season on the substitutes bench ; nevertheless , he made 22 appearances , which was enough to earn him a Premier League winners medal . 2013–14 season . In the 2013–14 season , under the new management of David Moyes , Cleverley found himself competing in a midfielder spot with newly signing Marouane Fellaini and also began playing in a deep position . On 15 December 2013 , Cleverley scored in a 3–0 victory over Aston Villa . Due to Manchester Uniteds underperformance during the season , Cleverley came under strong criticism by Manchester United supporters and a petition was even created to ban Cleverley from being included for the England squad in 2014 FIFA World Cup . The petition was criticised by manager Moyes and Roy Hodgson . The criticism on Cleverley further increased when he was offered a new contract . Cleverley later ended the 2013–14 season , making 32 appearances and scoring once in all competitions . With the signings of Ander Herrera , Ángel Di María , Daley Blind , Luke Shaw and Radamel Falcao for the 2014–15 season , Cleverley found himself on the fringes of the Manchester United squad under new manager Louis van Gaal , who had taken over from David Moyes over the summer . As such , he attracted interest from a number of clubs , including Aston Villa and Everton . Aston Villa made an initial bid of £8 million for Cleverley , but baulked at his wage demands . Everton then came in with an offer of £5 million that was rejected , before Villa revived their interest with a loan bid on 1 September 2014 . Aston Villa ( loan ) . The transfer was completed at around 01:15 in the morning of 2 September , shortly after the expiry of a two-hour extension to the transfer deadline granted by the Premier League , but the transfer was eventually ratified later that afternoon after Aston Villa argued that they had completed the relevant paperwork before the deadline . Following his loan move with just a year left on his United contract , Cleverley said that his career at Old Trafford was over . Cleverley made his Aston Villa debut on 13 September 2014 in a 1–0 win over Liverpool . His manager , Paul Lambert , denied rumours that there was a clause in Cleverleys contract that he had to start when fit , and defended the player after he was cheered sarcastically by some Aston Villa supporters when substituted in matches . At one point , Cleverleys performance resulted a confrontation with then the clubs assistant manager , Roy Keane . Cleverley lost his first-team place following a new management of Tim Sherwood , but managed to redeem himself soon after . On 25 April 2015 , he scored his first goal for the club in a 3–2 defeat to Manchester City . He scored again in the following match , a 3–2 win at home to Everton . He scored for the third match in a row for the first time in a 1–0 win at home to West Ham United . His performance helped the club avoid relegation and retained their Premier League status for another season . Cleverley played all six matches in Aston Villas FA Cup campaign and started in the 2015 FA Cup Final at Wembley Stadium , where the team were defeated 4–0 by Arsenal on 30 May 2015 . With his contract expiring at the end of the 2014–15 season , Cleverley was expected to be among Manchester United players to leave the club for good . It was later confirmed that Cleverley was released by the club , along with four other players . Everton . Following the expiration of his contract with Manchester United , Cleverley joined Everton on 1 July 2015 , signing a five-year contract . Cleverley previously was on the verge of joining Aston Villa on a permanent basis , but was in favour of joining Everton at the end of the season . Cleverley made his Everton debut in the opening match of the season , where he played in the left–midfielder position and played 90 minutes , in a 2–2 draw against Watford . However , during a match against Tottenham Hotspur , Cleverley suffered a malleolar injury and was sidelined between six and eight weeks . After two months without playing , Cleverley finally made his return to the first team against James McCarthy in the 68th minutes , in a 3–3 draw against AFC Bournemouth on 28 November 2015 . Cleverley scored his first goal for the club on 26 December 2015 , when he headed in a last-minute winner for the Toffees against Newcastle United . Between 3 February 2016 and 6 February 2016 , Cleverley provided three assists against Newcastle United ( once ) and Stoke City , which both of these matches were a 3–0 win . Cleverley then scored and set up one of the goal , in a 2–1 win over Bournemouth on 20 April 2016 . In his first season at Everton , Cleverley finished the season , making 22 appearances and scoring three times . In his second season , however , Cleverley found himself behind a pecking order in the first team under the new management of Ronald Koeman . As a result , Cleverley found his first team hard to come by , due to looks ill-suited to a team demanding strength , nous and 90-minute energy as expected by Koeman and would appear on the substitute bench . Having have his first team limited to making five starts in twelve appearances without scoring , it was expected that Cleverley would leave the club in January Return to Watford . On 12 January 2017 , Cleverley joined Premier League club Watford on loan until the end of the 2016–17 season , with a view to a permanent transfer , after failing to establish himself at Everton . He re-debut for the club two days later , coming on as a second-half substitute , in a 0–0 draw against Middlesbrough . He then played a vital role in the next two matches against Bournemouth and Arsenal . Having quickly made an impact for the side , it was announced on 31 March 2017 that Cleverley would join Watford permanently on 1 July on a five-year contract for an undisclosed fee . At the end of the 2016–17 season , Cleverley went on to make 17 appearances for the side . In the 2017–18 season , Cleverley continued to feature in the first team regularly following the managerial appointment of Marco Silva and was expected to face competition for a place in the side . It was not until on 15 October 2017 when he scored his first goal for Watford ( his first for the side in seven years ) , in a 2–1 win over Arsenal . International career . England U20 . Cleverley was called up to Noel Blakes England under-20 team for the first time on 12 March 2009 . However , following a dislocated shoulder suffered while on loan at Leicester City a few days later , he was forced to withdraw from the squad and was replaced by Leeds United midfielder Adam Clayton . Cleverley eventually made his Under-20 debut on 11 August 2009 in a 5–0 friendly win over Montenegro at The Hawthorns , missing an early penalty but going on to score two-second-half goals . England U21 . Cleverley made his England U-21 debut as substitute for Junior Stanislas in a 2–1 win away to Macedonia on 4 September 2009 . Great Britain Olympic team . On 2 July 2012 , Cleverley was named in Stuart Pearces 18-man Great Britain squad for the 2012 Summer Olympics . On 20 July 2012 , Cleverley played in a warm up match for the Olympics at the Riverside Stadium in Middlesbrough against Brazil national under-23 football team . The match finished 2–0 to Brazil , with Cleverley playing the full match . He played the full match in the tournaments opening fixture against Senegal ; which ended 1–1 . In the second group match against the United Arab Emirates , Cleverley was instrumental in GBs victory . He set up the winner with a through-ball for Daniel Sturridge and generally impressed with his range of passing . England senior team . In August 2011 , he was called up to the England senior team by Fabio Capello for a friendly against the Netherlands . but did not end up playing as the match was cancelled on 8 August by The Football Association after the riots in London . He received another call-up for the Euro 2012 qualifying matches with Bulgaria and Wales later in September 2011 alongside fellow new England additions and club-mates Phil Jones and Chris Smalling , but did not end up playing . He made his debut a year later in a 2–1 win against Italy on 15 August 2012 . He made his competitive debut on 7 September 2012 , playing the full 90 minutes in a 5–0 win away to Moldova during 2014 FIFA World Cup qualifying and received praise for his performance from manager Roy Hodgson . On 12 October 2012 , playing against San Marino in a World Cup qualifier , Cleverley made 165 touches during the match , the highest ever recorded for an England player . He also made two assists in the same match as England won 5–0 . His 13th and latest cap to date came in November 2013 against Germany . Personal life . Growing up , Cleverley suffered from a childhood speech impediment and was given a nickname , Chunks . In October 2011 , Cleverley accepted substantial undisclosed libel damages over a false claim made by The Sun newspaper the previous August that he had badgered a girl for sex in Blackpool . Cleverley was at home with his girlfriend in Manchester when the newspaper said the incident had occurred . In May 2012 , Cleverley began dating ex-TOWIE star , Georgina Dorsett after they first met through a mutual friend . Dorsett announced her pregnancy in December 2012 and gave birth to their child , a daughter , Nevaeh Rose , on 7 June 2013 . The couple announced their engagement in July 2014 and were married the following year . Cleverley and Dorsett had a second child when she gave birth to a boy , Albie , on 3 May 2016 . In October 2015 , Cleverley was present in his house , with his wife and then baby daughter , when he was burgled by armed thieves . Watches , designer handbags , jewellery and two Range Rovers were stolen . Honours . Leicester City - Football League One : 2008–09 Manchester United - Premier League : 2012–13 - FA Community Shield : 2011 , 2013 Aston Villa - FA Cup runner-up : 2014–15 Watford - FA Cup runner-up : 2018–19 Individual - Watford Player of the Season : 2009–10 External links . - Profile at the Watford F.C . website