page_title: Emile Heskey
section_title: Wigan Athletic
hierarchical_section_title: Emile Heskey / Club career / Wigan Athletic
caption_attribution_description: English: Emile Heskey playing for Wigan Athletic against Tottenham Hotspur at White Hart Lane, London on 21 September 2008
context_page_description: Emile William Ivanhoe Heskey is an English former professional footballer who played as a striker. He made more than 500 appearances in the Football League and Premier League over an 18-year career, and represented England in international football. He also had a spell in Australia, playing for the A-League club Newcastle Jets.
  Born in Leicester, Heskey started his career with Leicester City after progressing through their youth system, making his first-team debut in 1995. After winning the League Cup in 1997 and 2000 he made an £11 million move to Liverpool in 2000, which, at the time, was the record transfer fee paid by the club. At Liverpool, he won multiple honours, including the FA Cup in 2001. He moved to Birmingham City in 2004 and after their relegation from the Premier League signed for Wigan Athletic for a club record £5.5 million fee in 2006. He signed for Aston Villa in 2009 and was released in 2012 before signing for A-League club Newcastle Jets. After two years, he returned to England, finishing his career with Championship club Bolton Wanderers.
  Heskey was an England international at under-16, under-18, under-21, B and senior levels.
context_section_description: Heskey was signed by Premier League club Wigan Athletic on 7 July 2006 for a £5.5 million fee. He made his debut against Newcastle United on 19 August 2006, which his new team lost 2–1. On his 500th league appearance, Heskey scored his first goal for Wigan in a 1–0 Premier League victory over Reading on 26 August. He scored 8 goals in 36 appearances in 2006–07, as Wigan avoided relegation on goal difference over Sheffield United, against whom Heskey played well on 13 May 2007, in a match he nearly scored a bicycle kick.
  Heskey suffered a suspected broken metatarsal in September 2007, and made his return for Wigan in a 2–0 defeat to Arsenal in November. He picked up an ankle injury during Wigan's 5–3 victory against Blackburn in December 2007. On 14 April 2008, Heskey scored a 90th minute equalising goal against Chelsea, which damaged their hopes of winning the Premier League. He went on to score Wigan's equaliser against Tottenham in the following match to give them a 1–1 draw, which proved to be his last goal of 2007–08, which he finished with 4 goals in 30 appearances.
  His first goal of 2008–09 came in Wigan's fourth match, a 5–0 victory against Hull City at the KC Stadium. He hinted in October 2008 that he would be interested in leaving Wigan to play in the Champions League, although Wigan manager Steve Bruce hoped to persuade him to sign a new contract at the club. Heskey commented on reports of interest from Liverpool by saying "It would be lovely. We'll see how it goes." He scored his 100th goal in the Premier League against Portsmouth on 1 November 2008, which secured a 2–1 victory for Wigan. Dave Whelan, the Wigan chairman, hinted that Heskey could be transferred by Wigan in January 2009, as a fee would be received, whereas he would move on for free in the summer, which came after he had stalled on talks over a new contract. However, Bruce said he would only accept an offer for Heskey if it was "outrageous". He later said he was confident of keeping Heskey at the club. Heskey picked up a hamstring injury during a match against Bolton Wanderers in December 2008, which resulted in him missing an FA Cup third round tie against Tottenham. He later said he would stay at Wigan and see out his contract until the summer of 2009.
caption: Heskey playing for Wigan Athletic in 2008
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