PLAYER PROFILE

James McFadden

Position: Forward

Height: 5'10

Weight: 11st 1lbs

Date of Birth: 1983-04-14 Glasgow, Scotland

James McFadden

Young Motherwell striker James McFadden joined Everton in August 2003 after a protracted chase that went right up to the transfer deadline.

He was rated as one of Scotland's brightest young hopes and, although he admitted that he was sad to leave Motherwell, claimed that the chance to play in the Barclaycard Premiership was too good to turn down.

"It's the right time for me to go and the boss, Terry Butcher, was full of encouragement. He knows I really wanted this move. Everyone wants to be playing in the Premiership and as soon as you get the chance you just don't knock it back."

He made 23 appearances for the Toffees during his first season at the club although failed to score a single goal for them. He'd scored three for Motherwell before his depature and notched up four for Scotland during his ten international appearances. There was talk in the summer of 2004 that McFadden would leave Goodison Park, but nothing came of it.

The departure of Wayne Rooney in the 2004/05 season gave McFadden a chance for glory - and he took it. He made 29 appearances and scored 3 times in his most successful season yet. He is now a firm part of Walter Smith's Scotland set-up, gaining a further 6 caps and scoring twice, but being sent-off in a World Cup qualifier against Norway.

He had another decent season in 2005/06, partnering well with James Beattie in the second half of the campaign and scoring seven goals as well as keeping his place in the Scotland set-up, despite having looked like he might lose it at at the start of the season.

The arrival of Andy Johnson in the summer of 2006 meant that he has less opportunities in 2006/07 and then, to make matters worse, he was injured during training in January 2007. He scored three goals in eight starts all in all and struggled to assert his claim for a first team place at Everton, despite some heroics for his country.

In January 2008 he left Goodison Park, joining former national team boss Alex McLeish at Birmingham City.