PLAYER PROFILE

Tony Hibbert

Position: Defence

Height: 5'8

Weight: 11st 1lbs

Date of Birth: 1981-02-20 Liverpool, England

Tony Hibbert

Tony is a no-nonsense defender who worked his way through the ranks at Everton until his performances in the Toffees' youth and reserve teams could no longer be ignored.

He was deservedly given his Premiership debut in a 2-0 win over West Ham in March 2001 and made further appearances in the 2001-2002 season.

He has been in and out of the team at Goodison Park but he was injured with an ankle problem that ruled him out of Everton's 2001-2002 season just after David Moyes took over as the Blues manager.

Tony was a member of the Blues' 1998 FA Youth Cup winning side and graduate of the Everton Youth Academy. Originally a midfield player, the locally-born star had to adapt to the right-back position in recent seasons. For such a young player, his ability to play at the highest level has seen to it that he is tipped for long-term success as an Everton player.

Unfortunately, his 2002/03 season was blighted by injury and Hibbert was unable to make the kind of consistent impact he would have hoped for, however, the following season saw him shake off his injury problems and become a regular in the Toffees' defence.

The 2004/05 campaign proved to be another successful season as he cemented his place in David Moyes' plans and hepled Everton to 4th place in the Barclays Premiership. He was, however, a part of the team which embarrassingly lost 7-0 at Arsenal just days after confirming their place in the Champions League.

Despite that, he continued to impress in their 2005/06 campaign, even though the Toffees struggled for much of the season. In July 2005 he signed a new contract and was a regular in the side until April 2006 when a hernia operation ruled him out for the last few games.

Some new signings during the summer of 2006 meant that he was merely a utility player during 06/07, but he remains an important and reliable one.