Personal information | |||
---|---|---|---|
Full name | David Batty[1] | ||
Date of birth | [1] | 2 December 1968||
Place of birth | Leeds, England | ||
Height | 5 ft 8 in (1.73 m)[2] | ||
Position(s) | Defensive midfielder[1] | ||
Youth career | |||
–1987 | Leeds United | ||
Senior career* | |||
Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
1987–1993 | Leeds United | 211 | (4) |
1993–1996 | Blackburn Rovers | 54 | (1) |
1996–1998 | Newcastle United | 83 | (3) |
1998–2004 | Leeds United | 90 | (0) |
Total | 438 | (8) | |
International career | |||
1988–1989 | England U21 | 7 | (1) |
1989–1992 | England B | 5 | (0) |
1991–1999 | England | 42 | (0) |
*Club domestic league appearances and goals |
David Batty (born 2 December 1968) is an English former professional footballer who played as a defensive midfielder.
Batty played for Leeds United, Blackburn Rovers and Newcastle United. Whilst with Leeds he was part of the team that won the old Football League Second Division and the Football League First Division in its final year before the formation of the Premier League. He would go on to lift that title itself when he was part of the Blackburn team that won the League in 1995, but did not get a medal. In total he made 438 league appearances during a 17-year career, scoring eight goals. He was capped 42 times by the England national team, and represented the nation at UEFA Euro 1992 and the 1998 FIFA World Cup.
Following retirement in 2004, Batty has lived his life away from the media spotlight and very rarely gives interviews about his career. It is well publicised by some of his former teammates that he cared very little for football and merely saw it as a job he did because he was good at it, as opposed to loving the sport.[3][4]