Jimmy Bullard - Player Profile
| Full Name: | James Richard Bullard |
| Born: | 23/10/1978 (age 46) |
| Place of Birth: | Newham |
| Nationality: | England |
| Height: | 5 ft 8 in |
| Position: | Midfield |
| First Team Debut: | 01/02/2003 v Cheltenham Town (H) - Nationwide League Division Two |
| Signed: | 31/01/2003 (£275,000 | Peterborough United) |
| Left: | 08/05/2006 (£2,500,000 | Fulham) |
Jimmy started his career at Gravesend and North Fleet for whom he signed on 1st August 1998. He was spotted by scouts from West Ham United and on 9th February 1999 he joined the Upton Park side. However, he never made it into the first team and on 10th May 2001 he signed for Peterborough United. Whilst at London Road he made he made 64+2 League appearances, netting 11 times.
He was rated in the £1m bracket when Paul Jewell attempted to sign him in September 2002 but the boss bided his time and waited until 31st January 2003 to get his man for a knockdown price of £275,000 due to Peterborough’s financial troubles. Jimmy made his Latics League debut the following day against Cheltenham Town at the JJB Stadium, a game that resulted in a 0-0 draw.
He became a firm crowd favourite and by the end of season 2004/05 he had made 109+0 consecutive League appearances for Latics and scored 6 League goals. Jimmy goes down in history as a member of the squad that took Latics into the Premiership for the first time in the club’s history. It is interesting to note that Jimmy was one of EIGHT players who played in the promotion winning game against Reading and the Second Division Championship winning side who played against Barnsley in the final game at the JJB Stadium in 2003.
He signed a new three-year contract prior to season 2005/06. The Premiership suited Jimmy down to the ground and he played all 35+1 league games before being signed by Fulham on 28th April 2006. The Cottagers manager Chris Coleman had discovered a clause in Jimmy’s contract and activated it leaving Latics with no choice but to let Jimmy go.
He left the JJB Stadium with a unique record of having played in every single league game that Latics played whilst he was on the clubs books. His Latics career consisted of 144+1 league appearances and 9 league goals. He was also a member of the team that appeared in the clubs first major Cup Final, a 0-4 defeat at the hands of Manchester United in the Carling Cup Final.
Whilst at Fulham he picked up a horror injury that eventually forced him to retire from the game whilst plying his trade at MK Dons in October 2012 following torrid times at Hull City and Ipswich Town.
Some Jimmy Bullard trivia – did you know that Jimmy was eligible to play for Germany should he have received a call up?
Wigan Athletic Career
| League | FA Cup | League Cup | Other | Total | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Season | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | |
| 2005-2006 | 35 (1) | 4 | 0 (2) | 0 | 4 (0) | 0 | 0 (0) | 0 | 39 (3) | 4 | |
| 2004-2005 | 46 (0) | 3 | 0 (1) | 0 | 1 (0) | 0 | 0 (0) | 0 | 47 (1) | 3 | |
| 2003-2004 | 46 (0) | 2 | 1 (0) | 0 | 3 (0) | 1 | 0 (0) | 0 | 50 (0) | 3 | |
| 2002-2003 | 17 (0) | 1 | 0 (0) | 0 | 0 (0) | 0 | 0 (0) | 0 | 17 (0) | 1 | |
| TOTALS | 144 (1) | 10 | 1 (3) | 0 | 8 (0) | 1 | 0 (0) | 0 | 153 (4) | 11 | |
