Steven Gerrard has left his role as Rangers boss to take the reins at Aston Villa, who sacked Dean Smith on Sunday after five straight league defeats.
The Liverpool midfield great will now get his first taste of management in the Premier League.
Here are 10 things you should know about the latest manager in the Premier League:
- Steven Gerrard was born on 30 May 1980 in Whiston, Merseyside, the second son of Paul and Julie Ann Gerrard.
- Gerrard and his wife, Alex Curran, married on 16 June 2007, the same day as the weddings of his England teammates Gary Neville and Michael Carrick. The ceremony took place at Cliveden House Hotel in Taplow, Buckinghamshire.[199] They have four children together.
- Gerrard spent the majority of his playing career as a central midfielder for Liverpool and the England national team, captaining both.
- He made his competitive debut for Liverpool in 1998. In 2000–01, he helped the club secure an unpredicted treble of cups and was made captain in 2003.
- In 2005, Gerrard led Liverpool to its fifth European title, being named Man of the Match as Liverpool came from 3–0 down to defeat Milan in the game that went on to become known as the Miracle of Istanbul. The following year, he was named Man of the Match in the 2006 FA Cup Final, which has since been called The Gerrard Final. Both matches are regarded as being amongst the greatest finals of each competition.
- He was named the UEFA Club Footballer of the Year and won the Ballon d’Or Bronze Award in 2005. Domestically, he was named the PFA Players’ Player of the Year in 2006 and the FWA Footballer of the Year in 2009 and was named in the PFA Team of the Year a record eight times.
- A versatile and well-rounded player, highly regarded for his leadership, Gerrard is the only footballer to score in an FA Cup Final, a League Cup Final, a UEFA Cup Final, and a UEFA Champions League Final, winning on each occasion. On 20 May 2021, Gerrard was officially inducted into the Premier League Hall of Fame.
- Gerrard is England’s fourth-most capped player with 114 caps, scoring 21 goals. He debuted for England in 2000 and went on to play at the UEFA European Championship in 2000, 2004 and 2012 and the FIFA World Cup in 2006, 2010 and 2014.
- He announced his retirement from international football in 2014. After retiring as a player, Gerrard became a coach in the Liverpool Youth Academy and managed the under-18 team over the 2017–18 season.
- In 2018, he was appointed as manager of Scottish Premiership club Rangers, leading the club to its first league title in 10 years in the 2020–21 season.
