Greg Halford Bio

Halford made his reputation as a Colchester United player, being a star of the U's climb through the divisions after making his debut for them in 2002-03.

He was Colchester Player of the Year in 2004-05 and a star of their promotion from League One the following season.

Halford slapped in a transfer request in the summer of 2006 but remained at Layer Road until the next transfer windown when Reading paid a reported £2.5m.

Strangely, he was only to make three appearances for the Royals before becoming Sunderland's first summer signing of 2007, costing them £3.5m to end what had been a lengthy pursuit of the tall defender, who had failed to fit in at the Madjeski.

Again, Halford failed to shine with Sunderland boss Roy Keane stating he did not have all the facts about the player before he signed. He was loaned to Charlton in January for the remainder of the season.

And in the summer he was loaned to Sheffield United for the 2008-09 season.
Sunderland sold the player in July 2009 but he stayed in the Premier League with Wolverhampton Wanderers, moving for an undisclosed fee. Halford made just nine appearances for the Black Cats.

Halford is a former England U20 international.

Richard Stearman Bio

Wolverhampton Wanderers signed Stearman from Leicester City following the Foxes' relegation from the Championship in the summer of 2008, for an undisclosed fee.

The highly-rated defender had broken into the Leicester team towards the end of the 2004-05 campaign, though actually made his debut in a 0-0 draw at Cardiff City in October of that season.

An England Under-21 international, Stearman was an important figure, starting 32 games, as Wolves were promoted in his first season at the club. His bow for his hometown club came in a 2-2 draw at Plymouth Argyle.

He plays at right-back or as a central defender.

David Edwards Bio

This midfielder began his footballing education with hometown club Shrewsbury Town, making his professional debut in a 2-1 home defeat to Scunthorpe United on the last day of the 2002-03 season.

He played 132 games for the club before attracting the interest of other clubs. After refusing to sign a new contract with the Shrews he joined Luton Town in the summer of 2007.

Edwards spent just half a season with the Hatters as they ran into financial problems, leading to him being sold to Wolverhampton Wanderers for £675,000 in January 2008.

The player has proved to be a valuable squad man since making his bow in a 2-0 win at, coincidentally, Scunthorpe and he marked his debut with a goal after only eight minutes.
He is a full Wales international.

Kevin Doyle Bio

Doyle signed for Wolves in June 2009 for a reported fee of £6.5m, after impressing for Reading in both the Premier League and the Championship.

After netting 18 goals in the Championship in 2008-09, he joined the Molineux club to help spearhead their return to the Premier League.

Doyle started his career playing for Adamstown and his county, Wexford, before moving to his first professional club St Patrick's Athletic in September 2001. He then joined Cork City in February 2003, scoring 23 goals and began playing on the right-wing but soon reverted to his natural position of striker.

Doyle signed for Reading from Cork City for €117,000 (about £78,000) in June 2005. Despite having left Cork City, Doyle received a championship medal when they won the Eircom League Premier Division in November 2005.

Brought in by Steve Coppell as back-up, injuries gave him his chance in the first team where he was able to display a natural goalscoring ability and some defence-splitting speed in a goal spree for the club.

He became an intrinsic part of Reading's Championship-winning 2005-06 squad, and was one of the top players in the Championship. Named as Championship Fans' Player Of The Year and picked as one of the Championship Team of the Year by the PFA, Doyle continued to impress in the Premiership.

On 16 September 2006, he scored one of the fastest goals in Premiership history, hitting the net just sixteen seconds into Reading's clash with Sheffield United at Bramall Lane, even though it was the home side that kicked-off.

Scoring 13 goals in his first top flight season, Doyle was rewarded with a Football Association of Ireland Young Player of 2006 award and a nomination for the PFA's Young Player of the Year award, which he lost to Cristiano Ronaldo.

Upon Reading's relegation, he stayed at the club and impressed further in the second tier, before making his move to Molineux when the Royals failed to seal promotion at the end of the 2008-09 season.

Sylvan Ebanks-Blake Bio

Ebanks-Blake came through the youth ranks at Manchester United, impressing for both the Academy side and the reserves. He was part of the United squad which won the FA Youth Cup in 2003.

He was handed his Manchester United debut in October 2004, replacing David Bellion late in the 3-0 Carling Cup victory at Crewe Alexandra. But the striker had made only three appearances before he was loaned to Belgian feeder club Royal Antwerp for the second half of 2005-06.
On his return to Old Trafford he was sold to Plymouth Argyle for £200,000 and took his chance with both feet.

The fast, powerful striker made his debut in a 1-1 draw with Wolves and had to wait until his seventh appearance to finally score his first goal. In fact, he scored just three goals in his first 31 games for the Pilgrims. Then it all clicked.

In the run-in to the 2006-07 season, Ebanks-Blake bagged seven goals in the final 13 matches of the campaign. He followed that up with 25 goals in all competitions in 2007-08, some of those for Wolves, making him one of the most sought-after strikers in the Championship and the division's top scorer with 23 in the league.

However, the player had a £1.5m release clause in his contract and it was only a matter of time before a bigger club activated it. He moved to Wolves in January 2008.
It proved to be a superb piece of buisness by Mick McCarthy. He scored 12 goals in his first 20 Championship outings in the run-in after making his debut in a 3-0 home defeat to Crystal Palace.

The England Under-21 international again finished as the Championship's top scorer in 2008-09 with 25 goals.

Chris Iwelumo Bio

For all his club achievements this Scotland international will always be best remembered for one of the most horrendous misses of all time when playing for his country.

Iwelumo found the ball at his feet three yards from goal with the goalkeeper nowhere to be seen... and he put it wide. Scotland drew that game against Norway at Hampden Park 0-0. It was a World Cup qualifier. And Iwelumo's debut.

The striker began his career in his homeland with St Mirren and also spent two years in Denmark with Aarhus Fremad. When he returned to the United Kingdom it was in England with Stoke City.

He struggled to get into the Stoke side at first and was loaned to York City and Cheltenham Town before finally winning regular first team football. But he fell out of favour again in 2003-04, was eventually loaned to Brighton & Hove Albion and then released.

His next port of call would be German side Alemannia Aachen, where he spent just six disappointing months. He was then without a club until the summer of 2005 when Colchester United took a punt on him, and it proved to be a great move.

Iwelumo scored 35 League goals in 87 starts for an unfashionable club. But the Us had only given him a two-year deal and he opted to join Charlton in the summer of 2008 when his deal ran out.
The Scot spent just one season with the Addicks, scoring 10 goals, before Wolverhampton Wanderers snapped him up.

He made his debut for Wolves in a 2-2 draw at Plymouth Argyle and then bagged four goals in his next two matches. He scored 16 goals in his first season, but it was dogged by injury and he was limited to 25 starts.

Iwelumo then suffered the curse of the metatarsal in pre-season ahead of the club's 2009-10 Premier League campaign.

Andrew Keogh Bio

Republic of Ireland international Keogh began his career with Cabinteely FC and St Josephs Boys AFC before being signed into the Leeds United youth Academy.

He had loan spells with both Scunthorpe United and Bury before joining the former permanently in February 2005 for a fee in the region of £50,000.

Keogh helped Scunthorpe win promotion to League One and then netted 15 goals in 2005-06. That led to interest from Wolverhampton Wanderers, and he moved to the Championship side in January 2007 for £600,000.

The forward made his Wolves bow in a 1-0 win at Norwich City and soon became a vital member of the squad, although he was used as much from the bench as the start during the 2008-09 promotion season leading to rumours he could be sold.

Sam Vokes Bio

Young striker Vokes began his career with AFC Bournemouth, making his debut in a 2-0 victory over Nottingham Forest in December 2006.

He spent just 18 months in the Cherries' first team, playing 59 games and scoring 16 goals, before attracting interest from Wolverhampton Wanderers who signed him in the summer of 2008.

His Wolves bow came in a 2-2 draw at Plymouth Argyle, and he marked it with a 78th minute equaliser.

Vokes was very much a bench player for Wolves in their promotion season, coming on as a sub 32 times with just four starts.

He is a full Wales international.

Marcus Hahnemann Bio

Hahnemann returned to the Premier League in July 2009 when signing for Wolverhampton Wanderers on a free transfer.

The American goalkeeper had left Reading at the end of his deal after almost eight superb years in which he played two seasons in the top flight.

The 'keeper first came to the Premier League in the summer of 1999, joining Fulham from Colorado Rapids for £80,000. He made his debut for the club in a 1-0 League Cup defeat at the hands of Northampton Town in August 2000 but failed to win a regular starting place.

He joined Third Division Rochdale on loan in October 2001, making his debut in a goalless home draw with Rushden & Diamonds, and went on to play a total of seven games. Another loan spell came in December 2001 when he joined Second Division Reading, playing six games.

He was free to leave Fulham in the summer of 2002, but was handed a one-month extension to cover the club's early InterToto Cup games.

A permanent move to Reading provided his career with the impetus it required in August 2002. Since then he was a key man in the Royals' defence, including the stunning promotion triumph in 2005-06.

Proving to be an agile and dominant keeper, he played an important role in the success enjoyed by Steve Coppell's side and moved up the USA pecking order as a result.

He left Reading in 2009 bound for Wolves, but was signed to act as a mentor to the club's younger goalkeepers rather than a permanent first choice stopper.