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Last Updated: Jun 15th, 2003 - 13:30:32
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Feature: Life suddenly has no downsides for Upson
By Jason Hogan
Jun 15, 2003, 8:50am
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Ever heard the one about the former Arsenal misfit that went to Birmingham and became a fully-fledged England international within six months? My Lords, Ladies and Gentlemen, please give it up for Matthew Upson.
This may sound a little melodramatic to some but if ever there was a story to be told about triumph over adversity, this has to be it.
I always thought the lad had been seriously unlucky in his time at Highbury. We bought him in 1997 from Luton for a fee of about £1.2 million if I remember correctly but it wasnít really until 1999 that he even began to feature with any regularity. Then, in December that year, Upson picked a serious knee ligament injury in an innocuous incident at Leicesterís old Filbert Street ground and he was out of action for over a year.
After a further year of struggling to get in to the side, he was given a rare chance to show what he could do in a televised match against Everton in February 2002.
I remember the day well. The Gunners had something like 11 players missing for the trip to Goodison Park that day and though we won the game with a seriously fluky goal by Sylvain Wiltord, the victory came at a cost because Upson had his shinbone broken as a result of a crude challenge by Evertonís Lee Carsley.
Last summer, Upson was faced with yet another setback. Despite getting himself fit, Upson could only look on as Arsene Wenger unveiled a new centre back in Pascal Cygan. As a result, Upson took the opportunity to go on loan to Reading where he had a spell that was so successful, the Royals put in a bid to buy him at Christmas.
Wenger resisted the urge to sell him at that time Ė but then a few weeks later January and the new fangled transfer window came into being and Upsonís Arsenal career came to a very abrupt end.
Amongst my mates and fellow Gooners there was a general difference of opinion where Upson was concerned but when he was sold, I said to them and anyone else who would listen that we were making a mistake in selling him.
It just didnít make any sense given that most observers (except Wenger), partial or impartial, could see that Cygan was not up to scratch. In fact, I was telling people that we would not win the league if this chap had a part for any significant part of the campaign for months on end. Whatís more, Keown was already showing clear signs of wear and tear and as for Stepanovs? Well, he couldnít even hold down a place on the Arsenal bench let alone in the first team.
What made things even worse was the fact that Wenger made no attempt to replace Upson. I donít need to tell any of you how things panned out for Arsenal from that point on but believe me, I take no pride in the fact that I was right about all the above in the end.
To be fair to Upson, I thought he handled the whole situation with great dignity and instead of looking back in anger (thatís almost a cue for a song but I will resist), he set about grasping his new opportunity with Birmingham Ė and now his career has taken off.
At St Andrews, Upson turned himself into one of the cornerstones of the Birmingham side almost overnight and he is a hero not just amongst the Blues fans but also his new teammates.
I remember listening to the England game against the Serbs and the Monties last week on Radio Five Live and guest match summariser Robbie Savage said that he could not believe that Arsenal let him go.
Given that Savage is not exactly my favourite person, itís galling to agree with anything that he has to say but when you consider that Ashley Cole backed up his view in this Mondayís newspapers, it shows that Savage and myself were not alone in out thinking.
Itís a strong possibility that Upson will earn his third cap on Wednesday against the Slovakians. That prospect seemed a long way off this time a year ago but suddenly the sky seems to be just about the limit for the lad and (selection permitting of course) when he steps out on to the pitch at the Riverside on Wednesday night nobody will be more pleased for him than me.
I wonder what the thoughts of Arsene Wenger mirror my own? He has let his fair share of young home grown players leave Highbury in his time and very few if any have come back to haunt him. But taking into account the defensive problems we had after Upson left, even he would have to admit deep down that Upson has definitely proved to be the one that got away.
The phrase ďact in haste, repent at leisureĒ suddenly springs to mind.
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