Gary Gardner is an English footballer who plays as a central midfielder for Coventry City

Coventry City F.C.

Coventry City Football Club, otherwise known as the Sky Blues owing to the traditional colour of their strip, are a professional English Football league club based in Coventry...

 on loan from Aston Villa

Aston Villa F.C.

Aston Villa Football Club is an English professional association football club based in Witton, Birmingham. The club was founded in 1874 and have played at their current home ground, Villa Park, since 1897. Aston Villa were founder members of The Football League in 1888. They were also founder...

. An attacking centre midfielder, he is yet to make a first team league appearance for Aston Villa but has made numerous international appearances at different international levels for England.

Aston Villa

Gardner started his career at Aston Villa

Aston Villa F.C.

Aston Villa Football Club is an English professional association football club based in Witton, Birmingham. The club was founded in 1874 and have played at their current home ground, Villa Park, since 1897. Aston Villa were founder members of The Football League in 1888. They were also founder...

 with older brother, Craig

Craig Gardner

Craig Gardner is an English footballer who plays as a central midfielder for Premier League club Sunderland. A versatile midfielder, Gardner can play in many different positions, although central midfield is his preferred position...

, but before he could even make an appearance for the under-18s, he was forced out with an anterior cruciate ligament [ACL] injury sustained in December 2009. He has since gone on to play for Aston Villa under-18s and reserves.

Gardner scored a brace in Aston Villa

Aston Villa F.C.

Aston Villa Football Club is an English professional association football club based in Witton, Birmingham. The club was founded in 1874 and have played at their current home ground, Villa Park, since 1897. Aston Villa were founder members of The Football League in 1888. They were also founder...

 reserves' 10–1 win over Arsenal

Arsenal F.C.

Arsenal Football Club is a professional English Premier League football club based in North London. One of the most successful clubs in English football, it has won 13 First Division and Premier League titles and 10 FA Cups...

, firstly catching out Gunners' goalkeeper James Shea

James Shea

James William Shea is an English footballer playing as a goalkeeper for Dagenham & Redbridge in Football League Two on loan from Arsenal.-Arsenal:Shea joined Arsenal's youth team in August 2007...

 to break the deadlock before scoring another from the penalty spot. He also set up Andreas Weimann

Andreas Weimann

Andreas "Andi" Weimann is an Austrian professional footballer who plays as a striker for Premier League side Aston Villa.-Rapid Vienna:...

 and Jonathan Hogg

Jonathan Hogg

Jonathan Lee Hogg is an English footballer who plays for Watford as a central midfielder. He previously played for Aston Villa, and spent periods on loan at Darlington and Portsmouth.-Aston Villa:...

's goals.

Gardner made his debut for Aston Villa's first team in a pre-season friendly, coming on as a substitute in the 2011 Barclays Asia Trophy final for captain Stiliyan Petrov

Stiliyan Petrov

Stiliyan Alyoshev Petrov is a Bulgarian footballer who captains Aston Villa in the Premier League and the Bulgarian national team. He won the Bulgarian Footballer of the Year award in 2003 when he was playing for Celtic...

.

Coventry City (loan)

On 26 November, Gardner joined Coventry City

Coventry City F.C.

Coventry City Football Club, otherwise known as the Sky Blues owing to the traditional colour of their strip, are a professional English Football league club based in Coventry...

 on an initial one-month loan deal. Gardner scored on his debut for Coventry in a 2-1 defeat against Brighton & Hove Albion

Brighton & Hove Albion F.C.

Brighton & Hove Albion Football Club are an English association football club based in the coastal city of Brighton & Hove, East Sussex. They currently play in the Football League Championship, the second tier of the English football league system....

.

International career

Gardner has played for England at numerous international levels, including Under-17s

England national under-17 football team

-Elite Qualifying Group 3:-Group stage:-Fifth place play-off:-FA International U17 Tournament:-Latest squad:The following players were named in the squad for the 2012 UEFA European Under-17 Football Championship qualifying round....

, Under-18s

England national under-18 football team

-Latest squad:The following players were named in the squad for the friendly match against Slovakia.-Recent call-ups:The following players have also been called up to the England under-18 squad and remain eligible.-References:...

, Under-20s

England national under-20 football team

- Round of 16 :-Friendlies:-Latest squad:The following players were named in the squad for the 2011 FIFA U-20 World Cup running from 29 July to the 20 August 2011.-Recent call-ups:...

 and the Under-21s

England national under-21 football team

England's national Under-21 football team, also known as England Under-21s or England U21, is considered to be the feeder team for the England national football team....

.

On 10 November 2011, Gardner came on as a sub, replacing Jason Lowe

Jason Lowe

Jason John Lowe is an English footballer who plays for Blackburn Rovers. He is primarily a midfielder but can also play at right back. He made his senior debut on 8 January 2011 in the FA Cup and his Premier League debut on 15 January 2011...

 in the 62nd minute, and scored his first two goals for the England under-21s against Iceland under-21s.

Club

Club	Season	League		FA Cup FA Cup The Football Association Challenge Cup, commonly known as the FA Cup, is a knockout cup competition in English football and is the oldest association football competition in the world. The "FA Cup" is run by and named after The Football Association and usually refers to the English men's...		League Cup Football League Cup The Football League Cup, commonly known as the League Cup or, from current sponsorship, the Carling Cup, is an English association football competition. Like the FA Cup, it is played on a knockout basis...		Europe		Total		Discipline
		Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals
Coventry City Coventry City F.C. Coventry City Football Club, otherwise known as the Sky Blues owing to the traditional colour of their strip, are a professional English Football league club based in Coventry...  (loan)	2011–12 2011–12 Coventry City F.C. season The 2011–12 season is Coventry City's 92nd season in The Football League and their 11th consecutive season in the Football League Championship, giving them the longest consecutive run out of all the teams in the division...	1	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	1	0	0
Career total		1	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	1	0	0

Personal life

Gardner is the brother of fellow professional football, Craig Gardner

Craig Gardner

Craig Gardner is an English footballer who plays as a central midfielder for Premier League club Sunderland. A versatile midfielder, Gardner can play in many different positions, although central midfield is his preferred position...

, also a product of the Aston Villa youth system.