Chris Mepham

Chris Mepham
Personal information
Full name Christopher James Mepham[1]
Date of birth (1997-11-05) 5 November 1997[2]
Place of birth Hammersmith, England[3]
Height 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m)[3]
Playing position Centre-back
Club information
Current team
 Brentford
Number 6
Youth career
2008–2012 Chelsea
2012–2016 Brentford
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2016– Brentford 27 (1)
National team‡
2017 Wales U20 1 (0)
2017– Wales U21 4 (0)
2018– Wales 4 (0)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 22:04, 18 September 2018 (UTC)
‡ National team caps and goals correct as of 18:33, 9 September 2018 (UTC)

Christopher James Mepham (born 5 November 1997) is a Welsh professional football central defender who plays for Brentford. He is a product of the Brentford and Chelsea academies and is a Wales international.

Club career

Early years

A centre back and occasional right back,[4] Mepham began his career in the academy at Premier League club Chelsea at the age of 10.[5] He was released at the age of 14 and was then turned down by Watford and Queens Park Rangers.[6]

Brentford

Mepham joined the academy at Brentford in 2012,[5] after being spotted by the club's Head of Academy Recruitment while making a one-off appearance for North Greenford United's reserve team.[6] After making three appearances for the youth team as an U16,[7] Mepham signed a scholarship deal in June 2014.[5] On 2 February 2016 it was announced that Mepham had signed his first professional contract to be a member of the club's development squad and he finished his scholarship having made 43 appearances and scored two goals for the youth team.[4][7][8][9]

After consistently good performances for the reformed B team during the first half of the 2016–17 season, Mepham signed a two-year contract extension on 6 January 2017 and the following day,[10] he made his senior debut as a late substitute for Harlee Dean during a 5–1 FA Cup third round victory over Eastleigh.[11] A successful 2016–17 season saw Mepham named as the club's B Team Player of the Year.[12] After the departure of centre back Harlee Dean on 30 August 2017,[13] Mepham was promoted into the first team squad and signed a new five-year contract.[14] He made his first start for the club in a 3–1 EFL Cup third round defeat to Norwich City on 19 September 2017 and gave away the penalty which led to the Canaries' opening goal.[15][16] After appearing sporadically throughout the autumn,[15] a head injury suffered by John Egan in December allowed Mepham a run in the team from the Christmas period until early February 2018.[15][17] An achilles injury suffered by Andreas Bjelland in mid-March allowed Mepham back into the team and he scored the first senior goal of his career with the equaliser in a 1–1 draw with Sheffield United on Good Friday.[15][18] He finished the 2017–18 season with 23 appearances and one goal.[15]

International career

He was called into the Wales U20 squad for the 2017 Toulon Tournament and made one appearance,[19] in a 2–2 group stage draw with Ivory Coast on 5 June 2017.[20] He made his U21 debut with a start in a 3–0 2019 UEFA U21 Championship qualifying victory over Switzerland on 2 September 2017.[21] Mepham captained the U21 team for the first time in a 0–0 qualifying draw with Romania six weeks later.[22]

In March 2018, Mepham won his maiden call-up to the senior team for the 2018 China Cup.[23] He made his debut as a substitute for Ben Davies after 70 minutes of a 6–0 victory over China on 22 March 2018.[24] Two months later, he made his first international start, in a 0–0 friendly draw with Mexico on 28 May.[25]

Personal life

Mepham attended Queensmead School in South Ruislip and is a Queens Park Rangers supporter.[26][27] His uncle Roy was a member of the Brentford youth team in the 1960s.[5]

Career statistics

As of match played 18 September 2018
Club statistics
Club Season League FA Cup League Cup Total
DivisionAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoals
Brentford 2016–17[11] Championship 00100010
2017–18[15] 21 1 1 0 1 0 23 1
2018–19[28] 8 0 0 0 2 0 10 0
Career total 2912030341

Honours

References

  1. ↑ "Club list of registered players: As at 19th May 2018: Brentford" (PDF). English Football League. p. 8. Retrieved 16 June 2018.
  2. ↑ "Chris Mepham – Defender – First Team – Brentford FC". www.brentfordfc.com. Retrieved 20 September 2017.
  3. 1 2 "Chris Mepham". 11v11. Retrieved 19 September 2017.
  4. 1 2 "Brentford FC Youth Team duo sign first professional contracts". Retrieved 25 August 2017.
  5. 1 2 3 4 "Brentford FC". Retrieved 25 August 2017.
  6. 1 2 James, Stuart (21 March 2018). "Chris Mepham: 'It's surreal that Ryan Giggs wants to have a chat with you'". the Guardian. Retrieved 22 March 2018.
  7. 1 2 "Brentford FC". Retrieved 25 August 2017.
  8. ↑ "Brentford FC". Retrieved 25 August 2017.
  9. ↑ "Youth Team Player Stats". www.brentfordfc.co.uk. Archived from the original on 7 September 2016. Retrieved 6 January 2017.
  10. ↑ "Brentford FC Chris Mepham signs contract extension". Retrieved 25 August 2017.
  11. 1 2 "Games played by Chris Mepham in 2016/2017". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 31 January 2017.
  12. 1 2 "Brentford FC 2016/17 Awards Winners". Retrieved 26 May 2017.
  13. ↑ Moore, Tom (7 September 2017). "Brentford hand first team promotion to young defender". getwestlondon. Retrieved 7 September 2017.
  14. ↑ "Brentford FC Chris Mepham signs new long-term contract". Retrieved 18 September 2017.
  15. 1 2 3 4 5 6 "Games played by Chris Mepham in 2017/2018". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 30 March 2018.
  16. ↑ "Brentford vs Norwich City on 19 Sep 17 – Match Centre – Brentford FC". www.brentfordfc.com. Retrieved 19 September 2017.
  17. ↑ Moore, Tom (2 January 2018). "Dean Smith outlines hopes and plans for Brentford's youngsters". getwestlondon. Retrieved 2 January 2018.
  18. ↑ Moore, Tom (10 March 2018). "Brentford boss on Bjelland injury and Millwall loss". getwestlondon. Retrieved 1 April 2018.
  19. ↑ "Brentford FC Chris Mepham heading to Toulon Tournament". Retrieved 27 May 2017.
  20. ↑ "Wales – C. Mepham – Profile with news, career statistics and history – Soccerway". uk.soccerway.com. Retrieved 5 June 2017.
  21. ↑ "Brentford FC Mepham and Balcombe help home nations to wins". Retrieved 3 September 2017.
  22. ↑ "Brentford FC Mepham and Mads captain nations in Euro Qualifiers". Retrieved 15 November 2017.
  23. ↑ "Brentford FC Chris Mepham gets maiden full Wales Call-up". Retrieved 15 March 2018.
  24. ↑ "Brentford FC Wins for Mepham and Dalsgaard on international stage". Retrieved 23 March 2018.
  25. ↑ "Chris Mepham impresses on full debut for Wales". Retrieved 29 May 2018.
  26. ↑ "newsletter – Queensmead School – football". Retrieved 25 August 2017.
  27. ↑ "Brentford FC BRENTFORD 'GAVE EVERYTHING' IN WEST LONDON DERBY". Retrieved 8 September 2017.
  28. ↑ "Games played by Chris Mepham in 2018/2019". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 4 August 2018.
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