4. Anthony Gerrard

Young English defender Anthony Gerrard initially signed for The Saddlers on loan from Everton towards the end of the 2004/05 season, on March 24^th, 2005 before making his move to the club permanent after the campaign had come to an end, this would prove to be a great signing for the club.

The former Republic of Ireland Under-18 international, who is cousin of England international Steven Gerrard, progressed through the highly rated Everton youth system and was highly regarded to have a great future in the game by the Merseyside club.   He signed a professional contract with The Toffees’ signed professional forms with the club in the summer 2004 and established himself a regular place in the reserve team at Goodison Park.

Before joining The Saddlers the Liverpool-born defender had a loan spell at Nationwide Conference outfit Accrington Stanley at the start of the 2004/05 season, Anthony adapted well to playing in the football league as he showed what he was about by putting in a number of solid no-nonsense displays, that continued when he moved to The Saddlers, he soon endeared The Saddler’s faithful and helped bring an upturn in the clubs fortunes, by helping the club keep their League 1 status that very season.

Gerrard is calm and a very assured central defender, who is also a strong tackle and extremely good on the ball. After been allowed to leave Everton at the end of the 2004/05 season he turned down offers from a number of other clubs in order to sign a 2-year contract with The Saddlers.