21 - Alex Pritchard (Midfielder)

Biography

DATE OF BIRTH

03/05/1993

HEIGHT

171 cm

SIGNED

12/01/2018

COUNTRY

England

Alex Pritchard joined Huddersfield Town for an undisclosed fee in January 2018 from Norwich City putting pen to paper on a contract running until the summer of 2021, with a further year’s option in Town’s favour.

Standing at 5’ 7” tall, Alex was born on 3 May 1993 in Essex.

He spent time in the youth setup at West Ham United before joining Tottenham Hotspur’s Academy, going on to turn professional at White Hart Lane.

His first taste of senior football came through a loan spell at Peterborough United in January 2013. Pritchard made six appearances for the Posh in the Sky Bet Championship before tearing ankle ligaments in a game against Leicester City, which ruled him out for the rest of the campaign.

Alex recovered and subsequently joined League 1 side Swindon Town for the 2013/14 campaign. He excelled at the County Ground, netting eight goals in 41 starts in all competitions for the Robins. His performances earned him nominations to the EFL’s Young Player of the Year and League 1 Player of the Year accolades at the end of the season.

Upon returning to his parent club, Pritchard subsequently made his Spurs and Premier League debut; coming on for seven minutes in the final-day 3-0 win over Aston Villa.

Alex’s next loan saw him step back up to the Sky Bet Championship as he joined Brentford for the 2014/15 campaign. The form he showed at Swindon carried through to the higher level, as he netted 12 goals in 45 starts for the Bees as they reached the Play-Off Semi-Finals.

His performances in the red and white shirt earned Alex a place in the PFA’s Championship Team of the Year, as well as Brentford’s ‘Players’ Player of the Year’ award.

Having been capped by England at Under-21 level, his Brentford form earned Alex a place in the squad for the European U21 Championships, but he suffered an injury in the first group game against Sweden and missed the rest of the tournament.

Pritchard signed a new four-year contract with Spurs on the back of that success and soon made his second Premier League appearance for Spurs, but subsequently made a move across the Premier League to join Tony Pulis’ West Brom side. He was limited to just three substitute appearances under his stewardship, however.

A permanent move away from Spurs followed later that year as Alex moved to Norwich City permanently for an undisclosed fee. He netted seven goals in 35 appearances during his debut season for the Canaries, but was ruled out of the early part of the current campaign following ankle surgery.