Chris Gunter

Christopher Ross "Chris" Gunter (born 21 July 1989) is a Welsh professional footballer who plays as a defender for Championship club Reading and the Wales national team. An attacking full back, he is capable of playing on both flanks but usually plays on his preferred right side.
He joined Cardiff City's youth system and was signed by Premier League club Tottenham Hotspur for £4 million in January 2008. Rarely used at Tottenham, he returned to the Championship with Nottingham Forest, initially on loan, before joining Reading in 2012.
Gunter has been a Welsh international since under-17 level and holds the record as the second youngest debutant for the under-21 team. A full international since 2007, he has earned over 75 caps for Wales and was part of their team that reached the semi-finals at UEFA Euro 2016.

Cardiff City

Gunter started out as a striker when he played for Durham Colts and Albion Rovers junior teams in Newport but switched to full-back at a young age and signed for the Cardiff City youth side at the age of eight. He signed his first professional contract with the club on 1 August 2006 along with fellow Cardiff academy graduate Darcy Blake.

Primarily a right-sided defender, Gunter made his debut for Cardiff City on 22 August 2006 against Barnet in the League Cup first round, playing the full 90 minutes of a 0–2 loss at Ninian Park. His league debut came in a 1–0 home loss to QPR on 17 November. Gunter was praised for his performance by manager Dave Jones.

In March 2007 he won the Football League's Apprentice of the Year award after impressing in the first team squad due to injuries to some regular players and during the summer of 2007, Gunter was the subject of two bids from Premier League club Everton. Both, however, were rejected.

Tottenham Hotspur

According to reports on 21 December 2007, Cardiff agreed a substantial fee with Tottenham Hotspur and therefore allowed Gunter to enter into talks with the club. Cardiff also stated that Tottenham had "met their valuation of the player" which had previously been reported at £4 million. On 22 December Gunter passed a medical at White Hart Lane with a view to a £2 million move. The move was made official on 24 December and he joined the club after the transfer window opened on 1 January 2008.

Gunter made his debut for Spurs on 15 January in an FA Cup third round against Reading at the Madejski Stadium, playing the entirety of a 1–0 victory. Fifteen days later, he made his top-flight debut for Spurs, playing 62 minutes of a goalless draw at Everton before being replaced by Kevin-Prince Boateng. He made only one more league appearance that season, filling in for Didier Zokora for the final 17 minutes of a 4–1 loss at Birmingham City on 1 March.

His second season did not see him become a regular, as he featured in only three league matches, playing the full 90 minutes in none of them. On 12 March 2009, Gunter moved on loan to Nottingham Forest for the rest of the 2008–09 season.

Nottingham Forest

Gunter playing for Nottingham Forest in 2011

On 17 July 2009 Tottenham Hotspur accepted a bid of £1.75 million from Nottingham Forest. Forest completed the signing of Gunter on 20 July on a four-year contract. He scored his first goal for the club in a 1–0 victory at Plymouth Argyle on 27 September 2009. It was also Gunter's first goal in senior football. In the match between Nottingham Forest and Crystal Palace on 23 March 2010, Gunter made his 100th senior club appearance. In May 2010 he was selected in the Championship PFA Team of the Year for the 2009–10 season.

On 15 August 2010, Gunter and Sanchez Watt were booked by referee Tony Bates for an on-field altercation; however later that month the FA retrospectively gave Gunter a three-match ban when replays showed him stamping on the Leeds United player.

A regular at right-back during his time at Forest, Gunter scored his only other goal for the club on 16 August 2011, the only goal of a match at Doncaster Rovers.

Reading

Gunter playing for Reading away at Cardiff, 2014

Gunter completed a move to Reading on 17 July 2012, signing a three-year deal for the club who had been promoted to the Premier League. The fee was undisclosed but has been reported to have been between £2.3 million and £2.5 million. He scored his first goal for Reading against Peterborough United in the League Cup on 28 August 2012, the 3–2 home victory putting the team into the third round. He played 20 league matches for the Royals, who ended the season relegated. On 29 November 2013, Gunter was sent off as Reading won 3–2 at his former club Forest.

On 27 March 2015, Reading took up the option in Gunter's contract to extend his stay with the Royals for an additional year. In the League Cup first round on 11 August, he scored the extra-time only goal as Reading won away at Colchester United.

On 18 February 2016, Gunter signed a new two-year contract to keep him at Reading until the summer of 2018.

Gunter made his full Wales début in 2007 against New Zealand

Youth teams

Gunter started his Wales career during the 2003–04 season, making four appearances for the Schools under-15 development squad before moving up to the Welsh Schools under-16 squad and played in a friendly against Republic of Ireland plus three Victory Shield internationals. He then made 11 appearances at Wales under-17 level during 2005–06, playing in two rounds of the UEFA Championships as Wales qualified from the opening group to reach the elite stage. His next step was playing for the Wales U19 squad in the Milk Cup.

At age 16 years and 299 days, Gunter was the youngest player to play for the Wales Under-21 team when he played against Cyprus Under-21 until his former clubmate Aaron Ramsey broke the record in August 2007.

Senior team

Gunter on Welsh international duty against the Netherlands, 2015

Gunter made his full international debut for Wales in a friendly match against New Zealand on 26 May 2007 at the Racecourse Ground, Wrexham, featuring for the first half of a 2–2 draw. He was ever present at right back during 2010 World Cup qualifying and was the only player in the squad to have played in all ten matches.

On 8 October 2010 Gunter received a straight red card in added time for a professional foul against Dimitar Rangelov in the 0–1 home loss against Bulgaria in a Euro 2012 qualifying match at the Cardiff City Stadium. Aged 24, he won his 50th cap for Wales in the 1–1 away draw with Belgium in 2014 FIFA World Cup qualification on 15 October 2013. Gunter was part of Wales' UEFA EURO 2016 23-man squad and played every minute of the six games Wales took part in as they reached the Semi-final stage. Gunter won his 75th cap, aged just 27 years, on 6 October 2016 in a 2-2 away draw against Austria in 2018 FIFA World Cup qualifying.

Gunter was born in Newport. As a youngster Gunter attended Durham Road Junior School before moving on to St Julian's High School as a teenager. He and his brother Marc followed Cardiff City, and he continued to go to away games on supporters' coaches until 2006. Gunter also holds a BTEC National Diploma in Sports Studies. Gunter was a former flatmate of fellow Welshman Aaron Ramsey who plays for Arsenal, London rivals of Gunter's then team Tottenham Hotspur. Gunter was also best man for Ramsey at his wedding.

Club

As of match played 26 December 2016.

International

Gunter lining up for Wales in 2011

As of match played 12 November 2016.