Born in Portsmouth on the 15th August 1993, Alex, the son of former Portsmouth player, Mark Chamberlain, began his footballing career at Southampton before moving to Arsenal in August 2011.
The “Ox” – named by fans because of his surname, physical strength and tenacity with the ball – joined Southampton Academy at the age of seven where his father was a coach. Despite the family link, Alex did not receive any preferential treatment; he was dedicated to his training and received no favours from his father.
Alex made his professional debut for Southampton on 2nd March 2010 at the age of 16 in a 5-0 win over Huddersfield, making him the club’s second youngest player to appear for the senior team behind future Arsenal team mate Theo Walcott. However, it was not until Alex’s appearance in a match against Bournemouth that he scored his first senior goal helping his team to a 2-0 win victory in the League Cup. Southampton rewarded Alex’s hard work and good form with a three year senior contract in August 2010.
On 4th September 2010, Alex made his first league start for Southampton which resulted in a 2-0 loss against Rochdale. Alex’s memorable sporting moment for the 2010-2011 season came in a match against Oldham where he scored the winning goal. The following month saw him voted ‘Man of the Match’ against Dagenham & Redbridge where he scored two goals in a 4-0 victory.
During his 2010-2011 season with Southampton, Alex scored ten goals for the team which helped secure their promotion to the Championship and was acknowledged by his peers for his dynamic footballing performances by being voted into the PFA League One team of the year.
Having had a successful season at Southampton, Arsenal signed Alex on 8th August 2011. Alex made his entrance into the Premier League in a match against champions Manchester United as a substitute in the 62nd minute of the game. The match was a bitter-sweet moment for Alex as Arsenal lost the game 8-2 to Manchester United.
On 20th September 2011, Alex scored his first goal for Arsenal against Shrewsbury Town in a League cup match. Later that month, Alex scored his first Champions League goal against Greek outfit Olympiacos which saw him become the youngest English player to score in the Champions league, taking this title from Theo Walcott.
Alex established himself within the Arsenal team in the match against AC Milan where he dominated the centre-midfield, helping the team to almost pull off one of the greatest footballing comebacks within the Champions League.
Alex’s international career started in the England Junior team (debut on the 16th November 2010) and the Under 21 team (debut on the 8th February 2011). The highlight of Alex’s Under 21 career was in October 2011 against Iceland where he scored a magnificent hat trick, resulting in England’s 3-0 win over the opposition. Alex’s impressive pace and form soon saw him enter the senior England squad during the European 2012 build-up and championship. Alex started for England on the 2nd June 2012 against Belgium and more impressively, played in England’s opening game against France in the European 2012 tournament.
© Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain.
