Karl Ready (born 14 August 1972) is a Welsh former professional

footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby le ...

who played as a defender. He notably played for

Queens Park Rangers Queens Park Rangers Football Club, commonly abbreviated to QPR, is a professional football club based in Shepherd's Bush, West London, England, which compete in the . After a nomadic early existence, they have played home matches at Loftus Ro ...

over an eleven-year spell that saw numerous seasons playing in the

Premier League The Premier League (legal name: The Football Association Premier League Limited) is the highest level of the men's English football league system. Contested by 20 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation with the English Foo ...

and saw him awarded the Player of the Season award for the 1997–98 campaign. He then played in the

Scottish Premier League The Scottish Premier League (SPL) was the top level league competition for professional football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football' ...

for

Motherwell Motherwell ( sco, Mitherwall, gd, Tobar na Màthar) is a town and former burgh in North Lanarkshire, Scotland, United Kingdom, south east of Glasgow. It has a population of around 32,120. Historically in the parish of Dalziel and part of Lanarks ...

before spending his final two seasons playing competitive football for Non-League sides

Aldershot Town Aldershot Town Football Club is a professional association football club based in Aldershot Aldershot () is a town in Hampshire, England. It lies on heathland in the extreme northeast corner of the county, southwest of London. The area i ...

Aylesbury United Aylesbury United Football Club is a football club based in Chesham, Buckinghamshire, England. They are currently members of Division One Central of the Southern League and play at Chesham United's Meadow ground, having been evicted from their ...

Crawley Town Crawley Town Football Club is a professional association football club based in the town of Crawley, West Sussex, England. The club was founded as Crawley Football Club in 1896, changed its name to Crawley Town Football Club in 1958. The team co ...

and

Farnborough Town Farnborough Football Club is a semi-professional football club based in Farnborough, Hampshire, England. Founded in 1967 as Farnborough Town, they are currently members of the , the sixth tier of English football and play at Cherrywood Road. H ...

. During his career, he gained five international

caps Caps are flat headgear. Caps or CAPS may also refer to: Science and technology Computing * CESG Assisted Products Service, provided by the U.K. Government Communications Headquarters * Composite Application Platform Suite, by Java Caps, a Java ...

for

Wales Wales ( cy, Cymru ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by England to the Wales–England border, east, the Irish Sea to the north and west, the Celtic Sea to the south west and the ...

Club career

Ready began his career at

where he went on to make over 250 appearances during an eleven-year spell with the club. During a match with

Crewe Alexandra Crewe Alexandra Football Club is an English professional association football club based in the town of Crewe, Cheshire, that competes in League Two, the fourth tier of the English football league system. Nicknamed 'The Railwaymen' because of ...

in August 2000, Ready suffered a broken ankle and a number of complications during his recovery resulted in him missing the majority of the start of the 2000–01 season. In 2001, he was released, joining

side

where he spent just one season, leaving when the club entered administration and subsequently cancelled the majority of their players' contracts. He returned to England, joining

. However, he was released by the club during the 2002–03 season and signed for

several months later, making his debut in the opening game of the 2003–04 season on 16 August 2003, converting a penalty during a 3–2 win over

Billericay Town Billericay Town Football Club is a football club based in Billericay, Essex, England. The club are currently members of and play at New Lodge. They are the second most successful club in FA Vase history, having won the competition on three o ...

. He spent one month at Bell Close before moving to

. In July 2004 he signed with

but left the club by mutual consent one month later having not played a game.

International career

Ready made appearances for both the Wales under-21 and B sides before making his senior debut on 11 February 1997 during a 0–0 draw with

Republic of Ireland Ireland ( ga, Éire ), also known as the Republic of Ireland (), is a country in north-western Europe consisting of 26 of the 32 counties of the island of Ireland. The capital and largest city is Dublin, on the eastern side of the island. A ...

. He appeared in three of Wales' next seven matches before winning his fifth and final cap on 6 June 1998 in a 4–0 defeat against

Tunisia ) , image_map = Tunisia location (orthographic projection).svg , map_caption = Location of Tunisia in northern Africa , image_map2 = , capital = Tunis , largest_city = capital , ...

Personal life

In November 1997, Ready and his friend were punched and kicked during a drunken street brawl in

Bicester Bicester ( ) is a historical market towngarden town and civil parishes in England, civil parish in the Cherwell (district), Cherwell district of northeastern Oxfordshire in Southern England that also comprises an Eco-towns, eco town at North Wes ...

. One of his attackers was jailed for 28 days in May 1998. In 2001, Ready was arrested for punching a taxi driver outside a nightclub in

Barbados Barbados is an island country in the Lesser Antilles of the West Indies, in the Caribbean region of the Americas, and the most easterly of the Caribbean Islands. It occupies an area of and has a population of about 287,000 (2019 estimate). ...

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Ready, Karl 1972 births Living people Welsh men's footballers Queens Park Rangers F.C. players Motherwell F.C. players Aldershot Town F.C. players Aylesbury United F.C. players Crawley Town F.C. players Farnborough F.C. players Premier League players Wales men's international footballers Wales men's under-21 international footballers English Football League players Scottish Premier League players Wales men's B international footballers Men's association football defenders