Cahill, born in Dronfield, is a 6’2” central defender.
He signed with Aston Villa’s academy at 15 but, before making it into Villa’s first team, spent most of the 2004-05 season on loan at Burnley. He was a hit at Turf Moor, making 27 Championship appearances and even being voted their ‘Player of the Year’.
He finally made his Villa debut, at 20, as a substitute in a 5-0 Old Trafford defeat to Manchester United.
He won the first of three England Under-21 caps in the first official match played at the new Wembley, a 3-3 draw with Italy before 55,000 fans in March 2007. His other caps came in the same season – a 5-0 win over Slovakia in a friendly and a 0-0 draw with Czech Republic in the opening fixture of the UEFA Championship Finals in Holland.
He switched from Villa to Bolton Wanderers seven months later and was quickly installed as their ‘Best Newcomer’.
At the age of 23 Cahill was chosen for his first full England squad following the injured Rio Ferdinand’s withdrawal from the squad to travel to Kazakhstan for a World Cup Qualifier in June 2009.
