Jay Bothroyd (born 7 May 1982) is a former English professional footballer who last played as a striker for J1 League club Hokkaido Consadole Sapporo. A product of the Arsenal Academy, he left in 2000 and signed with Coventry City, spending three years with the Sky Blues and becoming the club's top-scorer with 11 goals during the 2002–03 season. His form attracted attention from Serie A's Perugia, and he signed with the club in 2003. He later returned to the UK and played for Blackburn Rovers, Charlton Athletic, Wolverhampton Wanderers, Stoke City, Cardiff City, Queens Park Rangers and Sheffield Wednesday. In 2014, Bothroyd began playing in Asia, first in Thailand for Muangthong United, and later in Japan for Júbilo Iwata and Hokkaido Consadole Sapporo. He also played for the England national team, earning his only cap in 2010. He retired in 2021. Club career Coventry City Bothroyd was born in Islington, London. He started his career in Arsenal's Academy, and played in their win against Coventry City in the 1999–2000 FA Youth Cup Final. At 18 years of age, Bothroyd was sold to Coventry after throwing his shirt at youth coach Don Howe and the bench, having been substituted in the 2000 Premier League Youth Cup final against West Ham United. Despite having never played a first-team match for Arsenal, he cost Coventry £1 million when he joined them on 13 July 2000. His league debut came on 4 November 2000 in a 2–1 home defeat to Manchester United in the Premier League. In the three years he played for Coventry, he scored seventeen goals in total, despite making little impact in his first season, after making his debut against Preston North End in the League Cup. Bothroyd only featured for Coventry after many other members of the squad had to be sold off to relieve the club's financial problems. He scored his debut goal in a defeat against Bradford City on 24 August 2001, and in the 2002–03 season became the club's top-scorer with 11 goals. Perugia Bothroyd's form for Coventry brought interest from Perugia, and he transferred to the Serie A club when his Coventry contract expired in 2003. Bothroyd was a mainstay for Perugia during their 2003–04 season, competing in the majority of their league matches, but he was unsettled in Italy. He joined Blackburn Rovers in August 2004 on loan from Perugia. After getting sent off