Wayne Neville Anthony Routledge (born 7 January 1985) is an English former professional footballer who played as a winger. He represented England at under-16, under-19 and under-21 level. Routledge began his career in London with Crystal Palace as a youth before making senior appearances with the first team. He then moved to Premier League club Tottenham Hotspur for two years but spent part of that time on loan to Portsmouth and Fulham. He made only five appearances with Tottenham before moving to Aston Villa for one season but only made two appearances and spent part of the time with Championship club Cardiff City on loan before a permanent transfer to fellow Championship team Queens Park Rangers. After one season with them, he moved clubs again, this time to Newcastle United, helping them to win promotion and the Championship title. During his time there, he was loaned back to QPR who also sealed the title at the end of the season. After they were promoted, Routledge signed for Swansea City in 2011, where he remained until his retirement in 2021. Early life Routledge was born in Sidcup, London and attended Archbishop Lanfranc School in Croydon. Club career Crystal Palace Routledge began his career at Crystal Palace. He made his debut in the Football League First Division on 31 October 2001, replacing Jovan Kirovski for the last two minutes of a 1–0 home loss to West Bromwich Albion, aged 16 years and 297 days. On 14 September 2002, he scored his first goal in the first minute of his first start, a 4–2 home win over Wolverhampton Wanderers. A week later, he was sent off in a 3–3 draw at Watford. He was sent off on 9 August 2003 as the season opened with a 3–2 loss at Burnley, for tripping Luke Chadwick as Palace ended with nine men. Palace won promotion to the Premiership via the play-offs in 2003–04, and he was ever present as they went straight back down in 2004–05. After rejecting a £2 million approach in January, Tottenham Hotspur signed him on a deal effective from 1 July 2005. Though he was out of contract, his age meant that he would not leave on a Bosman transfer, and the two clubs agreed a compensation of £1.5 million. Tottenham Hotspur Routledge made his Tottenham debut on 13 August by starting in a 2–0 win at Portsmouth but suffered a