Robert Pirès Villarreal What is Villarreal? In May 2006, Pires agreed to join Spanish side Villarreal. How long did he stay there? Pires was told in May 2010 that his contract would not be extended Did he retire after that? I don't know.
What position did he play?
What position did Robert Pires play?
In May 2006, Pires agreed to join Spanish side Villarreal. He joined on a free transfer, subject to passing a medical, bringing to an end his six-year career as an Arsenal player. After Villarreal were eliminated in the semi-finals of the 2006 Champions League by Arsenal, Villarrael coach Manuel Pellegrini had wanted to sign Arsenal's Pires or Thierry Henry.  Pires was officially unveiled as a Villarreal player on 3 July 2006. He scored his first goal for the club in 3-3 pre-season draw with Newcastle United on 5 August 2006. However, on 18 August 2006, Pires damaged the cruciate ligament in his left knee in a friendly match against Cadiz and required corrective surgery to alleviate the problem, which kept him out of action for seven months in his new club in Spanish top flight. Pires finally recovered from knee injury and made his first league appearance for Villarreal as a second-half substitute when he was named in Villarreal's squad to face Real Sociedad on 17 March 2007. Pires scored his first league goal on his return from injury in a 3-3 draw away to Real Betis on 31 March 2007. After three appearances as a substitute, Pires made his first start for Villarreal on 22 April 2007 against Barcelona. He opened the scoring for his team to defeat league leaders Barcelona 2-0, avenging his premature departure against Barcelona in the Champions League Final the previous May. On 13 May 2007, in a thumping 4-1 win at Osasuna, the former France international midfielder gave the visitors the perfect start with a seventh-minute opener as Villarreal continued their late-season push for a European spot. The run took "The Yellow Submarine", sinking at 11th spot without him in the side, to the brink of a UEFA Cup place in barely six weeks. Villarreal ended the season in 5th spot wherein Pires played crucial roles in helping Villarreal with the late charge up winning each of their final eight games and an entry into the UEFA Cup.  The 2007-08 season was marked by the ongoing saga between Juan Roman Riquelme and the board of Villarreal. Despite this distraction, Pires' leadership qualities helped Villarreal to win six of their opening eight games. Against Barcelona at El Madrigal, Pires technique earned the Yellow Submarine two penalties which were duly converted by captain Marcos Senna. By contrast, Pires' former national and Arsenal teammate Thierry Henry struggled at Barcelona.[2] Villarreal ended up finishing second in La Liga behind Real Madrid, which was their best league finish in history, beating Barcelona into third place.  In 2009, Pires faced former club Arsenal in the quarter-finals of the UEFA Champions League, coming on as a 70th-minute substitute in the first leg and playing the full 90 minutes at the Emirates Stadium. Villarreal were defeated 4-1 on aggregate, but Pires received a warm return from the Arsenal supporters, who sang his name throughout both legs.  Pires was told in May 2010 that his contract would not be extended and he would have to look for a new club during the summer as Villarreal will be "changing their philosophy". CANNOTANSWER
made his first league appearance for Villarreal as a second-half substitute when he was named in Villarreal's squad to face Real Sociedad on 17 March 2007.
is a former Japanese football player.

Playing career
Iwamaru was born in Fujioka on December 4, 1981. After graduating from high school, he joined the J1 League club Vissel Kobe in 2000. However he did not play as much as Makoto Kakegawa until 2003. In 2004, he played more often, after Kakegawa got hurt. In September 2004, he moved to Júbilo Iwata. In late 2004, he played often, after regular goalkeeper Yohei Sato got hurt. In 2005, he moved to the newly promoted J2 League club, Thespa Kusatsu (later Thespakusatsu Gunma), based in his home region. He competed with Nobuyuki Kojima for the position and played often. 

In 2006, he moved to the newly promoted J1 club, Avispa Fukuoka. However he did not play as much as Yuichi Mizutani. In 2007, he moved to the newly promoted J1 club, Yokohama FC. However he did not play as much as Takanori Sugeno and the club was relegated to J2 within a year. Although he did not play as much as Kenji Koyama in 2008, he played often in 2009. He did not play at all in 2010. 

In 2011, he moved to the J2 club Roasso Kumamoto. He did not play as much as Yuta Minami. In 2013, he moved to the newly promoted J2 club, V-Varen Nagasaki. Although he played in the first three matches, he did play at all after the fourth match, when Junki Kanayama played in his place. In 2014, he moved to the J2 club Thespakusatsu Gunma based in his local region. However he did not play at all, and retired at the end of the 2014 season.

Club statistics

References

External links 

 

1981 births
Living people
Association football people from Gunma Prefecture
Japanese footballers
J1 League players
J2 League players
Vissel Kobe players
Júbilo Iwata players
Thespakusatsu Gunma players
Avispa Fukuoka players
Yokohama FC players
Roasso Kumamoto players
V-Varen Nagasaki players
Association football goalkeepers John Stirk (born 5 September 1955) is an English former footballer. His primary position was as a right back. During his career he played for Ipswich Town, Watford, Chesterfield and North Shields. He also made two appearances for England at youth level.

Career 

Born in Consett, Stirk played youth football for local non-league team Consett A.F.C. He joined Ipswich Town on schoolboy terms in 1971, and after making two appearances for the England youth team, turned professional in 1973. During his time at Ipswich he was largely a reserve. He made his first-team debut on 5 November 1977, in a Football League First Division match against Manchester City at Portman Road. His manager at the time was Bobby Robson, who later went on to manage the England national football team. Ipswich won the FA Cup in 1978, in what proved to be Stirk's final season at the club. However, Stirk himself did not play in the final, nor did he play in any of the rounds en route to the final.

Another future England manager, Watford's Graham Taylor, signed Stirk for a transfer fee of £30,000 at the end of the 1977–78 season. Stirk went on to play every Watford league game in the 1978–79 season, as Watford gained promotion to the Second Division. However, Stirk did not play for Watford in the Second Division. Two months before the end of the 1979–80 season, Stirk was sold to Third Division side Chesterfield, at a profit to Watford of £10,000. After making 56 league appearances over two and a half seasons, Stirk left Chesterfield in 1983 moving on to Blyth Spartans then Tow Law Town, and finished his career at non-league North Shields.

References 

1955 births
Living people
Consett A.F.C. players
Ipswich Town F.C. players
Watford F.C. players
Chesterfield F.C. players
English Football League players
North Shields F.C. players
Sportspeople from Consett
Association football fullbacks
English footballers Charles Martin Slowes is an American sportscaster. Slowes is the radio play-by-play announcer for the Washington Nationals. He can be heard commentating every Washington Nationals game on the FM radio station 106.7 "The Fan" in the Washington D.C. metropolitan area.

Broadcasting experience
A native of The Bronx, New York City and Yonkers, New York, Slowes is a 1983 graduate of Fordham University. Slowes had also called play-by-play for the Baltimore Orioles and New York Mets. He began his career at KMOX Radio in St. Louis where he worked alongside broadcasting greats Jack Buck and Bob Costas. He has also worked for ESPN, NBC Sports, CBS Sports Radio, Mutual/Westwood One, SportsPhone, and the minor league AAA Tidewater Tides. On April 15, 1989, Slowes did play-by-play commentary for a Major League Baseball Game of the Week on NBC between the Houston Astros and Los Angeles Dodgers alongside Larry Dierker.

Slowes was also the radio voice of the Washington Bullets (later to become the Washington Wizards) from the 1986–87 NBA season to the 1996–97 NBA season. After 11 seasons with the Bullets, he joined the expansion Tampa Bay Devil Rays in 1998 as their radio play-by-play announcer, a position he held until 2004 when he joined the Nationals the next year. Since 2006, he has teamed with Dave Jageler for Washington Nationals broadcasts.

Slowes called the Nationals' run to the 2019 World Series, at which the Nationals gave Washington its first World Series title since the Washington Senators won it in 1924.

Trademarks
Slowes's broadcasting style typically features home run calls of "Going, going, gone, goodbye!" and "Bang, zoom goes [players name]!"

After every game the Nationals win, Slowes announces "A Curly W [referring to the Nationals' logo] is in the books" 

After a poor baserunning decision gets a runner out, Slowes often questions, "What was he thinking, what was he watching, where was he going?"

See also
List of Washington Nationals broadcasters

References

Living people
American radio sports announcers
Association football commentators
Baltimore Orioles announcers
Bowling broadcasters
Boxing commentators
College basketball announcers in the United States
Fordham University alumni
Major League Baseball broadcasters
National Basketball Association broadcasters
New York Mets announcers
People from the Bronx
Tampa Bay Rays announcers
Washington Bullets announcers
Washington Nationals announcers
1961 births
WFUV people