Rob Hulse

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Personal information
Rob Hulse
Full name	Robert Hulse
Date of birth	October 25, 1979 (age 27)
Place of birth	Crewe, England
Height	6ft 1in (1.85 m)
Position	Striker
Club information
Current club	Sheffield United
Number	9
Professional clubs*
Years	Club	Apps (goals)
1999-2002 2003-2005 2005 2005-2006 2006-present	Crewe Alexandra West Bromwich Albion → Leeds United (loan) Leeds United Sheffield United	116 (46) 038 (10) 013 (6) 039 (12) 015 (4)
* Professional club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 21:51, 8 December 2006 (UTC).

Robert Hulse (born 25 October 1979 in Crewe, Cheshire) is an English professional footballer who currently plays as a centre forward for Sheffield United in the Premiership.

Hulse began his career at his home town club of Crewe Alexandra, yet another prodigy with whom manager Dario Gradi has worked. After suffering a serious back injury, he spent 2 months on loan to then UniBond League side Hyde United where he scored 9 goals in 11 appearances during the 99/00 season. On returning to Crewe he spent 3 successful seasons in the first team before he moved on to West Bromwich Albion where he played a key role in the Baggies' promotion campaign, scoring ten times in 29 appearances.

Despite his influential role in the previous year's promotion campaign, Hulse was given little chance to prove himself in the top flight, playing just five league games before then joining Leeds on loan for the final three months of the 2004-05 campaign. His debut was spectacular, scoring two individual goals struck from outside the box against high-flying Reading.

The success of the loan spell led to a £1.1m transfer to Leeds where Hulse scored 20 goals in 51 games. He was the club's top scorer with 14 goals in season 2005-06 despite being in competition with several forwards including Robbie Blake, David Healy and Richard Cresswell for a place in the side.

However, with Leeds failing to gain promotion to the Premiership, Hulse's ambition led elsewhere and on July 24, 2006, Leeds accepted a bid of £2.2 million from Sheffield United although the fee could rise to £3m. After signing a three-year contract, he made his debut just four days later in a pre-season friendly against Rotherham United. He scored his first goal for United on August 8 in the Netherlands against ADO Den Haag in a friendly tour match.

He scored on his Sheffield United league debut in the opening match of the 2006-07 season against Liverpool at Bramall Lane on August 19, 2006. He is currently United's top goalscorer for the season with 4 goals.