Christophe Berra

Scottish footballer

Christophe Didier Berra (born 31 January 1985) is a Scottish professional football former player and coach. Berra began his professional career with Heart of Midlothian, playing 146 times for them before he moved to England in 2009 in a £2.5 million transfer to Wolverhampton Wanderers. He was part of their promotion to the Premier League months later and played in the top flight with the team for three seasons before relegation. His contract was not renewed in 2013, after which he signed for Ipswich Town. Berra made 174 league appearances in four years with Ipswich before rejoining Hearts in 2017. In April 2021, he signed a two year pre contract agreement with Raith Rovers. After just over a season of playing for Raith and becoming a coach, Berra announced his retirement in July 2022.

Berra was born and raised in Edinburgh. He joined Heart of Midlothian on 26 April 2002 from their youth development system. He is one in a long line of young defenders, particularly centre backs, to have progressed through the Hearts youth system, including Paul Ritchie and Alan McLaren. After impressive performances in the youth and Under 21 teams, Berra made his first team debut on 30 November 2003 as a substitute in a 2–1 defeat at Dundee United. He made only a handful of further appearances during the remainder of the 2003–04 season, but continued his development over the following campaigns, becoming an important member of the first team squad. He scored in a 2–0 victory against Kilmarnock in season 2005–06 which aided the Tynecastle club's push towards UEFA Champions League qualification. That season also saw him gain a Scottish Cup winner's medal after being a non playing substitute in the 2006 Scottish Cup Final win against Gretna. In July 2006, Berra signed a five year deal with Hearts, before going on to play in the club's European ties in Champions League qualifiers and the UEFA Cup during a season that saw the club finish fourth. The following season, he became the youngest captain in the SPL after the departure of the previous Hearts captain Craig Gordon to Sunderland in August 2007.

Berra won international recognition at the end of the 2007–08 season and, during the close season, his growing reputation attracted the attention of Championship club Wolverhampton Wanderers. They made a reported £1.5 million bid to sign him, but it was not considered as Hearts were without a manager at the time. Wolves returned with an improved offer – reportedly £2million – on 27 January 2009, but it was again rejected. However, he eventually signed for Wolves for an undisclosed fee – believed to be around £2.5m – in a four and a half year deal on transfer deadline day. Berra helped Wolves complete the season at the top of the Championship and so enter Premier League. He went on to play regularly during their three seasons in the top division, being partnered at centre back by a collection of players including Jody Craddock, Richard Stearman and Roger Johnson. but this did not lead to any move away from the club and he remained part of the first team during the season. Then Wolves manager Ståle Solbakken stated that Berra's game had improved and stated that he hoped the club could agree a new contract with Berra. However, Solbakken was soon fired and Berra dropped out of first team contention under Dean Saunders. At the end of the campaign, which again saw the team relegated, it was announced that Berra would leave the club. In total he made 154 appearances for the club, without scoring.

Berra signed for Ipswich Town, managed by his former Wolves manager Mick McCarthy, in July 2013. He made his debut for the club in a 2–0 away loss to Stevenage in a League Cup first round tie on 6 August 2013. He made 46 appearances during his first season at Portman Road, as Ipswich finished 9th in the Championship. Berra formed a defensive partnership with Tommy Smith. He scored five league goals in the 2013–14 season, which was the third highest total by an Ipswich player that season. Berra won the Ipswich Town Supporters Player of the Season award for the 2013–14 season. He continued as a first team regular during the 2014–15 season, making his first appearance of the season in a 2–1 home win over Fulham on the opening day of the season. On 19 August, he scored a brace in a 2–2 draw with Birmingham City. He signed a new three year contract with Ipswich in September 2014. Berra made 50 appearances in all competitions over the course of the season, scoring 6 goals, as Ipswich finished 6th in the league and qualified for the Championship play offs.

On 23 May 2017 Berra signed a pre contract to return to Hearts. He made his second debut for the club on 18 July in the group stage of the Scottish League Cup, a 1–0 win at Elgin City. Four days later in the next game in the tournament, he scored his first goal since his comeback, heading Malaury Martin's corner kick in a 3–0 home win over East Fife. He won Heart's Player of the Year award during his first season back at the club, Hearts initially estimated that it would prevent him from playing for six months. After signing the contract, Berra said he intended to retire as a Hearts player. Berra was therefore stripped of the captaincy, which was then given to Steven Naismith. On 31 January, Berra was loaned to Championship club Dundee. Upon his arrival, he immediately became a key player for the Dark Blues. Berra very quickly struck up an effective partnership with Jordon Forster and Josh Meekings, with the defence keeping five consecutive clean sheets before the season was ended early by the COVID 19 pandemic. While Berra was on loan at Dundee, Hearts had been relegated to the Championship. Robbie Neilson replaced Stendel as Hearts manager during the 2020 close season and he returned the captaincy to Berra. After a season and a Scottish Challenge Cup win with the team, Berra was named as a player coach, taking the First Team Coach role with Rovers in June 2022. The following month, Berra announced his retirement from playing football, focusing fully on his coaching role.

In January 2023, Berra was appointed as first team coach at Livingston, working under David Martindale. He left Livingston at the end of the 2022–23 season. Berra is currently the Interim Head Coach for Huntsville City FC of MLS Next Pro.