Queens Park Rangers

Sterling joined the academy at Queens Park Rangers at the age of 10.^[3] At the age of 14, he was featured on the front cover of Jamaica's national newspaper The Gleaner who hailed his progress and reported that he had "dazzled the English football world with his prodigious talent".^[3]

Liverpool

Sterling warming up before the game against Vålerenga in August of 2011

Sterling was signed in February 2010 by Rafael Benítez for an initial fee of £600,000, which could rise to £5 million depending on how many appearances he makes for the first-team.^[4][5] He made his first appearance for the first team in a pre-season friendly against Borussia Mönchengladbach in Germany on 1 August 2010.
Sterling scored his first goal for Liverpool's youth team in a friendly against Hibernian in a 2–2 draw, coming off the bench and scoring a late equaliser. After all the friendlies, Sterling's first Premier Academy League match was a 2–2 draw against Aston Villa. His first league win was at home to Bristol City in a 3–0 win on 28 August 2010. On 15 December, Sterling scored his first FA Youth Cup goal for Liverpool's youth team in a 4–0 win over Notts County with Sterling netting the third. On 14 February 2011, Sterling scored five goals for Liverpool's youth team in a 9–0 win over Southend United in the FA Youth Cup.^[6]
On 24 March 2012, Sterling made his senior Liverpool debut as a substitute in a league match against Wigan Athletic aged 17 years and 107 days, becoming the second-youngest player ever to play for the club.^[7] On 1 May he made his second appearance, again as a substitute, against Fulham.^[8] On the final home game of the season, he made another substitute appearance in a 4–1 win against Chelsea.^[9]
In August 2012, he made his European cup competition debut for the club, coming on as an 23rd minute substitute in a UEFA Europa League qualifying match against Gomel, replacing Joe Cole in a 1–0 win.^[10] The following week Sterling scored his first goal for the senior team with a brilliant first-half strike in a friendly against Bayer Leverkusen. On 23 August 2012, he started his first game for Liverpool in a Europa League qualifying match away to Hearts in a 1–0 win.^[11] He was given his first start in the league three days later in a 2–2 draw at Anfield to Manchester City.^[12] He played the full 90 minutes in the loss to Arsenal on 2 September, and the draw with Sunderland on 15 September, where he registered one assist and was named man of the match. On 19 September, Sterling was one of the group of teenagers that travelled to Switzerland to play Young Boys in a Europa League group game. He replaced Stewart Downing in the second half as Liverpool won 5–3.^[13] On 20 October, Sterling scored his first senior competitive goal for Liverpool in the 29th minute in a 1–0 league win against Reading with a strike from the edge of the box. As a result he became the second-youngest player ever to score in a competitive fixture for Liverpool, behind only Michael Owen.^[14]

International career

Sterling has represented England at Under-16, Under-17, Under-19 and Under-21 level.^[15] He is also eligible to play for Jamaica, his country of birth, and his mother Nadine has stated that she would like to see him play for Jamaica at international level.^[16] Speaking of the possibility of playing for Jamaica, Sterling said: "When it comes to that decision, that is when I will decide but if Jamaica calls for me, why not?"^[3]
Sterling was selected to play for England for the 2011 U-17 World Cup. He scored a long-range goal in England's opening 2–0 win against Rwanda in Pachuca.^[17] He also scored against Argentina in the second round in a game where England won 4–2 on penalties.^[18]
On 10 September 2012, Sterling was called up to the senior England squad for the first time for a 2014 World Cup qualifying match against Ukraine, where he was an unused substitute.^[19][20] In early October he was called up for the first time to the Under-21 squad^[21] and made his debut as a substitute during a match against Serbia on 16 October.^[22]

Personal life

Sterling grew up in the Maverley area of Kingston, Jamaica and was raised by his grandmother.^[23] At the age of five Sterling emigrated to London, England with his mother.^[3] Once arrived, he attended Copland High School in Wembley, North West London.^[24]