Shoot! would like to wish England international and Chelsea star Gary Cahill many happy returns as the defender celebrates his 31st birthday today!

The birthday boy, who has 52 international caps for his country, has scored three goals in 20 appearances in all competitions for The Blues so far this season, with Antonio Conte’s men leading the Premier League standings.

Cahill, who has also featured for Aston Villa, Burnley, Sheffield United and Bolton Wanderers during his experienced career, has already played over 200 first-team games for Chelsea since arriving at Stamford Bridge from The Trotters back in January 2012.

The centre-half, who began his career at Sunday League side AFC Dronfield and grew up as a boyhood Sheffield Wednesday fan, has lifted the Premier League, the UEFA Champions League, the UEFA Europa League, the FA Cup and the League Cup in almost five years with The Blues.

So, in honour of Cahill’s latest milestone, Shoot! have celebrated the defender’s career so far in a series of pictures…

Burnley bow

Despite kick starting his professional career at Aston Villa, it was actually at Burnley where Cahill made his first-team debut.

On November 8, 2004; the 18-year-old joined the Championship side on loan, before playing against Tottenham in the fourth round of the League Cup the following day, where Spurs ran out 3-0 winners.

Cahill also made his Football League debut whilst with the Clarets, on November 13, during the hosts’ 1-0 win over Nottingham Forest.

The centre-half scored one goal in 30 appearances for Burnley during the 2014-15 campaign, before being named the club’s Player of the Year and Young Player of the Year.

Villa debut

Upon his return to Villa Park, his impressive loan spell at Burnley was sure to bode well for the defender in the Midlands, where he made his Aston Villa debut on September 20, 2005, during their thrilling 8-3 victory over Wycombe Wanderers in the second round of the League Cup.

But, it wasn’t until April 1, 2006, that Cahill was called upon to make his Premier League debut.

The opposition: Arsenal. Not the easiest! As the Gunners ran out 5-0 victors after the defender replaced Ulises de la Cruz for the final 38 minutes.

Later that month, Cahill then netted his first goal for the Villans, an overheard kick against Midland rivals Birmingham City to inspire his team-mates to a 3-1 victory.

Sheffield spell

Despite making 20 appearances for Aston Villa during the following 2006-07 season, Cahill dipped back into the Championship and joined Sheffield United on a three-month loan in September 2007.

Just three days later, he made his Blades debut, during United’s 3-2 away defeat at Crystal Palace.

Cahill scored two goals in 16 games for the Blades, before returning to Villa Park in December.

Trotters time

A return to Villa in the Premier League was always part of the loan agreement with Sheffield United, but what happened next, was unexpected.

Come the end of January 2008, fellow top-flight side Bolton had agreed a deal with Villa to sign Cahill on a three-and-a-half-year deal.

He made his Trotters debut against Reading at the Madejski Stadium three days later, in Bolton’s 2-0 win.

Three Lions

Having become an integral part of Bolton Wanderers’ first-team XI ever since arriving at the Macron Stadium, Cahill’s club stature was transferred onto the international stage, as the defender worked his way into the England set-up.

On September 3, 2010, Cahill replaced fellow centre-half Michael Dawson during his country’s 4-0 victory over Bulgaria at Wembley Stadium.

His appearance meant Cahill became the first Bolton player to feature for the Three Lions since Michael Ricketts back in 2002.

England euphoria

However, it was almost a year to the day after that Cahill celebrated his first goal for his country.

On September 2, 2011, on his first competitive start for the Three Lions, the Bolton defender opened the scoring against Bulgaria, familiar foes, during England’s 3-0 UEFA Euro 2012 qualifying win.

Once more, Cahill wrote his name into Bolton’s record books, becoming the first Trotter to score for the Three Lions since Ray Parry in 1959.

Bolton Blues

The following transfer window, Bolton’s star man was lured away from the Macron Stadium, with Chelsea snatching his services for a reported £7m on January 16, 2012.

Cahill made his Chelsea debut on February 5, starting against Manchester United in a 3-3 draw at Stamford Bridge.

FA Cup hero

The following month, on March 18, 2012, Cahill netted his first goal for the club, during Chelsea’s entertaining 5-2 win over Leicester City in the quarter-finals of the FA Cup.

The new addition unveiled the words “PRAY 4 MUAMBA” underneath his jersey in support of ex-Bolton team-mate, Fabrice Muamba, who had suffered a cardiac arrest at Tottenham just the day before.

Chelsea went onto win the 2012 FA Cup final in May, defeating Liverpool 2-1 at Wembley, although Cahill missed out due to a hamstring injury.

European champion

Thankfully for the defender though, Cahill recovered in time to start Chelsea’s UEFA Champions League final showdown with Bayern Munich on May 19, especially with John Terry and Branislav Ivanovic both suspended.

The Blues went on to defeat the Bundesliga giants on penalties, lifting the club’s first-ever Champions League crown.

Euro 2012 heartache

Later in May 2012, new England manager Roy Hodgson named Chelsea’s Cahill in his forthcoming Euro 2012 squad.

But, the centre-half was ultimately ruled out of the major tournament with a broken jaw after colliding with goalkeeper Joe Hart during the Three Lions’ international friendly with Belgium at Wembley in early June.

He was replaced by Liverpool’s Martin Kelly.

Two-time European champion

Fast-forward a year, to May 2013, Cahill starred in Chelsea’s 2-1 victory over Portuguese outfit Benfica to win the UEFA Europa League final in Amsterdam.

Again, the club’s first Europa League title.

Premier League winner

Roll on another two years, and Cahill celebrated more success at Stamford Bridge, with Chelsea lifting their fifth league title after winning the 2014-15 Premier League trophy.

In doing so, the centre-half became the fastest player in Premier League history to win every major trophy available: the FA Cup and UEFA Champions League in 2012, the UEFA Europa League in 2013 and the League Cup and Premier League in 2015 – all in the span of just three years!

Captain your country

On October 9, 2015, Cahill captained England for the first time in his international career, during the Three Lions’ 2-0 Euro 2016 qualifying win against Estonia at Wembley.

Euro 2016 embarrassment

Unfortunately, to end this feature, we have to finish on a downer!

Chelsea’s Cahill was part of the England XI that crashed out of the knockout stages of Euro 2016 to the hands of minnows Iceland, after losing 2-1 in Nice.

Right, okay, that’s enough! Let’s not bring back all of those bad memories…