Upson struggled to force his way into the first team at Highbury making 57 appearances in 6 seasons and also spent time out on loan at Nottingham Forest, Crystal Palace and Reading.

[3] Upson signed professional forms in April 1996,[4] and made his sole Football League appearance for the team as an 88th-minute substitute against Rotherham United in August 1996.

[6] However, faced with the longevity of Arsenal's existing centre backs, Tony Adams, Steve Bould and Martin Keown, and struck by injury problems of his own, Upson rarely had a chance to break into the first team.

[6] After spending a year out of the game recovering from an anterior cruciate ligament injury sustained in 1999,[8] Upson made a handful of first-team appearance for Arsenal, in between loan spells at Nottingham Forest in 2000 and Crystal Palace in 2001.

[11] With Arsenal's newly established centre-back pairing of Sol Campbell and Kolo Touré keeping him out of the team, he was bought by Birmingham City in January 2003.

[15] He suffered a leg injury whilst preparing for the local derby against Aston Villa in April 2006 and subsequently missed the rest of the season as Birmingham City were relegated to the Championship.

[16] Upson remained with the club while he worked on regaining his fitness, and returned to action in December in the 3–0 victory over Plymouth Argyle, scoring the second of the three goals.

[24] On 29 December, Upson scored for the first time in West Ham colours when he headed in the winning goal against Premier League champions Manchester United.

[27] He captained West Ham through a difficult 2009–10 campaign[28] in which he scored a goal in the opening match against Wolverhampton Wanderers and two more against Stoke City and Portsmouth.

[29] Following West Ham's relegation from the Premier League in May 2011, new manager Sam Allardyce confirmed that Upson would leave the club when his contract expired.

[34] After joining Stoke, Upson and fellow summer signing Jonathan Woodgate were used as backup to first-choice centre backs Robert Huth and Ryan Shawcross.

[51] Regular Premier League football for Birmingham City in the 2002–03 season led to his selection for the senior squad,[52] and he made his debut for England against South Africa in May 2003.

[53] He was named in the starting line-up to partner Rio Ferdinand, winning his eighth England cap more than three years after his last appearance.

[citation needed] The match was a defensive fiasco for Upson, who, along with Terry was caught out by a goal-kick allowing Miroslav Klose to score the opener on 20 minutes.