born in hornchurch, london, garry joined arsenal in 1999 and progressed through their youth academy, winning the fa youth cup in 2001. he signed a professional contract with arsenal on 2 july 2001, and his first team debut came against sunderland on 6 november 2002 in the league cup. he made his first starting appearance on 7 may 2003 against southampton, playing 90 minutes in a 6–1 win which saw hat-tricks from robert pires and jermaine pennant, the first match of arsenal's 49-game unbeaten run. however, this proved to be his only league appearance as he was then hit by long-term injury (shin splints) and spent most of the next four seasons on the sidelines.