Ledley King

Ledley King
King in 2008
Personal information
Full name Ledley Brenton King[1]
Date of birth (1980-10-12) 12 October 1980 (age 44)[1]
Place of birth Bow, England[2]
Height 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m)[3]
Position(s) Defender
Team information
Current team
 Tottenham Hotspur (club ambassador)
Youth career
0000–1996 Senrab
1996–1999 Tottenham Hotspur
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
1999–2012 Tottenham Hotspur 268 (10)
International career
1996–1997 England U16 5 (0)
1999 England U18 3 (0)
1999–2001 England U21 12 (1)
2002–2010 England 21 (2)
Managerial career
2020–2021 Tottenham Hotspur (assistant coach)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals

Ledley Brenton King (born 12 October 1980) is an English former professional footballer. A one-club man, he spent his entire career with Premier League club Tottenham Hotspur and played 323 competitive matches for them from 1999 to 2012. He is currently a club ambassador for Tottenham Hotspur.

Highly rated as a central defender, in 2009 he was named by The Times as Tottenham's 25th best player of all time.[4] From 2002 to 2010, King made 21 international appearances for England, scoring twice and representing the nation at UEFA Euro 2004 and the 2010 FIFA World Cup.

In the latter part of his career, King was plagued by chronic knee problems, for which no effective treatment or remedy was found.[5] Instead of training with the rest of the squad King undertook fitness exercises on his own, allowing him to play one first team game per week.[6] His former manager Harry Redknapp called King "an absolute freak" for being able to perform at a Premier League level despite not training.[7] Whilst playing, King was cited by opponents and pundits as one of the best defenders in the Premier League.[8][9]

King announced his retirement from all forms of football on 19 July 2012 as a result of the chronic knee injuries that plagued much of his career.[10] In August 2020, King was appointed assistant first team coach to work alongside José Mourinho and other coaching staff at Tottenham.

  1. ^ a b Hugman, Barry J. (2005). The PFA Premier & Football League Players' Records 1946–2005. Queen Anne Press. p. 350. ISBN 1-85291-665-6.
  2. ^ Rollin, Glenda; Rollin, Jack, eds. (2012). Sky Sports Football Yearbook 2012–2013 (43rd ed.). London: Headline Publishing Group. p. 543. ISBN 978-0-7553-6356-8.
  3. ^ Cite error: The named reference PremProfile was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  4. ^ Myers, Phil (17 March 2009). "The 50 Greatest Tottenham Hotspur Players". The Times. London. Retrieved 10 August 2019.
  5. ^ "Capello awards King shock call-up". BBC Sport. 22 March 2009. Retrieved 13 September 2009.
  6. ^ Lawrence, Amy (14 March 2009). "Bone tired of talking about the joint". The Guardian. London. Retrieved 13 September 2009.
  7. ^ Dall, James (15 March 2009). "Harry hails King Ledley". Sky Sports. Retrieved 13 September 2009.
  8. ^ "Sky Sports pundit fears for "the best centre-half in the country"". Sport.co.uk. 8 May 2010. Retrieved 8 May 2010.
  9. ^ "On his day Ledley King was the best defender in the Premier League, trouble was, he ended up having too few of those days". Mirror.co.uk. 19 July 2012. Retrieved 12 November 2012.
  10. ^ "Tottenham Hotspur defender Ledley King announces retirement". BBC Sport. 19 July 2012. Retrieved 19 July 2012.