Ledley King

Ledley Brenton King (born 12 October 1980) is an English former professional footballer.

King was born in Bow, London in 1980.

As a youth footballer, he played for Senrab F.C. and the Tower Hamlets district representative team.

He attended the Blessed John Roche RC School, which is now closed.

In a Premier League clash with reigning champions Chelsea at White Hart Lane, Spurs went on to win the game 2–1, meaning King had captained Tottenham to their first league win over Chelsea since 1990, and the first at White Hart Lane since 1987.

King underwent surgery in the summer, meaning he would miss the start of the season.

Manager Martin Jol had been sacked and replaced by Juande Ramos.

King joined Tottenham as a trainee in July 1996 and progressed through the youth system.

Whilst a trainee, he was identified as having qualities and instincts similar to Bobby Moore.

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.

His debut came in May 1999 at Anfield ending in a 3–2 defeat to Liverpool.

When breaking into the first team under former manager George Graham he was often used as a midfielder.

It was with a performance in central midfield during Tottenham's 2–1 win over Liverpool in November 2000 that he established himself as a regular in the Spurs side.

His first goal for Tottenham came in December 2000 in a 3–3 draw away to Bradford City after just ten seconds, setting a new Premier League record for the quickest goal.

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.

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.

His former manager Harry Redknapp called King "an absolute freak" for being able to perform at a Premier League level despite not training.

Whilst playing, King was cited by opponents and pundits as one of the best defenders in the Premier League.

But on Boxing Day 2007, King made a surprise return to the starting line-up against Fulham, playing 73 minutes before being replaced by Adel Taarabt.

He appeared sporadically for the rest of the season, but captained Tottenham to a 2–1 victory over Chelsea in the 2008 League Cup final, the first major honour of his career.

On 3 April 2008, it was announced that he would be rested for the remainder of the season, Spurs having been knocked out of the UEFA Cup, FA Cup and unable to qualify for the Champions League through the League.

King had featured in just 10 games all season, with just four Premiership games under his belt.

On 12 August 2008, King picked up the trophy for the cleanest team in the Premier league for the season.

He received the award at the 'Get on with the Game' programme which was shown on Sky Sports News.

It became clear at the start of the 2008–09 season that King's injury problems meant that he could not play in every game.

Ramos picked him in all five of the cup games he managed the club for that season, but only two of the eight league games.

With Spurs rooted to the bottom of the league, having picked up just 2 points from those 8 games, Ramos was sacked and replaced by Harry Redknapp, who chose to prioritise the league and only play King in those games.

On 26 October 2008, King made his 200th league appearance for Tottenham Hotspur as they defeated Bolton Wanderers 2–0.

He captained the club in the League Cup final yet again, this time against Manchester United, keeping a clean sheet after 120 minutes of play, but Tottenham lost on penalties.

Harry Redknapp said of King's knee injury:

Highly rated as a central defender, in 2009 he was named by The Times as Tottenham's 25th best player of all time.

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.

This record stood for over 18 years, finally beaten by Shane Long, scoring for Southampton on 23 April 2019 after only 7.69 seconds.

After injuring his knee in training before the start of the season, King did not start his season until mid-September.

Then after breaking his metatarsal again, he did not feature for Spurs from Boxing Day until the UEFA Cup quarter-final clash with Sevilla in mid-April.

Spurs played 59 games in all competitions that season, but King featured in less than half of them.

Tottenham only managed 3 clean sheets against top flight opposition without King in the side.

In August 2020, King was appointed assistant first team coach to work alongside José Mourinho and other coaching staff at Tottenham.