Ledley King

King playing for Tottenham Hotspur
Personal information
Full name	Ledley Brenton King[1]
Date of birth	(1980-10-12) 12 October 1980 (age 31)[1]
Place of birth	Stepney, London, England
Height	1.88 m (6 ft 2 in) [2]
Playing position	Centre back
Youth career
1996–1998	Tottenham Hotspur
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps†	(Gls)†
1998–2012	Tottenham Hotspur	268	(10)
National team‡
2000–2002	England U21	9	(0)
2007	England B	1	(0)
2002-2010	England	21	(2)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 22:00, 22 April 2012 (UTC). † Appearances (Goals). ‡ National team caps and goals correct as of 17:00, 24 June 2011 (UTC)

Ledley Brenton King (born 12 October 1980) is an English footballer who is currently a free agent. He was the longest serving player at Tottenham Hotspur and captained Spurs since 2005. In March 2009 an article in The Times named King as Tottenham's 25th best player of all time.^[3]

In recent seasons King has been plagued by chronic knee problems, for which no effective treatment or remedy has been found, which prevent him from playing more than one game a week.^[4] Instead of training with the rest of the squad King undertakes fitness exercises on his own.^[5] His manager Harry Redknapp has called King "an absolute freak" for being able to perform at Premiership level despite not training.^[6] King has also received praise from former team mate and Sky Sports pundit Jamie Redknapp, saying that “He is like a magnet for the ball, a thoroughbred of a defender, the best centre-half in the country.”^[7]

Club career[link]

Tottenham Hotspur[link]

1996–2001[link]

King joined Tottenham as a trainee in July 1996 and became a professional the following year. 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 was scored in December 2000 in a 3–3 draw away to Bradford City which was scored in 9.7 seconds, setting a new Premier League record for the quickest goal.^[8]

2001–2006[link]

After Graham was sacked, King was moved back into defence under new manager Glenn Hoddle, and with the departure of Sol Campbell to rivals Arsenal, there was a chance for King to establish himself as the club's top centre-back. He began the season with a clean sheet against Aston Villa and a performance man-marking Duncan Ferguson as Spurs held on for a point against Everton at Goodison Park despite playing the final 25 minutes with 9 men. By the end of the season he'd been capped for England and was regarded as one of the best young defenders in the country as Tottenham finished 9th, their highest league finish in 6 years.

A hip injury sustained in the summer meant he did not start the campaign until November. However, King was criticised due to the large amount of goals Tottenham were conceding. The season ended with Tottenham letting in 9 goals in their final two games against Middlesbrough and Blackburn Rovers.

When Hoddle was sacked in September 2003, caretaker manager David Pleat moved King into midfield to offer a better defensive presence in the middle of the park. In February 2004, having not scored in over 3 years, King scored from the edge of the box in the FA Cup against Manchester City, and followed that up by scoring against Charlton a week later, before scoring on his first start for England the following week. Despite playing out of position for most of the season, he had done enough to convince Sven-Göran Eriksson to call him up to England's Euro 2004 squad.

In the summer of 2004, the Tottenham management team and squad was changed dramatically. Jacques Santini was appointed as manager and with defensive midfielders such as Michael Carrick, Pedro Mendes and Sean Davis joining the club, King was able to move back into his preferred centre-back slot. Noureddine Naybet was signed to bring experience to the Tottenham defence and King formed a fine partnership with him. This new partnership, as well as the form of newly signed England goalkeeper Paul Robinson meant that compared with 57 and 62 in the previous two seasons, Tottenham conceded just 41 goals in the Premier League, the fewest amount of league goals Tottenham had conceded in a season since the 1970–1971 season (albeit some of the seasons played in that time were 42 game seasons instead of 38). King played the full 90 minutes in all 38 of Tottenham's league games and 9 of Tottenham's 10 cup games, the only game he missed all season was a 3–0 win away to Nottingham Forest. Spurs kept 13 clean sheets in the Premiership, King scored 3 goals that season, one in the North London derby against Arsenal. He was voted Premier League Player of the Month for September 2004, the first defensive based player to win the award in almost 3 years. In January 2005, after the sale of Jamie Redknapp to Southampton, new manager Martin Jol appointed King as club captain.

In the summer of 2005, King captained Tottenham to win the Peace Cup, beating French champions Lyon in the final. King formed a new partnership with Michael Dawson. Spurs were even stronger in defence than the previous season, conceding only 38 league goals. King was helping at the other end of the pitch too, with goals against Charlton, Portsmouth, and once again in the derby against Arsenal. For much of the season, Spurs occupied fourth place and a possible Champions League place. However, in April he broke his metatarsal, meaning he missed the final four games of the season, in which Spurs took just 4 points, meaning they slipped down to 5th place on the final day of the season.

2006–present[link]

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 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. But on Boxing Day 2007, King made a surprise return to the starting lineup 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.^[9] King had featured in just 10 games all season, with just 4 Premiership games under his belt.

On 12 August 2008, Ledley 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.^{[citation needed]}

It became clear at the start of the 2008/2009 season that King's injury problems meant that he could not play in every game. Ramos picked him in all 5 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:

"There's no cure. There's no cartilage, nothing to operate on. It's just bone on bone. So it's just a question of managing it. It swells up after games and it normally takes seven days to recover but having played on Monday night he's had less time than usual. He rarely trains, he mostly just goes to the gym to keep himself ticking over. But not running or anything like that. But even if he only plays 20 games a season, he's worth having because he's so good we have a much better chance of winning."^[10]

King won his first game ever against Arsenal in the league on April 14, 2010, with a 2–1 win, which he played 90 minutes of. Exactly three weeks later, on May 5, 2010 King captained Tottenham to a 1–0 away victory at Manchester City, thus guaranteeing Tottenham's highest ever finish in the Premier League and securing entry into the qualification round of the UEFA Champions League for the first time. King had been a major doubt for the match having played against Bolton just 4 days earlier, however his performance in this game and many other games in early 2010 look to have secured his place in Fabio Capello's England squad for the 2010 FIFA World Cup in South Africa. On May 16, 2010 it was reported that King had signed a new two-year contract extension with Spurs which will keep him at the club to 2012.

King was released by Tottenham Hotspur at the end of the 2011/2012 season, but stated his desire to remain with Tottenham Hotspur as a member of their backroom staff.

International career[link]

King's England debut came in a 1–2 loss to Italy in March 2002.^[11] He was called into the England squad for the friendly against Portugal on 18 February 2004, and netted his first goal on his third appearance.

King received his England call-up for Euro 2004 deputising for the injured John Terry in the opener against France in Portugal.^[12] He also made a substitute appearance in midfield in the final group game against Croatia.^[13]

After featuring regularly in the qualifiers, King looked a likely participant in the England 2006 World Cup squad before fracturing a bone in his foot on 15 April 2006. Although not as bad as a similar injury affecting David Beckham, Gary Neville and Steven Gerrard, King's injury prevented him from being named in Sven-Göran Eriksson's squad.^[14]

"Ledley King is injured and he can't train. If you talk about centre-halves we are very well covered, so taking another one half-injured when we have so many good ones it is not a good idea."

King played in the Euro 2008 qualifier against Estonia on 6 June 2007. King played 90 minutes and England won 3–0. Although he featured in Fabio Capello's first squad, he had to pull out through injury. Due to a chronic knee condition which preventing him holding down a regular place in the club side he was also not selected for England games for the rest of 2007 and during the whole of 2008.

On 22 March 2009, King was given a recall by head coach Fabio Capello to the England team to play Slovakia and Ukraine.^[4] However, two days later he was removed from the squad after being assessed by England's medical staff, who thought it was in his best interests to continue his personal training regime at his club, due to the chronic knee condition that he has.^[15] Fabio Capello later said, in response to Harry Redknapp's objection to King's call-up, "Without doubt, King is one of the best central defenders in England. If he was fit, Redknapp would not need to make the journey. King could come with us." He later promoted King's cause again, saying that "We hope (he has an international future), because he's a very interesting player – one of the best centre-backs. But I don't know the future."

On May 11, 2010 King was named in the 30-man provisional squad for the 2010 FIFA World Cup alongside fellow Spurs central defender Michael Dawson. He went on to score a headed goal against Mexico in the first preparation friendly on 24 May.^[16]

King made it into England's World Cup 2010 squad. On 12 June 2010, King played 45 minutes for England in their opening match against the USA, before picking up a groin injury which kept him out of the rest of the tournament.^[17]

International goals[link]

Scores and results list England's goal tally first.

Goal	Date	Venue	Opponent	Result	Competition
1	24 May 2010	Wembley Stadium, London, England	Mexico	3-1	Friendly match

Some sources persist in crediting King with a goal against Portugal on 18 February 2004. But the video is quite clear about it: David Beckham's free kick from the right was touched square by Miguel's left foot and put in by his right knee; King didn't touch the ball. Portuguese sources correctly call it a Miguel own goal.

Club playing honours[link]

Tottenham Hotspur F.C.

• League Cup:
  • Winner (1): 2008

Individual[link]

• Premier League Player Of The Month September 2004

Club statistics[link]

All-Time Club Performance

Club	Season	League		FA Cup		League Cup		Europe		Total
		App	Goals	App	Goals	App	Goals	App	Goals	App	Goals
Tottenham Hotspur	1998–99	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	0
	1999–2000	3	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	3	0
	2000–01	18	1	5	1	0	0	0	0	23	2
	2001–02	32	0	3	1	7	1	0	0	42	2
	2002–03	25	0	1	0	0	0	0	0	26	0
	2003–04	29	1	3	1	3	0	0	0	35	2
	2004–05	38	2	5	1	4	0	0	0	47	3
	2005–06	26	3	0	0	1	0	0	0	27	3
	2006–07	21	0	0	0	0	0	6	0	27	0
	2007–08	4	0	1	0	3	0	2	0	10	0
	2008–09	24	1	0	0	2	0	3	0	29	1
	2009–10	20	2	1	0	-	-	-	-	21	2
	2010–11	6	0	0	0	-	-	3	0	9	0
	2011–12	15	0	0	0	-	-	0	0	15	0
Career Totals		260	10	19	4	20	1	14	0	313	15

2009 arrest[link]

On 10 May 2009 at 2:30 am, King was arrested on Soho Street on suspicion of assault and causing actual bodily harm outside a London nightclub. He was subsequently bailed until mid-July while the police investigated the incident.^[18] King later issued an apology to his club, saying:

"I sincerely regret that a night out with friends went too far. I have apologised to Harry and I fully appreciate that, as a professional footballer, I have a duty to behave in a responsible manner," King said in a statement on the club's website. "I am assisting the police with their enquiries. Anyone who knows me, knows that much of what has been suggested is totally out of character. I am keen to resolve this as soon as possible and concentrate on my football."^[19]

This prompted his manager at Tottenham, Harry Redknapp, to promise a ban on alcohol for Tottenham players:

"I'll implement a strong rule next season that drinking is a no-no here. Footballers should not drink. You shouldn't put diesel in a Ferrari. I know it's hard but they are earning big money, they are role models to kids. We wouldn't get these problems if the players weren't drinking. There's still too much of a drinking culture in English football but it's not as bad as it used to be. At Tottenham we do a lot with kids, a lot of them underprivileged. We have to set an example. Too much drinking goes on in this country. Too many people are not happy unless they have had a drink." ^[20]

Despite his arrest, Harry Redknapp later stated that King would start Tottenham's next league game.

Accolades[link]

References[link]

External links[link]

• Ledley King at National-Football-Teams.com
• Ledley King – FIFA competition record
• TheFA.com profile
• Ledley King career stats at Soccerbase
• King's international data at England Football Online

v t e England squad – UEFA Euro 2004 1 James 2 G. Neville 3 A. Cole 4 Gerrard 5 Terry 6 Campbell 7 Beckham (c) 8 Scholes 9 Rooney 10 Owen 11 Lampard 12 Bridge 13 Robinson 14 P. Neville 15 King 16 Carragher 17 Butt 18 Hargreaves 19 J. Cole 20 Dyer 21 Heskey 22 Walker 23 Vassell Coach: Eriksson

v t e England squad – 2010 FIFA World Cup 1 James 2 Johnson 3 A. Cole 4 Gerrard (c) 5 Dawson 6 Terry 7 Lennon 8 Lampard 9 Crouch 10 Rooney 11 J. Cole 12 Green 13 Warnock 14 Barry 15 Upson 16 Milner 17 Wright-Phillips 18 Carragher 19 Defoe 20 King 21 Heskey 22 Carrick 23 Hart Coach: Capello

Ray Parlour

Personal information
Full name	Raymond Parlour
Date of birth	(1973-03-07) 7 March 1973 (age 39)
Place of birth	Barking, London, England
Height	6 ft 0 in (1.83 m)[1]
Playing position	Midfielder
Youth career
1989–1992	Arsenal
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps†	(Gls)†
1992–2004	Arsenal	339	(22)
2004–2007	Middlesbrough	46	(0)
2007	Hull City	15	(0)
Total		400	(22)
National team
1992–1994	England U21	12	(0)
1998	England B	1	(0)
1999–2000	England	10	(0)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only. † Appearances (Goals).

Raymond "Ray" Parlour (born 7 March 1973 in Barking, London, UK), is a retired English footballer. He spent his career playing for Arsenal, Middlesbrough and Hull City. During his Arsenal career he was nicknamed "The Romford Pelé";^[2] although the nickname was given with an ironic sense of humour,^[3] on account of his solid performance but unglamorous image. He has been described as an "unsung hero"^[4] and praised as a "fans' favourite" for his high-energy performances.^[5] He is now a pundit on television, as well as on radio stations BBC Radio 5 Live and Talksport.

Football career[link]

Arsenal[link]

Parlour is most famous for his time at Arsenal, where he played for 14 years. He joined Arsenal as a trainee in 1989, and made his debut for the Gunners against Liverpool on January 29, 1992, where he conceded a penalty in a 2–0 defeat. Parlour continued to be a bit-part player for the next few years, and was more noted for several disciplinary problems (such as a run-in with a Hong Kong taxi driver while on tour). He did however make 12 appearances for the England U21 team during this time...

He properly broke through in 1994–95, and played in Arsenal's European Cup Winners' Cup final loss to Real Zaragoza that season (having been an unused sub in the Gunners' 1–0 triumph over Parma the previous season). However, Parlour only fully developed as a player after the arrival of Arsène Wenger as manager in 1996; he became a regular fixture playing on the right wing or in central midfield for Arsenal; in 1997–98 Arsenal won the Double and Parlour proved instrumental. He was man-of-the-match in the Gunners' FA Cup Final win over Newcastle United that season; he set up Nicolas Anelka for Arsenal's second goal in a 2–0 win.^[6] However, he missed out on the 1998 World Cup that summer (England coach Glenn Hoddle preferring Spurs' Darren Anderton instead).

Parlour finally made his England debut as a substitute in a Euro 2000 qualifier against Poland on March 27, 1999. He won ten caps for his country but did not score any goals; the closest he came was in a 2002 FIFA World Cup qualifier against Finland on October 11, 2000. Parlour 'scored' with a 30-yard strike which hit the crossbar and was incorrectly designated by the linesman not to have gone over the goal-line;^[7] the match finished 0–0. Parlour did not feature in any tournament finals; a knee injury forced him to withdraw from England's squad for Euro 2000. His final cap came in a friendly against Italy on November 15, 2000; Parlour was called up into the squad several times by new coach Sven-Göran Eriksson, but he never made it onto the pitch under the Swede.

Parlour continued to enjoy success with Arsenal for another four years (winning another Double in 2002), but generally received little acclaim in the media compared with many of his more illustrious Arsenal team-mates, especially as he was almost constantly living in the shadow of Patrick Vieira for much of his time at the club. He finally claimed his place in the spotlight with a 30-yard strike to open the scoring in the 2002 FA Cup Final against Chelsea, which was famously pre-empted by Soccer AM's Tim Lovejoy with "Don't worry, it's only Ray Parlour"; Arsenal won 2–0, with the second goal from Fredrik Ljungberg. In total, with Arsenal, Parlour won three FA Premier League titles, four FA Cups, one League Cup and one European Cup Winners' Cup having played 464 games and scoring 32 goals in all competitions.

In March 2000, he hit a hattrick in a 4–2 away win at Werder Bremen in a UEFA Cup quarter final tie. Arsenal went on to reach the final of the competition that year. Parlour was the only Arsenal player successful from the spot in their shootout defeat to Galatasaray. Seven months later, he followed it up with another hattrick in a 5–0 demolition of Newcastle United at Highbury. In April 2001, he struck a spectacular 30-yard winner as Arsenal beat Valencia 2–1 in the UEFA Champions' League Quarter Final 1st leg tie at Highbury. Another one of Parlour's finest moments in Arsenal colours came in November 2003, when as stand-in captain, he led Arsenal to a famous 5–1 win against Internazionale at San Siro. Finally, one of the crowning moments of Parlour's career was his goal from 30 yards in the 2002 FA Cup Final against Chelsea. These performances over the years have led many Arsenal fans to believe that he is one of the most underrated players of his generation.^[8]

Middlesbrough[link]

He moved to Middlesbrough in mid-2004, although he still remains a fans' favourite at Arsenal. He was recently named the 19th greatest player in the club's history. He played 60 games for Boro in two and a half years, and was an unused substitute in Middlesbrough's appearance in the 2006 UEFA Cup Final against Sevilla, which they lost 4–0. Parlour was released from his contract on 25 January 2007 and for a brief period trained with old club Arsenal in order to regain fitness with a view to finding a new club.^[9]

Hull City[link]

On 9 February 2007, he signed for Hull City until the end of the 2006–07 season.^[10] After helping City avoid relegation, it was confirmed on 1 June that Parlour was not offered a new contract and this meant he was released.^[11]

Parlour has emerged as one of the most influential players for The England Legends, a 16-man squad of former internationals who have played Italy, Germany, Scotland, Ireland and The Rest of The World.^[12]

Marriage[link]

Parlour married his wife Karen in 1998; the couple had three children before separating in 2001. In July 2004, they agreed a divorce settlement which awarded Karen Parlour two houses and a £250,000 lump sum but the issue of maintenance was not agreed. Ray Parlour offered Karen £120,000 p.a. on the basis that this would meet all of her and their children's needs, but she wanted more. Initially the court awarded her £212,500 a year, but both parties were unsatisfied with this and appealed.

The Court of Appeal increased Karen's award to £440,000 p.a. However, this would only be paid for five years to enable her to put aside £250,000 each year to build up her own capital resources. The case brought with it media speculation that future divorce cases would bring people a more equal share in their former partner's future earnings, and a possible increased usage of prenuptial agreements.^[13]

Honours[link]

Career statistics[link]

^[14][15]

(* Includes FA Cup match against Sheffield United of which the result was declared void, but Arsenal still include it in their statistics.)

References[link]