Aaron Lennon

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Aaron Lennon

Personal information
Full name	Aaron Justin Lennon
Date of birth	16 April 1987 (1987-04-16) (age 22)
Place of birth	Chapeltown, Leeds, England
Height	1.65 m (5 ft 5 in)
Playing position	Winger
Club information
Current club	Tottenham Hotspur
Number	7
Youth career
2001–2003	Leeds United
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps†	(Gls)†
2003–2005	Leeds United	38	(1)
2005–	Tottenham Hotspur	130	(15)
National team‡
2005–2008	England U-21	5	(0)
2006–2007	England B	2	(0)
2006–	England	15	(0)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 16:23, 6 December 2009 (UTC+1). † Appearances (Goals). ‡ National team caps and goals correct as of 21:49, 14 October 2009 (UTC+1)

Aaron Justin Lennon (born 16 April 1987 in Chapeltown, Leeds) is an English footballer who currently plays for English Premier League club Tottenham Hotspur. At 5'5" tall, Lennon is currently the shortest player in the Premier League. He is considered to be one of the fastest players in England.^[1]

[edit] Club career

[edit] Leeds

A right winger, Aaron Lennon began his professional career at Leeds United, where he became the youngest player ever to appear in the Premier League at the age of 16 years and 129 days, coming off the bench at White Hart Lane against Tottenham Hotspur in a 2-1 loss in August 2003.^[2] He was then carrying on his studies at Leeds' partner school, Boston Spa School. He had been a member of the Leeds United Academy for a long time before breaking into the first team setup. In 2001, he set a record as the youngest player ever to have his boots sponsored when he signed up with Adidas at the age of just 14. Lennon scored his only goal for Leeds against Sunderland on Boxing Day 2004 during 3-2 win. His older brother Anthony was also at the Leeds Academy, but never made it into the first team as he was involved in a car accident which resulted in him losing his left arm.

[edit] Tottenham Hotspur

With Leeds suffering financial difficulties, Lennon made a £1 million move to Tottenham Hotspur in early June 2005 and his Spurs debut came a couple of months later in an August defeat against Chelsea. On 18 March 2006, Lennon scored his first Premier League goal in Tottenham's 2-0 victory over Birmingham City at St. Andrew's, early in the second half.

He was nominated by fellow Premiership players for the PFA Young Player of the Year for the 2005–06 season, and subsequently again in the 2006–07 season. The awards ultimately went to Wayne Rooney, and to Cristiano Ronaldo of Manchester United.

Lennon signed a new 5 ½ year deal worth £20,000 a week with Tottenham on 8 January 2007, which will keep him at the club until 2012.^[3] He signed an improved deal in March 2009 which contracts him to Spurs until 2014.^[4] For the third successive year, in the 2008-09 season, he was nominated for the PFA Young Player of the Year. The award was ultimately awarded to Aston Villa's Ashley Young. Lennon also won both the Tottenham Hotspur 'Player of the Season' and the 'Young Player of the Season' award in the 2008-09 season.

The lightning winger was named the supporters' Player of the Season for 2008-09. He terrorised left-backs up and down the country during his 47 games in all competitions, earning a new five-year contract at the Club in March 2009 as well as a recall to the England senior squad the same week. Aaron also scored five goals during the campaign, including a memorable last minute equaliser during a 4-4 draw with Arsenal at the Emirates Stadium in October 2008.

His goals early in the 2009-10 season - against West Ham at Upton Park, and Birmingham City - kept Tottenham at the top of the league table, with four successive wins, their best start to a league season since the 1960-61 season.^[5]

On 24 October 2009, Lennon was injured in a match against Stoke; Tottenham were consequently reduced to ten men as Harry Redknapp had used all three available substitutes. However he returned on November 22 in a 9-1 victory against Wigan Athletic. He provided three assists and scored one goal. He was substituted in the 79th minute for David Bentley receiving a standing ovation from the fans at White Hart Lane.

[edit] International career

Lennon was called up to the England U-21 team team for the first time in October 2005 and on 8 May 2006, he was picked in England's 2006 FIFA World Cup squad, despite being uncapped at senior level.

He was named Man of the match in the England B match with Belarus on 25 May 2006 in England's World Cup warm-up match at the Madejski Stadium in Reading, Berkshire, which ultimately England B lost 2-1. He made his full England debut as a second-half substitute in the 6-0 win over Jamaica on 2 June.

Lennon came on as a substitute for England in their second group stage game of World Cup 2006 (his first World Cup finals appearance) against Trinidad and Tobago. England scored twice following his and Wayne Rooney's arrival on the field, winning the game 2-0. There were some suggestions amongst fans for him to replace David Beckham on the right side of midfield.^[6] Lennon then played in the quarter-final match against Portugal, coming on as a substitute for the injured David Beckham. Lennon was then himself substituted for Jamie Carragher immediately prior to a penalty shootout, in which England lost.

Lennon also came on as a substitute against Andorra during a UEFA Euro qualifier and made an instant impact by assisting Peter Crouch's second goal after receiving the ball for the first time.

Lennon made his first start for England against Israel in a UEFA Euro qualifier on 24 March 2007 and four days later, he was again selected in the first XI against Andorra. This proved to be Lennon's last appearance for exactly two years as it wasn't until 28 March 2009 that he was selected again by England, starting in a friendly match with Slovakia at Wembley Stadium. Lennon started again for England when they played Ukraine on 1 April 2009 at Wembley Stadium, although Lennon was substituted in both games for Beckham.

He was called up for the friendly against Slovenia and the World Cup qualifier versus Croatia, following his fine form for Tottenham,^[7] and was named Nationwide Man of the Match for the 5-1 win over Croatia.^[8]

[edit] Honours

[edit] Club

• Carling Cup: 2007-08
• Premier League Asia Trophy: 2010

[edit] Individual

• PFA Fans' Player of the Month: March 2009
• Tottenham Hotspur Football Club 'Player Of The Year': 2008-09
• Tottenham Hotspur Football Club 'Young Player Of The Year': 2005-06, 2008-09
• Tottenham Hotspur Football Club 'Moment Of The Year': 2008-09 (for his last gasp equaliser vs Arsenal in the dramatic 4-4 draw.)
• PFA Young Player of the Year (nominated): 2005-06, 2006-07, 2008-09

[edit] Career stats

[edit] References

[edit] External links

• Aaron Lennon career stats at Soccerbase
• Aaron Lennon profile at thefa.com
• Profile at 4thegame.com
• Photos and stats at sporting-heroes.net
• Profile at premierleague.com
• Aaron Lennon profile at Yahoo! Sports UK
• Aaron Lennon FIFA competition record

v • d • e England squad – 2006 FIFA World Cup 1 Robinson • 2 Neville • 3 A. Cole • 4 Gerrard • 5 Ferdinand • 6 Terry • 7 Beckham • 8 Lampard • 9 Rooney • 10 Owen • 11 J. Cole • 12 Campbell • 13 James • 14 Bridge • 15 Carragher • 16 Hargreaves • 17 Jenas • 18 Carrick • 19 Lennon • 20 Downing • 21 Crouch • 22 Carson • 23 Walcott • Coach: Eriksson