Leon Britton
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| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Leon James Britton | ||
| Date of birth | 16 September 1982 | ||
| Place of birth | Wandsworth, England | ||
| Height | 5 ft 5 in (165 cm) | ||
| Playing position | Midfielder | ||
| Club information | |||
| Current club | Swansea City | ||
| Number | 7 | ||
| Youth career | |||
| 1991–1998 | Arsenal | ||
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps† | (Gls)† |
| 1998–2003 | West Ham United | 0 | (0) |
| 2002–2003 | → Swansea City (loan) | 25 | (0) |
| 2003–2010 | Swansea City | 270 | (15) |
| 2010–2011 | Sheffield United | 24 | (0) |
| 2011– | Swansea City | 37 | (1) |
| * Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 08:40, 22 January 2012 (UTC). † Appearances (Goals). |
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Leon James Britton (born 16 September 1982 in Wandsworth, Greater London) is an English professional football player, who plays for Swansea City following a short lived spell for Sheffield United.
Contents |
[edit] Club career
[edit] Youth career
A member of the England Development School at Lilleshall where he was a year behind Joe Cole, Britton began his career as an Arsenal trainee at the age of nine. When he signed for West Ham United for £400,000 in 1998, he attracted the highest transfer fee ever paid for a 16 year-old at that time.[citation needed]
[edit] West Ham
Unable to break into the first team at West Ham, Britton joined Swansea City on loan in December 2002, helping the club to avoid relegation from the Football League. He was named PFA Fans' Player of the Year for the Third Division in the 2002–03 season. Swansea manager Brian Flynn was impressed enough to sign him permanently after he was released by West Ham.
[edit] Swansea
A diminutive but skilful midfielder, Britton won Player of the Year awards from an online supporters' group in both 2002–03 and 2005–06 seasons.[citation needed]
Including his appearances whilst on loan with the club, to the end of the 2005–06 season, Britton had played 137 times for Swansea City in all competitions (with a further 18 appearances as a substitute) and had scored nine goals.
On 9 February 2008, Britton played his 200th game for Swansea City. In January 2010, Swansea rejected an £750,000 offer for Britton from Wigan Athletic [1] but at the end of that season Britton refused the offer of a new contract and became a free agent.[2]
[edit] Sheffield United
Despite interest from the Premiership, Britton signed for Sheffield United in June 2010.[2] He was handed a regular role in the centre of the Blades midfield but failed to really show the form he had displayed at Swansea. A difficult period for the club, Britton played under four managers within the space of five months and eventually asked to return to his former employer, stating that his previous transfer had been a "mistake" and that he "should never have left Swansea".[3] The Blades admitted that he had never settled in South Yorkshire and agreed to let him return to Wales after only 26 appearances for the club.[4]
[edit] Return to Swansea
Britton re-signed for Swansea for what the Blades described as an "undisclosed fee" during the January transfer window despite the Swans insisting no fee was involved.[5] This fee is clause based and could include up to £400,000 depending on appearances and Swansea's promotion to the Premier League.[6] His second Swansea City debut came in a draw with Barnsley on 20 January 2011.[3] He scored his second goal in the Swans' 3-1 second leg play-off win over Nottingham Forest.[citation needed]
[edit] World's best passer
On 17 January 2012, it was revealed Britton had the highest pass completion rate in world football to that point in the 2011/12 season (93.3% accuracy); better than Spain's Xavi (93.0%).[7] However, it should be noted Britton attempted 703 fewer passes [8] than the Barcelona player, and played two more games. Britton is the only creative player in Premier League history to register a perfect game with a 100% pass success rate.[citation needed]
[edit] Career statistics
| Club performance | League | Cup | League Cup | Total | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Season | Club | League | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals |
| England | League | FA Cup | League Cup | Total | ||||||
| 2002–03 | Swansea City | League Two | 25 | 0 | - | - | 25 | 0 | ||
| 2003–04 | 42 | 3 | 5 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 48 | 3 | ||
| 2004–05 | 30 | 1 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 34 | 1 | ||
| 2005–06 | League One | 41 | 4 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 43 | 4 | |
| 2006–07 | 41 | 2 | 4 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 46 | 5 | ||
| 2007–08 | 40 | 0 | 5 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 47 | 1 | ||
| 2008–09 | Championship | 43 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 48 | 0 | |
| 2009–10 | 36 | 0 | - | 2 | 0 | 38 | 0 | |||
| 2010–11 | Sheffield United | 21 | 0 | - | - | 21 | 0 | |||
| 2010–11 | Swansea City | 17 | 2 | - | - | 19 | 2 | |||
| 2011–12 | Premier League | 15 | 0 | - | - | 15 | 0 | |||
| Total | England | 326 | 10 | 22 | 4 | 8 | 0 | 357 | 14 | |
| Career total | 326 | 10 | 22 | 4 | 8 | 0 | 357 | 17 | ||
[edit] References
- ^ "Swansea reject bids for star trio". bbc.co.uk. 2010-02-02. http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/teams/s/swansea_city/8489630.stm. Retrieved 2010-06-13.
- ^ a b "Leon prefers Sheffield United to top flight". thestar.co.uk. 2010-06-12. http://www.thestar.co.uk/blades/Blades-Leon-prefers-Sheffield-United.6358198.jp. Retrieved 2010-06-13.
- ^ a b "Leon Britton completes shock Swansea City return". bbc.co.uk. 2011-01-20. http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/teams/s/swansea_city/9366813.stm. Retrieved 2011-01-22.
- ^ "Britton heads back to Swansea". sufc.co.uk. 2011-01-20. http://www.sufc.co.uk/page/NewsDetail/0,,10418~2271810,00.html. Retrieved 2011-01-22.
- ^ "Lane boss ready to buy as Britton departs". thestar.co.uk. 2011-01-21. http://www.thestar.co.uk/blades/Lane-boss-ready-to-buy.6697996.jp. Retrieved 2011-01-22.
- ^ "Blades poised to cash in as Swans go up". thestar.co.uk. 2011-06-02. http://www.thestar.co.uk/sport/football/sheffield-united/blades_poised_to_cash_in_as_swans_go_up_1_3438186. Retrieved 2011-06-18.
- ^ http://sport.uk.msn.com/blog/talking-tactics-blogpost.aspx?post=26cdeb4c-c467-4fe3-b412-f8412cd8d9d2&_nwpt=1 Britton: World's best passer
- ^ http://twitpic.com/88dkks
[edit] External links
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Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Leon Britton |
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