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Aaron Lennon

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Aaron Lennon
Personal information
Full name Aaron Justin Lennon
Height 1.65 m (5 ft 5 in)
Position(s) Right/Left winger
Team information
Current team
 Tottenham Hotspur
Number 7
‡ National team caps and goals, correct as of 20 August 2008

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

Club career

Leeds

A right winger, 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 to Spurs in August, 2003[1]. 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 (nowadays sponsored by Nike). Lennon scored his only goal for Leeds against Sunderland on Boxing Day 2004 during 3-2 win. His older brother Tony was also at the Leeds Academy, but never made it into the first team.

Tottenham Hotspur

With Leeds suffering financial difficulties, he made a £1m 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 Andrews, 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. The award was ultimately awarded to Manchester United's Wayne Rooney. On 28 March 2006, he signed a contract extension with Spurs lasting until 2010.

He was nominated again for the Young Player of the Year award again in 2006–07 and finished 3rd behind Cristiano Ronaldo of Manchester United and Cesc Fàbregas of Arsenal. Lennon signed a new 5 and a half year deal worth £20,000 a week with Tottenham Hotspur on 8 January 2007, which will keep him at the club until 2012.

Lennon's world-renowned pace, cleverness on the ball, and his uncanny ability to effortlessly find his attacking teammates with a low cross have, during his time at Tottenham, attracted the attention of many of the world's biggest clubs. Most recently, Spanish giants Real Madrid are reportedly looking into preparing a winter transfer season bid for Lennon.

International career

Lennon was called up to the England U21 team for the first time in October 2005 and on 8 May 2006 was picked in England's 2006 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 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 & 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.[2] 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 shoot out, which England lost 3-1, with Carragher ironically missing his penalty.

Lennon also came on as a substitute against Andorra during a European Championship 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 European Championship Qualifier on 24 March 2007 but has since fallen out of favour, with David Beckham, David Bentley, Shaun Wright-Phillips and Theo Walcott all being selected ahead of him by Fabio Capello.

Honours

Tottenham Hotspur

Trivia

Aaron Lennon recently competed against Gabriel Agbonlahor of Aston Villa in a series of commercials by Nike to promote their Vapor IV football boots. Although Agbonlahor's time in running the course to the ball was faster, Lennon ran the section of the course with the ball at his feet faster than Agbonlahor, meaning Lennon had a quicker time overall.

Career stats

All-Time Club Performance
Club Season League Domestic Cups Europe Total
Games Goals Games Goals Games Goals Games Goals
Tottenham Hotspur 07-08 29 2 9 1 9 0 47 3
06-07 26 3 9 1 8 1 43 5
05-06 27 2 2 0 - - 29 2
Club Total 82 7 20 2 17 1 119 10
Leeds United 04-05 27 1 2 0 - - 29 1
03-04 11 0 3 0 - - 14 0
Club Total 38 1 5 0 0 0 43 1
Career Totals 120 8 25 2 17 1 162 11
Correct as of 02 June 2008

References

  1. ^ TheFA.COM - Aaron Lennon
  2. ^ Birchall from the Daily Mail, retrieved 21st June 2006


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