Leon McKenzie
| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Leon Mark McKenzie | ||
| Height | 5 ft 10 in (1.78 m) | ||
| Position(s) | Forward | ||
| Team information | |||
Current team | Northampton Town | ||
| Youth career | |||
| Crystal Palace | |||
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
| 1995–2000 | Crystal Palace | 85 | (7) |
| 1997 | → Fulham (loan) | 3 | (0) |
| 1998 | → Peterborough United (loan) | 14 | (8) |
| 2000–2003 | Peterborough United | 90 | (46) |
| 2003–2006 | Norwich City | 79 | (20) |
| 2006–2009 | Coventry City | 62 | (12) |
| 2009–2010 | Charlton Athletic | 12 | (0) |
| Northampton Town | |||
| *Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 15:39, 24 May 2010 (UTC) | |||
Leon Mark McKenzie (born 17 May 1978 in Croydon, Greater London) is an English professional footballer, currently playing for Northampton Town. He is the son of former British and European boxing champion Clinton McKenzie and nephew of flyweight boxing champion Duke McKenzie and politician and retired boxer Winston McKenzie. McKenzie's cousin Ashley McKenzie took part in the third series of The X Factor, broadcast on ITV1.
Football career
McKenzie began his career with his local club Crystal Palace, making his debut during the 1995-96 season. In 1997 he was loaned to Fulham and in 1998 to Peterborough United, where he scored 9 goals in 15 games.
In 2000 McKenzie joined Peterborough on a permanent basis for a fee of £25,000. In three years there he scored 49 goals in 103 games.
He joined Norwich from Peterborough in December 2003 for a fee of £325,000, and instantly won over the Canaries faithful by scoring twice on his debut to help beat local rivals Ipswich Town at Portman Road and go top of the First Division. His goals made a significant contribution to Norwich's promotion to the Premier League as First Division champions.
Within a year, he had turned from a Second Division to a Premiership player. McKenzie took time to find his feet in the Premiership but he established a strike partnership with Dean Ashton which would become one of the most potent in the division during the closing stages of the 2004-05 season. His goals helped Norwich to haul themselves into contention to avoid the drop, although they were relegated on the last day of the season.
He came third in the Norwich City Supporters Player of The Season vote for the 2004-05, beaten by Darren Huckerby and Damien Francis. McKenzie punched Francis in November 2004 upon learning that Francis had been having an affair with his wife, and they had to be separated by their teammates.[citation needed]
The 2005-06 season for McKenzie was interrupted by injuries and personal difficulties surrounding the break-up of his marriage. At the start of the 2006-07 campaign, he handed in a transfer request to manager Nigel Worthington. Although Worthington rejected McKenzie's request, he subsequently confirmed that McKenzie would be sold if they received an offer that matched the club's valuation of the player.
McKenzie was signed by Coventry City on transfer deadline day in August 2006 for an intitial £600,000 that, depending on appearances and promotion, could rise to £1m. Ironically, Coventry's first match after signing McKenzie was against Norwich - however, McKenzie was unable to play due to a condition of the transfer that prevented him from playing in either of the two fixtures between Coventry and Norwich in the 2006-07 season. He made his debut for Coventry on 12 September 2006 as a substitute against Ipswich Town at Portman Road.
He started the 2007-08 season well, scoring against Barnsley on the opening day of the season and against Hull, before a knee injury put him out of action for several weeks.
He scored in Coventry's opening game of the 2008-09 season against his old club, Norwich City. This marked McKenzie's 100th professional career goal and he celebrated by revealing a vest with "100" on it. He was subsequently booked for his celebration.
On 1 September 2009 it was confirmed that he had signed for Charlton Athletic. He scored his first and only goal for Charlton against Southampton in the Johnstone's Paint Trophy on 11 November 2009.[1] He was one of six players to be released by Charlton Athletic following the end of the 2009/10 league season. On 8th September 2010 it was confirmed he had signed a contract with Northampton Town until the end of 2010-11 season.
Honours
Promotions
- 2003–04: Division One Champion (promotion to The Premiership) - Norwich City
References
- ^ "Southampton 2 - 1 Charlton". BBC. 11 November 2009. Retrieved 11 November 2009.
External links
- Leon McKenzie player profile at ccfc.co.uk
- Leon McKenzie player profile at canaries.co.uk
- Leon McKenzie at Soccerbase
- Profile at UpThePosh! The Peterborough United Database
- Career information at ex-canaries.co.uk