Ledley King - Loyal, skilful and regal servant
We've known it was coming for a while, but today (19th July, 2012) the retirement of Spurs' club captain Ledley King has been formally announced.
Ledley has been unable to train properly for three or four years now, and has finally decided to hang up his boots, taking on an ambassadorial role with the only football club he has served as a professional - Tottenham Hotspur. Whether he takes up coaching or not, there is no doubt that Ledley will be an inspiration to his contempories and to up and coming Spurs players.
Ledley is still only 31 (32 in October), and his retirement comes far too early for a defender, and what a defender he has been!
Ledley has made 268 Premier League appearances for Spurs (only 3 of which were as substitute), scoring 10 league goals. Ledley has been a cultured, stylish and clean defender. In all those league appearances, he was booked just 8, yes 8, times. Compare that with the disciplinary record of former England captain John Terry, who has seen the yellow card 61 times in his 373 Chelsea appearances. Terry has seen red a few times as well. Ledley has never been sent off in his Spurs career.
Ledley has of course been compared with John Terry and a certain other centre half by Spurs fans during his career. Personally, I've always felt it sad that he was not given the accolade "King of White Hart Lane", as were Glenn Hoddle and Alan Gilzean. Ledley was "The King" in more than one sense of course!
Ledley's Cup appearances (including European football) total 58 (1 as sub), and in those games, he scored 4 goals, and was booked just twice.
Thus, amongst his other fine achievements, Ledley can be very proud of his disciplinary record of just 10 yellow cards in a total of 326 appearances. This in an age when bookings are so proliferate.
Ledley will also be proud to have represented his country at both under-21 and full International level, to have scored the fastest ever goal in the Premier League ( 9.7 seconds at Bradford in December 2000), to have played Champions League football for Spurs, and to have been one of the elite group of Tottenham Captains to have lifted a major trophy (Carling Cup, 2008).
Ledley King's career is covered in full by Spurs Odyssey, which was established before he made his club debut on May 1st, 1999 at Anfield (Ledley King's Club Debut). Ledley was a second half substitute and played at left back, after Taricco had been sent off for two yellow cards, which of course is one fifth of Ledley's total career tally cards! Spurs lost that game, and it wasn't the most auspicious of debuts for Ledley, who also played in midfield a few times in the early stages of his career. By May, 1999, Ledley had already represented England at under-18s level.
Ledley made just three appearances for Spurs in the 1999-2000 season, at the end of which he played three times for the England Under-21 side. His first goal in Spurs colours was that fastest ever goal, scored when he played in midfield for George Graham at Bradford on 9th December 2000. (Ledley King scores the fastest ever Premier League goal at Bradford)
Ledley established himself as a first team player during that season, and by the end of the 2006-07 season had made 191 Premier League appearances, and established himself as club captain. Sadly it was in 2007 that Ledley's injury problems began, and he would manage just 74 more league appearances in his last five seasons.
Fit or not, Ledley faced stiff competition for a full England place in the era of Terry, Ferdinand, Carragher to name just three. Our hero would without doubt have won more caps, but for his injuries, and Fabio Capello had declared his interest as recently as last summer, only to be fully advised regarding Ledley's unique training and preparation regime, which by this time involved Daniel Levy's swimming pool and little on-field training time with his team-mates.
Ledley's England debut (off the bench) came in March 2002 against Italy. He also made a substitute appearance in February 2003, before making his full debut in February 2004, when he also scored one of his two goals for his country against Portugal. Ledley's 21 game full International career included games in both Euro and World Cup tournaments, but ended in June 2010.
There is a great clip on You Tube of Ledley chasing Arjen Robben, when the Dutch player had at least a ten yard start, as he headed towards the Spurs goal. Ledley not only caught Robben, but prevented a likely goal with a supreme and clean tackle deep inside the Spurs area. This incident occurred during the 2-1 win that brought an end to Spurs' horrific run against Chelsea in November 2006. (Spurs 2 Chelsea 1 - November 2006)
It was another 2-1 win over Chelsea that gave Ledley his golden moment of lifting the Carling Cup at Wembley in February, 2008 (Spurs 2 Chelsea 1 - Carling Cup Final, 2008). Ledley managed the full 120 minutes and lifted the trophy with Robbie Keane. Keane had been acting as team captain on the occasions that Ledley was not fit, but Ledley was always club Captain!
Ledley pulled out all the stops in the latter stages of his career and was usually on hand for the crucial games. He led us to that famous victory at The Etihad Stadium over Manchester City to pip them to the Champions League place at the end of the 2009-10 season, and then managed to play in three of our Champions League games in the 2010-11 season. Sadly he did miss our most famous wins at home to Inter and away to AC Milan.
Between August 2010 and December 2011, Spurs won every one of the 13 Premier League games in which Ledley played the full 90 minutes. Ledley's skill and ability at the highest level, and qualities of leadership by example were much cherished and to the fore almost to the very end of his playing career. Defeat in his last three games and the increased difficulty to cope with his injuries heralded the decision which has been announced today.
I like to think that Ledley would have remained a one-club man at Spurs whatever his level of physical fitness and injury situation had been. The fact remains that Ledley has loyally and regally served the club we all love, and he has won recognition at the highest level.
Ledley King will be lauded and loved by Spurs fans for all time. Thank you, Ledley, from the bottom of our hearts!
P.S - Spurs Odyssey has match reports for virtually every Spurs game Ledley has played. Try the search facility below to find your favourite game.
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