Daniel Leadbitter

Daniel William Leadbitter (born 7 October 1990 in Newcastle-on-Tyne) is an English professional footballer who currently plays for Hereford United. He can operate as a right-back or centre-half. Leadbitter spent his youth career at Newcastle United but left for Torquay in 2011 without having made a first-team appearance. After moving to Torquay he was troubled by injury and limited to substitute appearances in his first season at Plainmoor; Leadbitter made more of an impact in the 2012-13 season, making his first league start for the club in October 2012, but was released at the end of the season.

Career

Newcastle United

Attending his first football game aged 3, at St James' Park, Leadbitter joined local club Wide Open Juniors aged 7. He first played for Newcastle United's academy a year later, but continued to play for Wide Open until 1999-2000.^[2] Initially a centre-back, Leadbitter was converted to a right-back aged 15 due to being shorter than most of his peers; reflecting on the positional change in 2012, he said: "I was too small to stay at centre-back, so I switched to right-back and I've found a home there now." He signed a contract with Newcastle in July 2007, having made his debut for the Newcastle Academy U18s against Middlesbrough in March of that year. His first goal for the academy arrived in October, in a match against Leeds United.^[3] He went on to play for Newcastle's reserve side after graduating from the club's Little Benton Academy,^[4] playing for the reserves in the Barclays Premier Reserve League until March 2011 ^[5] and also featuring in the Northumberland Senior Cup, where he scored in the 4-2 quarter-final win over Newcastle Benfield on 1 December 2009.^[6] However, he was released in June 2011 having spent four years at the club without making a first-team appearance.^[7] On 26 April 2011 Leadbitter had a trial for Lincoln City, playing for their reserves in a 3–0 win over Gateshead reserves.^[8][9] He was also in the Lincoln reserves squad against Scunthorpe United reserves on 3 May 2011.^[10]

Torquay United

Torquay United manager Martin Ling became aware of Leadbitter after watching him playing for Newcastle's Reserves whilst scouting for Hibernian and Walsall.^[11] Upon his release from Newcastle, Ling signed him on a two-year contract on 28 June 2011,^[12] along with Chris McPhee, who was signed from Kidderminster Harriers at the same time.^[13] Ling had told Scottish club Hibernian to "keep an eye" on Leadbitter, and claimed the player had had offers from Scotland after leaving Newcastle United.^[14]

Leadbitter made his Torquay United debut in the pre-season friendly win over Tiverton Town on 14 July 2011.^[15] Leadbitter's league debut for Torquay was delayed due to a hamstring injury and he missed Torquay's 2–2 draw with Burton Albion on the opening day of the 2011–12 season.^[16] The defender was expected to be fit for the second league game of the season against Bristol Rovers, but a relapse to the injury meant he failed to feature in the game.^[17] Leadbitter finally made his debut for Torquay on 8 October 2011 at the Valley Parade in the Gulls' 1–0 loss to Bradford City. He came on as a half-time substitute for fellow right-back Joe Oastler,^[18] and later said that the debut "was great", although he felt it was "overdue" as he had had to wait until the age of 21.^[19] Leadbitter made his second United appearance in a 4–0 win over AFC Wimbledon on 25 October 2011, replacing Eunan O'Kane late in the game, but was denied a place in the squad in the following game against Hereford United on 29 October due to a recurrence of his injury.^[20][21][22]

Leadbitter played in Torquay's Devon Bowl second–round win over Willand Rovers on 10 January 2012, scoring United's fifth penalty in a 7–6 shoot–out triumph.^[23] He then appeared in central defence in the 3–0 quarter–final loss to Buckland Athletic on 21 February 2012, due to on–loan Reading defender Angus MacDonald being recalled.^[24] At the end of 2011–12 season, with Leadbitter having made just two league appearances, Ling called for improvement from the player: "I have put 'improvement needed' by the name of Daniel Leadbitter... I was impressed with the attributes I saw in Danny but they have not come to the fore as yet, and he is the one I have probably been most disappointed with because he hasn't pushed [first-choice right-back] Joe Oastler harder. He's taken it on that he needs to improve... I do still feel there is a footballer in there who will play right-back for Torquay United." ^[25]

Leadbitter made his third competitive appearance for Torquay in the club's third league game of the 2012-13 season, coming on as a second-half substitute for Niall Thompson in a 1-1 draw at Port Vale on 1 September 2012.^[26] On 16 October 2012, the defender played the entirety of United's second round penalty shoot-out loss to Yeovil Town in the Football League Cup, calling the game a "huge occasion for me"; manager Ling later claimed Leadbitter's performance was "his best game in a Yellow shirt".^[27][28] Five days later Leadbitter featured in the 3-2 loss to Bristol Rovers, replacing Damon Lathrope at half-time following first-choice right-back Joe Oastler's early dismissal.^[29] On 23 October, Leadbitter made his first league start for Torquay in the 2-1 victory over Gillingham.^[30][31] Despite Oastler being available for selection after his suspension expired, Leadbitter retained his place for United's 1-0 win over Accrington Stanley on 27 October 2012; he was voted Man of the match by the match sponsors.^[32] His run of appearances came to an end when he was an unused substitute in the 1-0 loss to Barnet on 6 November 2012.^[33] The defender was restored to Torquay's starting line-up for the 1-0 loss at Bradford City on 8 December 2012 due to Oastler's suspension; the fixture came a year and two months to the day after Leadbitter's club debut at the same ground, with an identical scoreline.^[34] With Oastler sidelined through injury, Leadbitter played the entirety of United's 1-0 defeat against Fleetwood Town on 9 February 2013; assistant manager Shaun Taylor later claimed Leadbitter's performance was "probably his best game for the club."^[35][36] The right-back retained his place for the 3-1 loss to Rotherham United on 12 February.^[37] Leadbitter made his tenth league appearance for Torquay later that week in the 1-0 defeat at Rochdale on 16 February 2013, and completed the 90 minutes three days later in the 1-0 loss to Aldershot Town.^[38][39]

The full-back retained his place in the starting line-up for Alan Knill's first match as the club's interim manager, a 1-0 loss to Port Vale on 23 February 2013. Leadbitter played in the 2-1 defeat to Wycombe Wanderers three days later, but was relegated to the substitutes' bench at Oastler's expense for the 0-0 draw with Accrington Stanley on 2 March; he replaced Ryan Jarvis on the right wing late on as United avoided equalling a club record of eight consecutive defeats.^[40] He again replaced Jarvis in midfield late on in the 2-1 win over Chesterfield on 19 March; with Knill preferring Oastler at right-back, this would be Leadbitter's last appearance of the season.^[41][42]

Following the sacking of Martin Ling, Knill was awarded the job on a permanent basis. The new manager's retained list was published on 9 May 2013, and Leadbitter was one of seven players released; Oastler was also among those not offered a new deal.^[43]

Hereford United

In late June 2013, Leadbitter joined Conference side Hereford United on trial.^[44] He continued to train with the club into late July and was said to have "impressed in pre-season"; he appeared in friendlies against a Herefordshire Select XI, Bristol Rovers, West Bromwich Albion and former employers Torquay.^[45][46][47]

On 1 August 2013, Leadbitter was one of three trialists to be awarded a permanent deal by Hereford, although the length of his contract was not initially revealed.^[48][49] The right-back made his debut for Hereford on the opening day of the season against Braintree Town on 10 August, playing the full 90 minutes in a 1-1 draw.^[50] Leadbitter made a good start to his Hereford career, quickly establishing himself as a first-team regular, and by October his agent Clive Hart claimed that "a number of clubs from the Football League have been keeping tabs on Daniel...he is really flourishing under the management of Martin Foyle."^[51]

Career statistics

Club	Season	League		Cup		Europe		Other		Total		Discipline
		Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals
Torquay United	2011-12	2	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	2	0	0	0
	2012-13	13	0	1	0	0	0	1	0	15	0	2	0
Total		15	0	1	0	0	0	1	0	17	0	2	0
Hereford United	2013-14	17	0	2	0	0	0	0	0	17	0	1	0
Total		17	0	2	0	0	0	0	0	17	0	1	0
Career Total		32	0	3	0	0	0	1	0	36	0	3	0

Personal life

Leadbitter attended Gosforth High School prior to playing for hometown club Newcastle United. At school, he excelled at athletics, reaching the finals of the 400m event at the English Schools Championships.^[52] Daniel also has a sister, Dayna Leadbitter, who is younger than him.^[53]

The defender comes from a family of footballers: his uncle, Roger Palmer, played in an F.A. Cup final for Manchester City before becoming Oldham Athletic's all-time leading goalscorer, while his cousins Marcus Wood and Tyrell Palmer currently play for the academies of Manchester City and Bolton respectively.^[54][55]

On 5 November 2012, Leadbitter was involved in a minor car crash when the vehicle he was travelling in with team-mate Billy Bodin was hit by a bus; although they were unharmed by the collision, neither player participated in the training session at Plainmoor that they had been driving to.^[56][57]

References

External links

• Daniel Leadbitter career stats at Soccerbase