Leon Britton

Leon Britton

Personal information
Full name	Leon James Britton
Date of birth	(1982-09-16) 16 September 1982
Place of birth	Merton, England[1]
Height	5 ft 6 in (167 cm)[2]
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	97	(1)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 23.36, 28 January 2014 (UTC). † Appearances (Goals).

Leon James Britton (born 16 September 1982) is an English professional football player, who plays for Swansea City. Having joined Swansea on a permanent transfer in 2003, Britton went on to make 270 appearances for the club over a seven-year span. Britton joined Sheffield United in the summer of 2010, but transferred back to Swansea in January 2011. Britton instantly became a central figure in Swansea's successful promotion campaign. He remains one of a handful of players to have represented any club in all four professional divisions of the English footballing pyramid, along with Alan Tate and Garry Monk.

Club career

Youth career

Britton was born in Merton, Greater London. 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.^[3] 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.

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^[4] but at the end of that season Britton refused the offer of a new contract and became a free agent.^[5]

Sheffield United

Despite interest from the Premier League, Britton signed for Sheffield United in June 2010.^[5] 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".^[6] 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.^[7]

Return to Swansea

Britton re-signed for Swansea City for what the Blades described as an "undisclosed fee" during the January transfer window despite the Swans insisting no fee was involved.^[8] The fee was clause based and included up to £400,000 depending on appearances and Swansea's promotion to the Premier League.^[9]

Britton's second Swansea City debut came in a draw with Barnsley on 20 January 2011.^[6] He scored his first goal of the season (his first goal in three and a half years) against his former employers Sheffield United in the final game of the regular season, before scoring another in the Swans' 3–1 second leg play-off win over Nottingham Forest nine days later.^[10]

The 2010-11 season ended with Swansea City being promoted to the Premier League for the first time in their history following a 4–2 victory over Reading in the Championship Play-off Final at Wembley Stadium. Britton started the match at Wembley and completed 77 minutes.^[11]

Following Swansea's promotion, Britton made his Premier League debut in a 4–0 loss against Manchester City on 15 August 2011 where he played in the central midfield. Britton stated he would like to finish his career with the club and admits he cannot imagine playing elsewhere.^[12]

On 30 March 2012, Britton signed a contract extension at Swansea City, contracting him until the end of the 2015 campaign.^[13]

On 5 February 2013, Britton signed a one-year contract extension on improved terms with Swansea City, keeping at the club until June 2016.^[14]

Later that month, Britton won the first major trophy of his career as Swansea beat Bradford City 5-0 in the 2013 League Cup Final at Wembley Stadium.^[15]

Career statistics

As of 31 December 2013

^a The 2005-06 and 2010–11 League totals both include three play-off appearances.

Honours

Swansea City

• FAW Premier Cup (2): 2004–05 2005–06
• Football League Trophy (1): 2006
• Football League One (1): 2007–08
• Football League Championship play-offs (1): 2010–11
• Football League Cup (1): 2012–13

Individual

• PFA Fans' Player of the Year League Two: 2003

Trivia

Britton played a young Ryan Giggs in a road safety advertisement in the 1990s. He also appeared in a Walkers Crisps advert with former England international Gary Lineker.^[16]

References

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Leon Britton.

• Leon Britton career stats at Soccerbase