Jonathan Legear

Jonathan Legear
Personal information
Full nameJonathan Fernand Jean Legear
Date of birth13 April 1987
Place of birthLiège, Belgium
Height1.81 m (5 ft 11 1⁄2 in)
Playing positionMidfielder
Youth career
1995–1998JS Thier-à-Liège
1998–2003Standard Liège
2003–2004Anderlecht
Senior career*
YearsTeamApps†(Gls)†
2004–2011Anderlecht122(19)
2011–2013Terek Grozny22(1)
2014KV Mechelen3(0)
2014–2015Blackpool0(0)
2015-Standard Liège0(0)
National team‡
2003Belgium U1610(2)
2003–2004Belgium U179(2)
2004–2006Belgium U1920(3)
2006–2008Belgium U218(3)
2010Belgium2(0)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 15:44, 4 November 2014 (UTC).

† Appearances (Goals).

‡ National team caps and goals correct as of 19:23, 31 January 2014 (UTC)

Jonathan Fernand Jean Legear (born 13 April 1987 in Liège) is a Belgian footballer who plays for Standard Liège. He is a midfielder.

Club career

He moved to Anderlecht from their rivals Standard Liège in 2003. He scored his first goal in the Jupiler League against Standard Liège in the 2004–05 season.[1]

He was initially registered to the football club of J.S Thier (Jeunesse sportive du Thier-à-Liège), a small club near Liège at the age of eight, a club where he showed a promising future in Belgian football. From there he was scouted by the Standard Liege Academy who recruited him in 1998. Despite the tacit agreement between the top three clubs in Belgium, which prevents transfers between those clubs academies, Legear moved from Standard to Anderlecht in 2003.

In the 2007–08 season, Legear made the breakthrough into the Anderlecht starting XI and featured regularly in the team's Jupiler League and European competition matches. This was a result of his increasing level of performances, as well as Anderlecht's lack of attacking options on the right wing. He was touted as the next Christian Wilhelmsson, with similar hair color and speed on the flank.

On 26 August 2011, Legear joined Terek Grozny of the Russian Premier League, signing a three-year contract for a fee of €1.8 million.[2][3] He made his league debut on 12 September 2011 against Kuban Krasnodar, a match which Terek lost 1–2.[4] Legear marked his first goal in the 2012–13 season, scoring the opener against Mordovia Saransk on 10 November 2012 to give his side a 2–1 victory.[5] On 17 January 2014, his contract was terminated by mutual consent after disagreements between him and the club.[6]

Legear returned to Belgium on 31 January 2014, penning a six-month deal with KV Mechelen.[7] He made his first league appearance on 28 February 2014 as a substitute for Boubacar Dialiba during the second half in their 1–0 win over Lokeren.[8]

He joined Blackpool on 4 November 2014, in a one-year deal.[9] His contract was terminated, by mutual consent, on 28 January 2015.

International career

Legear made his debut for the Belgian national side on 8 October 2010 in a 2–0 European Championship qualifier win against Kazakhstan.[10]

Personal life

On 7 October 2012, Legear was involved in a car accident in which he crashed his car, while being drunk, inside an Esso gas station located in Tongeren, having mistaken the accelerator pedal for the brake. Damage costs were revealed to be between €250,000 and €300,000 by an Esso spokesman, with Legear also receiving a two-week driving suspension.[11] He had earlier been involved in an similar incident in 2009, where he was sentenced to 50 hours of community service for having driven his car into a house after a night out.[12]

Honours

Anderlecht

References

  1. ↑ "Stats Centre: Jonathan Legear Facts". Guardian.co.uk. Retrieved 17 November 2009.
  2. ↑ "Jonathan Legear naar Terek Grozny". Gazet van Antwerpen (in Dutch). 26 August 2011. Retrieved 20 October 2014.
  3. ↑ "Legear: Je ne pouvais pas refuser Grozny". 7sur7 (in French). 26 August 2011. Retrieved 20 October 2014.
  4. ↑ "Legear zorgt direct voor assist". Sport.be (in Dutch). 12 September 2011. Retrieved 20 October 2014.
  5. ↑ "Terek beat Mordovia to end losing run". R Sport. 10 November 2012. Retrieved 20 October 2014.
  6. ↑ "Legear verlaat Terek Grozny". Het Laatste Nieuws (in Dutch). 17 January 2014. Retrieved 20 October 2014.
  7. ↑ "Officiel: Jonathan Legear rejoint le FC Malines!". RTL (in French). 31 January 2014. Retrieved 20 October 2014.
  8. ↑ "Mechelen verzekert zich bijna van behoud tegen Lokeren". Sporza (in Dutch). 28 February 2014. Retrieved 20 October 2014.
  9. ↑ "Legear Becomes A Seasider" - Blackpool F.C.'s official website, 4 November 2014
  10. ↑ "Uefa.com profile of Jonathan Legear Uefa.com accessed 3 November 2010
  11. ↑ Bailey, Ryan (8 October 2012). "Belgian midfielder Jonathan Legear crashes car into gas station, was only slightly drunk". Yahoo! Sports (Yahoo!). Retrieved 8 October 2012.
  12. ↑ Dicker, Ron (8 October 2012). "Jonathan Legear, Belgian soccer player, crashes Porsche into store". Huffington Post. Retrieved 9 October 2012.

External links