BLACK SOCIAL HISTORY Aaron Justin Lennon (born 16 April 1987) is an English footballer, who mainly plays as a right winger for Tottenham Hotspur in the Premier League and the England national team.
Early life
Aaron Lennon is mixed race coming from an English Jamaican father and English Irish mother. He has one older brother and a younger sister and brother. He attended City of Leeds high school, but then attended Boston Spa School due to the fact that the school was closer to Thorp Arch (training ground) so it was easier for him to focus on both GCSEs and his football career.[2] He was first spotted by scouts when he was eight years old; his older brother Anthony played for Manchester United's youth team until he was involved in a car accident.[3]
Club career
Leeds United
In 2001, Lennon became Leeds United Academy. Two years later he began his professional career at Leeds United, where he became the youngest player to appear in the Premier League at the age of 16 years and 129 days, coming off the bench at White Hart Lane against Tottenham Hotspur in a 2–1 loss in August 2003.[4]
a member of the
In 2001, he set a record as the youngest player ever to have his boots sponsored when he signed up with Adidas at the age of just 14. Lennon scored his only goal for Leeds against Sunderland on Boxing Day 2004 during a 3–2 win. Lennon had been a regular on the bench up until that point, but when John Oster was sacked Lennon took his place and never looked back and became a regular starter after that point. His pace and skills on the wing excited Leeds fans, and he was one of the star performers in Leeds' first season in the Championship under the management of Kevin Blackwell with his performances earning rave reviews.
His last involvement at Leeds was playing and scoring in Lucas Radebe's testimonial.[5] With Leeds' financial problems Lennon was sold to Spurs for a heavily reduced fee, with a sell on clause inserted into the deal.
Tottenham Hotspur
With Leeds suffering financial difficulties, Lennon made a £1 million move to Tottenham Hotspur on 15 June 2005.[6] His Spurs debut came a couple of months later in a 0-2 home defeat against Chelsea on 27 August 2005. On 18 March 2006, Lennon scored his first Premier League goal in Tottenham's 2–0 victory over Birmingham City at St. Andrew's.[7]
He was nominated by fellow Premiership players for the PFA Young Player of the Year for the 2005–06 season, and subsequently again in the 2006–07 season. The awards ultimately went to Wayne Rooney, and to Cristiano Ronaldo of Manchester United.
Lennon signed a new 5½ year deal with Tottenham on 8 January 2007.[8] He signed an improved deal in March 2009 which contracts him to Spurs until 2014.[9] For the third successive year, in the 2008–09 season, he was nominated for the PFA Young Player of the Year. The award was ultimately awarded to Aston Villa's Ashley Young. Lennon also won both the Tottenham Hotspur 'Player of the Season' and the 'Young Player of the Season' award in the 2008–09 season.
Despite missing out on this accolade, Lennon proceeded to open a bar in Ayia Napa, Cyprus with fellow professional footballers Gabriel Agbonlahor, Ivan Sproule and Scott Sinclair.
The winger was named the supporters' Player of the Season for 2008–09. He worried left-backs up and down the country during his 47 games in all competitions, earning a new five-year contract at the Club in March 2009 as well as a recall to the England senior squad the same week. Aaron also scored five goals during the campaign. It was a season of transition for Spurs, whose manager Juande Ramos was sacked in late October after a terrible start to the season to be replaced by Harry Redknapp, who steered them to a secure 8th place finish and also to the final of the Football League Cup, which they lost on penalties to Manchester United after a goalless draw at Wembley. On 28 October 2008, Lennon scored a last gasp equaliser in a memorable clash against North London rivals Arsenal, which ended 4–4 and was Harry Redknapp's second game in charge.[10]
His goals early in the 2009–10 season – against West Ham at Boleyn Ground, and Birmingham City – kept Tottenham at the top of the league table, with four successive wins, their best start to a league season since the 1960–61 season.[11]
On 24 October 2009, Lennon was injured in a match against Stoke City. Tottenham were consequently reduced to ten men as manager Harry Redknapp had used all three available substitutes. However he returned on 22 November in a 9–1 victory against Wigan Athletic. He provided three assists and scored one goal. He was substituted in the 79th minute for David Bentley receiving a standing ovation from the fans at White Hart Lane.[12]
The Tottenham winger suffered a groin injury in December 2009, against West Ham United, which kept him out of the team during the first months of 2010 and in the run up to the2010 World Cup. He made his return from the groin injury in a 3–1 defeat against Manchester United at Old Trafford on 24 April.[13]
On 28 November 2010, he scored a last minute winner in a 2–1 victory against Liverpool at White Hart Lane after a Benoît Assou-Ekotto long ball.[14] On 15 February 2011, Lennon went on a blistering run as Tottenham counter-attacked and then delivered a perfect pass to assist Peter Crouch in a 1–0 win over AC Milan at the San Siro in the Round of 16 of the Champions league.[15]
On 18 August 2011 Lennon scored in a 5–0 win against Hearts in a Europa League play-off.[16] He scored his first Premier League goal of the season against Fulham at Craven Cottage.[17] On December he scored his second goal of the season in a 3–0 win against Bolton at White Hart Lane.[18] His next goal came on 11 January 2012 in a 2–0 home win against Everton.[19] On 1 September 2012 he signed a 4-year deal keeping him at the club until 2016. Following that he was named captain, for the first time for Tottenham in theirUEFA Europa League game against Lazio on 20 September 2012 which ended in a 0-0 draw.
On 29 December 2013, he scored his first goal of the 2013-14 season in a 3-0 win against Stoke City.[20]
International career
Lennon was called up to the England U-21 team team for the first time in October 2005 and on 8 May 2006, he was picked in England's 2006 FIFA World Cup squad, despite being only 19 years of age and uncapped at senior level.[21]
He was named Man of the match in the England B match with Belarus on 25 May 2006 in England's World Cup warm-up match at the Madejski Stadium in Reading, Berkshire, which ultimately England B lost 2–1. He made his full England debut as a second-half substitute in the 6–0 win over Jamaica on 2 June.
Lennon came on as a substitute for England in their second group stage game of World Cup 2006 (his first World Cup finals appearance) against Trinidad and Tobago. England scored twice following his and Wayne Rooney's arrival on the field, winning the game 2–0. There were some suggestions amongst fans for him to replace David Beckham on the right side of midfield.[22] Lennon then played in the quarter-final match against Portugal, coming on as a substitute for the injured Beckham. Lennon was then himself substituted for Jamie Carragher immediately prior to a penalty shootout, in which England lost.
Lennon also came on as a substitute against Andorra during a UEFA Euro qualifier and made an instant impact by assisting Peter Crouch's second goal after receiving the ball for the first time.
Lennon made his first start for England against Israel in a UEFA Euro qualifier on 24 March 2007 and four days later, he was again selected in the first XI against Andorra. This proved to be Lennon's last appearance for exactly two years as it wasn't until 28 March 2009 that he was selected again by England, starting in a friendly match with Slovakia atWembley Stadium. Lennon started again for England when they played Ukraine on 1 April 2009 at Wembley Stadium, although Lennon was substituted in both games for Beckham.
He was called up for the friendly against Slovenia and the World Cup qualifier versus Croatia, following his fine form for Tottenham,[23] and was named Nationwide Man of the Match for the 5–1 win over Croatia.[24]
Lennon made it into the final 23-man squad with England for the 2010 FIFA World Cup.[25] Lennon started for England in the opening two fixtures in England's World Cup campaign; in the 1–1 draw against the USA and in the 0–0 draw with Algeria.
Style of play
ESPN Soccernet considers Lennon an incredibly quick player and one of the fastest in the Premier League, with excellent skill on the ball and a keen eye for a pass.[26]
Career statistics
Club
- played 16 August 2014.
| Club | Season | League | FA Cup | League Cup | Europe | Total | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Division | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | |||
| Leeds United | 2003–04[27] | FA Premier League | 11 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 0 | — | 14 | 0 | ||
| 2004–05[28] | Championship | 27 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | — | 29 | 1 | |||
| Total | 38 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 3 | 0 | — | 43 | 1 | ||||
| Tottenham Hotspur | 2005–06[29] | FA Premier League | 27 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | — | 29 | 2 | ||
| 2006–07[30] | FA Premier League | 26 | 3 | 6 | 1 | 3 | 0 | 8[a] | 1 | 43 | 5 | ||
| 2007–08[31] | Premier League | 29 | 2 | 3 | 0 | 6 | 1 | 9[a] | 0 | 47 | 3 | ||
| 2008–09[32] | Premier League | 35 | 5 | 1 | 0 | 5 | 0 | 6[a] | 0 | 47 | 5 | ||
| 2009–10[33] | Premier League | 22 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | — | 24 | 3 | |||
| 2010–11[34] | Premier League | 34 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 10[b] | 0 | 46 | 3 | ||
| 2011–12[35] | Premier League | 23 | 3 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4[c] | 1 | 32 | 4 | ||
| 2012–13[36] | Premier League | 34 | 4 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 11[c] | 0 | 46 | 4 | ||
| 2013–14[37] | Premier League | 27 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 4[c] | 0 | 33 | 1 | ||
| 2014–15[38] | Premier League | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | ||
| Total | 258 | 26 | 19 | 1 | 19 | 1 | 52 | 2 | 348 | 30 | |||
| Career total | 296 | 27 | 21 | 1 | 22 | 1 | 52 | 2 | 391 | 31 | |||
- ^ a b c Appearances in UEFA Cup
- ^ Appearances in UEFA Champions League
- ^ a b c Appearances in UEFA Europa League
International
- As of match played 6 February 2013.[39]
| National team | Year | Apps | Goals |
|---|---|---|---|
| England | 2006 | 7 | 0 |
| 2007 | 2 | 0 | |
| 2009 | 6 | 0 | |
| 2010 | 4 | 0 | |
| 2012 | 1 | 0 | |
| 2013 | 1 | 0 | |
| Total | 21 | 0 | |
Honours[edit]
- Tottenham Hotspur
- Individual
- Leeds United 'Young Player of the Year': 2004–05
- PFA Fans' Player of the Month: March 2009
- Tottenham Hotspur 'Player Of The Year': 2008–09
- Tottenham Hotspur 'Young Player Of The Year': 2005–06, 2008–09
- Tottenham Hotspur 'Moment Of The Year': 2008–09
- PFA Young Player of the Year (nominated): 2005–06, 2006–07, 2008–09
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