Lennon: Aaron Justin (Aaron)

2003-2005 (Leeds Player Details) (Player Details)

Right Wing

Born: Chapeltown, Leeds: 16-04-1987

Debut: v Tottenham Hotspur (a) (substitute): 23-08-2003

5’5” 9st 12lb (2007)

Lennon came through the junior ranks at Leeds and was always seen as someone special. His elder brother Tony was also an exciting prospect when taking the same route, but unfortunately he never progressed to the first team. Lennon turned professional with Leeds on 1st July 2003 and quickly progressed into the first team and he was still only sixteen when he made his debut, in fact at sixteen years and one hundred and twenty-nine days he was the youngest player ever to have played in the EPL, when he made his debut, as a substitute at White Hart Lane against Tottenham Hotspur on 23rd August 2003. He was not rushed into the first team but eased into it mostly as a substitute but the star quality was there for all to see, as he made the England Under-Sixteen team in 2002 and played eight times before making seventeen appearances for the England Under-Seventeens. Extremely fast and elusive with outstanding dribbling skills, he stood out as a quality player. Leeds were going through a spell of financial uncertainty and their star players left in droves and soon they were plummeting down the Leagues and Lennon found himself playing in the CCCL with a team low on confidence and high on expectancy from their supporters. He scored his first and only goal for Leeds in a rare 3-2 win in the Boxing Day 2004 clash with Sunderland at the Stadium of Light, when he was still only seventeen. He won the club’s young player of the year award. He next played one game for the England Under-Nineteens as his representative career blossomed. As befits a quality player he was on a good wage, based on the number of games he played and as these grew it became a problem as Leeds fought relegation in the 2004-05 season. After several offers from EPL clubs, he took a cut in pay to sign for Tottenham Hotspur in June 2005, for a bargain £1 million, as he sought to play in a League more befitting his ability and where his potential could be realised. He made his Tottenham debut on 27th August 2005 in a 0-2 home defeat by Chelsea and scored his first EPL goal on 18th March 2006, in a 2-0 away win at Birmingham City, in the same month in which he signed a contract extension for Spurs for another four years. His progress continued and after being elected third best “Young Player of the Year” by the PFA for the 2006-2007 season, he signed a further contract extension at £20,000 per week in January 2007 for another five and a half years to June 2012. He had also been selected for the England Under-Twenty-One team, making his debut on 7th October 2005 at Elland Roadin a 1-2 defeat by Austria in the European Championship Qualifiers, and four days later was in the team for a 4-1 win in the same competition over Poland at Hillsborough. He was called up for the 2006 World Cup squad in May 2006. He was named “Man of the Match” for England “B” against Belarus on 25th May 2006 at Reading and made his England debut as a sixty-sixth minute substitute for David Beckham against Jamaica on 3rd June 2006 at Old Trafford. After several substitute appearances he made his starting debut for England against Israel in Tel Aviv on 24th March 2007 in the European Championship Qualifiers. He gained his second England "B" cap but only played ten minutes before being replaced by Stuart Downing in a 3-1 win over Albania on 25th June 2007 at Turf Moor. A regular at White Hart Lane, he also started to score some memorable goals as he mesmerized the opposition with his speed and intricate dribbling skills. He gained his first trophy as Spurs beat Chelsea at Wembley to lift the League Cup with a 2-1 extra time win at Wembley on 24th February 2008. He also gained a runners' up medal the following season as Spurs were beaten in the Final of the same competition in a penalty shoot-out by Manchester United. He gained his final three Under-Twenty-One caps, to bring his total to five, when he played against the Republic of Ireland at St Mary's, Southampton in a 3-0 win on 5th May 2008, then, on 19th August 2008 at Hull in a 2-1 win over Slovenia, when he was replaced after seventy-thre minutes by Adam Johnson, and finally in a 2-0 win over the Czech Republic at Sheffield on 18th November 2008. In March 2009 he signed an extended contract designed to keep him at White Hart Lane until 2014, after Liverpool and Real Madrid had shown interest in him. In the 2008-09 season he was the Tottenham "Player of the year", "Young Player of the Year", and was also awarded the club's "Moment of the Year" for his last minute equaliser in a 4-4 draw with Arsenal. He was also nominate for PFA "Young Player of the Year" for the third time. He started the 2009-10 season in irrepressable form as he scored twice in the first four games as Spurs led the EPL with four successive wins. Unfortunately he was injured in late October. He returned a month later to score one and make three others as Spurs pulverised Wigan Athletic 9-1. He then suffered a groin injury in December which kept him out until late April but soon staked his claim for inclusion in the England World Cup squad. He was honoured by England nineteen times for the full international team, winning man-of-the-match in the 5-1 win against Croatia in a World Cup Qualifier on 9th September 2009. He featured in the 2010 World Cup in South Africa in the first two Group games against USA and Algeria, when he was substituted after sixty-three minutes by Shaun Wright-Phillips but remained an unused substitute against Slovenia and Germany in the final two games. He had a loss of form under Juande Ramos which saw him excluded from the international scene for two years. However, under new Spurs boss Harry Redknapp he turned his career around and helped the club to seal their first ever Champions League place, when they came fourth in 2009-10. Usually Tottenham's first choice when not injured, he has been prone to niggling injuries from time to time and his appearance statistics reflect this, as does his International appearances. His record at White Hart Lane to the end of the 2011-12 season shows he has scored twenty-one goals in the League from one hundred and fifty-eight starts and thirty-eight games from the bench, while in the F.A. Cup he has scored once in twelve starts and five games from the bench, one goal in the League Cup from thirteen starts and five substitute appearances and two goals in European and other games in thirty-one starts and six games from the bench.