Varney: Luke Ivan (Luke)

2012-2014 (Leeds Player Details) (Player Details)

Winger/Striker

Born: Leicester: 28-09-1982

Debut: Shrewsbury Town (h): 11-08-2012

5’11” 11st (2012)

He began his career at Non-League Quorn, who were based near Loughborough in Leicestershire and were initially playing in the Leicestershire Senior League and were then promote to the Midland Alliance League. It was there that his goalscoring exploits attracted the attention of Neil Baker, the Crewe Assistant Manager, as he scored twenty-five goals in just thirty-three games, which was reason enough for Manager Dario Gradi to to beat the transfer deadline and sign the striker in March 2003 for £50,000. A Quality Controller in a local factory, Varney was able to leave his job and become a full-time professional. He did not make the Crewe first team in the time that was left in his first season of 2002-03 but made his debut as a seventy-fourth minute substitute on 9th August 2003, in the opening game of the season in a 1-3 defeat against Wimbledon at Selhurst Park, as Crewe looked to nurture his raw talent. He made his starting debut also at Selhurst Park, against Crystal Palace on 9th December 2003, when he scored in the sixteenth minute in a 3-1 win, with co-striker Dean Ashton netting the other two goals. However his appearances were limited to just ten after he sustained a shoulder injury in January 2004. After he underwent surgery on his shoulder he came back stronger and fitter and, after the departure of Dean Ashton and Rob Hulse, he played close to thirty games in 2004-05 when his speed caused defences all kinds of problems. In 2005-06, when Crewe Alexandra were relegated to League One, he played more as a winger where he could use his pace to better effect, while 2006-07 saw him at his best, scoring seventeen goals in thirty-four League games and being chosen for the PFA "League One Team of the Year" and was also named Crewe's "Player of the Year". It was in that season that he scored against Manchester United in a League Cup tie at Gresty Road on 25th October 2006 in a 1-2 defeat. Charlton Athletic's Alan Pardew recognized Varney's talents and paid £2 million to take him to the Valley on 21st May 2007. Depending on appearances and other clauses the fee could have been as high as £2.5 million. As there was an a clause in his contract when sold from Quorn to Crewe giving the Leicestershire club twenty percent of any future sale, it resulted in a fine windfall for Quorn and helped them with ground improvements. While with Crewe Alexandra he scored twenty-seven League goals in sixty-eight starts and twenty-seven games from the bench, did not score in two starts and one game as a substitute in the F.A. Cup, scored once in four starts and one game from the bench in the League Cup and seven goals in five starts in the Johnstone's Paint Trophy. He made his Addicks' Championship debut as a sixty-eighth minute substitute in a 2-2 draw at Colchester United on 15th September 2007, making his run-on debut three days later in a 2-0 win at home to Norwich City and his first Charlton goal came in the next game in a 2-0 home win over his hometown team of Leicester City, when he netted the first goal after eighteen minutes. He scored five goals in thirty-nine games in his first season at the Valley but was not the success that Alan Pardew had hoped and although he continued to be a regular choice, he was loaned to Derby County for a month from 27th November 2008 to the end of the year, scoring once in six starts and one game from the bench in the League but failed to find the net in one start and one substitute appearance in the F.A. Cup. Derby made the move permanent and signed him for in excess of £1 million on 1st January 2009. He had scored ten League goals in fifty-seven League games, eighteen of which were from the bench and started two F.A. Cup ties and played two League Cup games, one of which was as a substitute, without scoring, while at the Valley. His time at Pride Park was not an happy one, as after being signed by Paul Jewell, he seemed to succumb to niggling injuries, illnesss and loss of form, and there was a change of Manager as Nigel Clough took over with instructions to cut the budget. While on loan he had made his debut on 29th November 2008 in a 0-3 loss to Burnley at Turf Moor and had scored his first goal, four minutes before half-time, on 6th December 2008 in a 1-2 loss to Crystal Palace at Pride Park. He made his debut after being signed permanently, in an F.A. Cup tie at Forest Green on 3rd January 2009, which Derby won 4-3 and made his League debut in a 0-2 loss to Queens Park Rangers on 17th January 2009, but soon fell from favour and was loaned to Sheffield Wednesday for a month from 20th March 2009, scoring twice in three League starts and one game from the bench. He was back at Hillsborough for the start of the next season on loan until the end of the calendar year, in which time he scored four League goals in nineteen games, four of which were as a substitute. It became obvious that Derby had no intention of adding to the £1 million they had already paid Charlton for Varney, as under the contract they were due to pay a further £500,000 if he played ten games for the Rams. So it had nothing to do with the player's ability and all to do with the financial plight of Derby County. So the Sheffield Wednesday Manager Alan Irvine was quite happy to sign Varney on loan for the remainder of the season from 21st January 2010. In his third and final spell with the Owls he scored five goals in twenty League games, of which three were as a substitute. Despite Varney's goals he was unable to prevent Sheffield Wednesday slipping to relegation on the final day of the 2009–10 season and he returned to Derby with his future still very uncertain. He played his first and only game of the season for Derby in a 1-2 home defeat by Cardiff City on 14th August 2010 and although his name had been linked with Southampton, Queens Park Rangers and Crewe Alexandra, he was then loaned to EPL side Blackpool for the rest of the season. He enjoyed his season in the Premier League and proved to himself and others that his talent had not diminished as he scored five goals in twenty-four starts and six games from the bench in the top flight. Varney signed a three-year contract with Portsmouth on 7th July 2011 for £750,000 and so left behind his troubled times at Pride Park, where he only played five League games, including one as a substitute and made one further appearance as a substitute in a League Cup game in the two and a half years he had spent there after signing permanently in January 2009. However, he had jumped out of the frying-pan and into the fire as Portsmouth were in worse financial straits than Derby County and were deducted ten points when they were forced into administration and this ensured their relegation to League one at the end of the 2011-12 season. He made his Pompey debut on 6th August 2011 in a 2-2 draw with Middlesbrough at the Riverside Stadium, scoring the equalizer in the final minute. He scored six goals in thirty League games, two of which were as a substitute and made one start in the League Cup without scoring, before he was one of many Portsmouth players to be put up for sale by the administrators at the end of the season. On 23rd July 2012 Leeds United Manager Neil Warnock was happy to sign him on a two year contract and pay a fee thought to be in the region of £300,000 to secure his services from Portsmouth, but the fee was thought to have gone straight to Derby County. He scored on his debut for Leeds in a Pre-season Friendly at Bodmin Town on 25th July 2012. He also scored when he made his United dbut on 11th August 2012 in a 4-0 win over Shrewsbury Town in te League Cup, but could not manage a scoring debut in the League when he started the game at home to Wolverhampton Wanderer on 18th August 2012. He had opened his F.A. Cup account in spectacular fashion with a brilliant individual effort to score the opening goal in United's 2-1 triumph over Tottenham Hotspur on 27th January 2013, before he notched his first League goal in the away fixture at Molineux on 9th February 2013. He bosted his League tally to four with a goal at Charlton Athletic on 6th April a two more in a 2-1 home win over Sheffield Wednesday the following week. He reinforced his reputation for inconsistency, being quite capable of scoring brilliant goals but then drifting into obscurity on other occasions, but he finished the season as a regular in either the left of midfield or one of the striking roles. He started the 2013-14 season in good form and scored in a 2-1 win at Ipswich Town on 24th August and then got the only goal in a 1-0 win at Bolton Wanderers on 14th September 2014 but then fell out of favour and matters deteriorated to the point where Brian McDermott reported that Varney had refused to play for the club after hearing Blackburn Rovers had shown interest in him. On 8th February 2014, Varney joined Blackburn Rovers on loan until the end of the season. He made his debut the same day as a seventy-sixth minute substitute for Rudy Gestede in a 0-0 draw at Middlebrough. His run-on debut came on 9th March 2014 in a 1-2 home defeat by Burnley, when he came off with nine minutes left, being replaced by Rudy Gestede. He finished the season with three starts and nine games from the bench in the League for the Ewood Park club. He returned to Leeds and was released by the club at the end of his contract, leaving him free to negotiate his own contract. On 1st July 2014 he joined Blackburn Rovers on a free transfer and a one year contract. On 12th August he played his first game for them in a 0-1 home defeat by Scunthorpe United in the League Cup and went on to make another nine substitute appearances in the League and two substitute appearances in the F.A. Cup before he became surplus to requirements and on 20th February 2015 he was loaned to Ipswich Town, initially for a month, but it was later extended to the rest of the season. He made his debut as a seventy-ninth minute substitute for Freddie Sears in a 0-1 home loss to Reading on the same day, making his run-on debut on 4th March 2015 against his former club, Leeds United, who inflicted a 2-1 defeat on the Mariners at Elland Road, as Varney played sixty-five minutes before being replaced by Daryl Murphy. He opened his goal scoring account for the East Anglian club on 6th April 2015 in the forty-eighth minute of a 1-2 loss in the away fixture with Huddersfield Town, but it proved to be his only goal for them. He started five League games and came off the bench on five more occasions as Ipswich reached the Championship play-offs. There disaster struck, as Varney started the home leg of the Play-Off Semi-Finals, but was carried off with a ruptured Achilles after thirty-one minutes and his replacement Paul Anderson, scored the Ipswich goal in the 1-1 draw but their opponents, Norwich City, prevailed to win the second leg and go through to the final and eventual promotion to the EPL. Blackburn did not renew his contract which ran out at the end of the season. Ipswich Town provided rehabilitation after his Achilles surgery and he is hoping to return in October 2015.