Joe Ledley
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| Joe Ledley | ||
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| Personal information | ||
|---|---|---|
| Full name | Joseph Christopher Ledley[1] | |
| Date of birth | 21 January 1987 | |
| Place of birth | Cardiff, Wales | |
| Height | 6 ft 0 in (1.83 m) | |
| Playing position | Central midfielder, Left winger | |
| Club information | ||
| Current club | Cardiff City | |
| Number | 16 | |
| Youth career | ||
| 1996–2004 | Cardiff City | |
| Senior career1 | ||
| Years | Club | App (Gls)* |
| 2004– | Cardiff City | 197 (23) |
| National team2 | ||
| 2003–2004 2004–2005 2005–2008 2006– |
Wales U17 Wales U19 Wales U21 Wales |
6 (0) 3 (0) 5 (0) 29 (2) |
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1 Senior club appearances and goals |
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Joseph Christopher "Joe" Ledley (born 21 January 1987 in Cardiff) is a Welsh professional footballer currently playing for Football League Championship side Cardiff City.
Contents |
[edit] Early life
Ledley was born in Cardiff, growing up in the Fairwater area. As a youngster he attended Cantonian High School, where his picture is still displayed.[2] He is not the first footballer in the family, however, his older cousin Luke Pittard played in goal for Wales under-21s, before injury cut short his career.
[edit] Club career
[edit] Beginning
A lifelong fan of the club, Ledley joined his hometown team Cardiff City at the age of nine and made his way through the youth ranks at the club. During his later days as a trainee he was in charge of cleaning then captain Graham Kavanagh's boots.[3]
Ledley was one of the rising stars of Cardiff City when, after performing well for the reserve team, he was called into the full team in the middle of the 2004–05 season, making his debut in the League Cup against Milton Keynes Dons on 21 September 2004[4] before making his league debut the next month on 16 October against Rotherham United. He scored his first goal for the senior team in a league match against West Ham United which the Bluebirds won 4–1[5]. Primarily a midfielder, being able to play in the centre or on the left, Ledley can also play at left-back as he showed at the end of the 2006–07 season when he filled in at the position with Cardiff's small squad struggling with suspensions and injuries late in the season. He has also played at left-back for Wales. At the end of the 2006–07 season he picked up the goal of the season award for his strike against Barnsley.[6]
[edit] 2007-08
Ledley began the 2007–08 season in great form and earned several man of the match awards in the first four months and in October 2007 he signed a two-year extension to his current contract at Cardiff[7]. In December 2007, Wolverhampton Wanderers offered a reported £2.5 million pounds, which could go up to as much as £3.5m with add-ons, to Cardiff for Ledley. Cardiff offered the deal to Ledley who turned the move down in order to stay with the Bluebirds.[8] Premier League side Everton were also known to have taken an interest in him, reportedly considering making an offer of 3.5m.[9] At the time, Cardiff valued him at a reported £5 million.
Despite the speculation about his transfer Ledley himself has stated that he is desperate to stay at Cardiff but concedes that he may have no choice should a high offer be made.[10] Everton attempted a second move for Ledley at the end of the January transfer window, reportedly beating Wolves' previous £3m move, but the move was rejected by Cardiff.[11] His form continued into February and early March before a hamstring injury forced him to miss several games, including Cardiff's 2–0 FA Cup Quarter Final victory over Middlesbrough. He returned to the side in time for the Semi Final against Barnsley where he scored the only goal to send Cardiff to their first Final since 1927,[12] a goal which later earned him 'Player of the Round'.[13] Cardiff went on to lose in the Final to Portsmouth. As well as his exploits in the FA Cup, the year was also Ledley's most prolific goalscoring year for the club as he finished joint top scorer, along with Paul Parry, with a total of 11 goals in all competitions.
[edit] 2008-09
On 1 September 2008, the final day of the summer transfer window for the 2008-09 season, recently promoted Premiership side Stoke City bid a reported £6m to sign Ledley but the bid, the second from Stoke in recent months after a previous £5m bid, was firmly rejected by Cardiff.[14] On 7 October, Ledley was named Welsh clubman of the year for the second consecutive year.[15][16] He scored his first goal of the 2008-09 season during a 2-1 win over Crystal Palace on 15 November when he fired in with his first touch since returning to the pitch after receiving treatment due to a dislocated finger.[17] The injury would later require surgery and Ledley was expected to be out for around one month but managed to return in time to play against Swansea City, with his finger in a cast,[18]in the first league meeting between the two sides for nine years and scored with a left footed volley as the game ended 2-2,[19], a goal which would later earn him the club's goal of the season award.[20] In his next game after the South Wales derby, on 6 December, with captain Darren Purse dropped and vice-captain Stephen McPhail suspended, Ledley, at the age of just 21, captained Cardiff for the first time in a 2-0 win over Preston North End.[21]
His performances in the absence of McPhail, which would later earn him the Championship player of the month award for January,[22] meant that he kept the Irish international out of the side as he continued as stand in captain, including a 0-0 draw with Arsenal in the fourth round of the FA Cup.[23] The January transfer window saw increased speculation about Ledley's future and Cardiff turned down two bids from Premier League sides West Ham United, who saw an offer of £5m turned down,[24] and Wigan Athletic, who had a bid of £4m and former Cardiff player and Wales international Jason Koumas rejected[25]. He remained captain of the side for the rest of the season and at the end of the year was included in the 2008–09 Championship Team of the Year, along with teammate Roger Johnson.[26]
[edit] International career
Ledley played at several youth levels for Wales as a youngster eventually winning his first senior Wales cap in an away World Cup qualifying match against Poland in October 2005. His first international goal came against San Marino in a Euro 2008 qualifier on 17 October 2007.[27]
In 2008 Ledley, along with a number of other full Wales internationals, was called back into the Wales U21 squad in bid to help the team qualify for the U21 championships, only for a back injury to rule him out. On 29 May 2009, with a number of first team players missing from the side, Ledley was named as captain of the senior team for the 1-0 win over Estonia.[28]
[edit] International goals
| # | Date | Venue | Opponent | Score | Result | Competition |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 17 October 2007 | Serravalle, San Marino |  San Marino |
0–2 | 1–2 | Euro 2008 qualifying |
| 2 | 10 September 2008 | Moscow, Russia |  Russia |
1–1 | 2–1 | World Cup 2010 qualifying |
[edit] Career stats
| Club | Season | Championship | FA Cup | League Cup | Others | Total | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| App | Goals | App | Goals | App | Goals | App | Goals | App | Goals | ||
| Cardiff City | 2004-05 | 28 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 0 | - | - | 32 | 4 |
| 2005-06 | 42 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 1 | - | - | 45 | 3 | |
| 2006-07 | 46 | 3 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 0 | - | - | 49 | 3 | |
| 2007-08 | 41 | 10 | 4 | 1 | 3 | 0 | - | - | 48 | 11 | |
| 2008-09 | 40 | 4 | 3 | 1 | 3 | 0 | - | - | 46 | 5 | |
| Total | 197 | 23 | 11 | 2 | 12 | 1 | - | - | 220 | 26 | |
[edit] Honours
[edit] Club
- Cardiff City
- FA Cup Runner-up: 1
[edit] Individual
- Welsh clubman of the year: 2
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- 2007, 2008
- Championship team of the year: 1
[edit] References
- ^ "Search 1984 to 2006 – Birth, Marriage and Death indexes". Findmypast.com. http://www.findmypast.com/post84BMDSearchStart.action?redef=0&searchType=B. Retrieved on 2009-06-16.
- ^ Local hero Ledley reaps rewards, BBC News Online. Retrieved on 14 April 2008
- ^ When Ledley took a shine to Kav, South Wales Echo. Retrieved on 24 December 2007
- ^ Bluebirds praise teenager Ledley, BBC Sport Online. Retrieved on 3 October 2007
- ^ Parry pleased for Ledley, BBC Sport Online. Retrieved on 3 October 2007
- ^ Gunter and Ledley secure prizes, BBC Sport Online. Retrieved on 3 October 2007
- ^ Ledley extends Cardiff contract, BBC Sport Online. Retrieved on 3 October 2007
- ^ Wolves fails in £2.5m bid, Express & Star. Retrieved on 24 December 2007
- ^ Everton face battle for Joe Ledley, Daily Post. Retrieved on 14 April 2008
- ^ Ledley's plea to Bluebirds, South Wales Echo. Retrieved on 7 January 2008
- ^ Bluebirds boss fends off big money offers, South Wales Echo. Retrieved on 13 February 2008
- ^ "Report: Barnsley 0–1 Cardiff, BBC Sport Online. Retrieved on 7 April 2008
- ^ Ledley takes the vote, The FA. Retrieved on 14 April 2008
- ^ "Ledley stays, but Cardiff are smarting over Smertin" Western Mail Retrieved on 2 September 2008
- ^ "Bellamy nets Welsh player award" BBC Sport Retrieved on 10 October 2008
- ^ "Davies wins Welsh player award" BBC Sport Retrieved on 10 October 2008
- ^ "Ledley injury doubt for Toshack" BBC Sport Retrieved on 16 November 2008
- ^ "Ledley passed fit for Welsh derby" BBC Sport Retrieved on 30 November, 2008
- ^ "Swansea 2-2 Cardiff" BBC Sport Retrieved on 30 November, 2008
- ^ "Cardiff City supporters club roll call of honour" South Wales Echo Retrieved on 3 May, 2009
- ^ "Teams: Joe le captain" cardiffcityfc.co.uk Retrieved on 6 December, 2008
- ^ "Joe Ledley scoops title" cardiffcityfc.co.uk Retrieved on 9 February, 2009
- ^ "Cardiff 0-0 Arsenal" BBC Sport Retrieved on 5 February, 2009
- ^ "Cardiff City reject 5m West Ham bid for Joe Ledley" South Wales Echo Retrieved on 26 January, 2009
- ^ "Cardiff City turn down Koumas swap with Ledley" South Wales Echo Retrieved on 5 February, 2009
- ^ "Championship team of the year" footballleague.co.uk Retrieved on 27 April, 2009
- ^ "San Marino 1-2 Wales" BBC Sport Retrieved on 16 June, 2009
- ^ "Wales 1-0 Estonia" BBC Sport Retrieved on 30 May, 2009
[edit] External links
- Joe Ledley career stats at Soccerbase
- Joe Ledley profile on Cardiff City F.C.'s website
- Joe Ledley profile on the Football Association of Wales's website
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