Leon Constantine

Football player infobox
playername = Leon Constantine


fullname = Leon Constantine
dateofbirth = birth date and age|1978|2|24
cityofbirth = Hackney
countryofbirth = England
height = height|ft=6|in=2
currentclub = Northampton Town
clubnumber = 8
position = Striker
youthyears =
youthclubs =
years = 1999–2000
2000–2002
2001–2002
2001–2002
2002–2003
2003–2004
2004–2005
2004–2005
2005–2007
2007–2008
2008
2008–
clubs = Edgware Town
Millwall
→ Leyton Orient (loan)
→ Partick Thistle (loan)
Brentford
Southend United
Peterborough United
Torquay United
Port Vale
Leeds United
→ Oldham Athletic (loan)
Northampton Town
caps(goals) = 40 (31)
01 0(0)
10 0(3)
02 0(0)
17 0(0)
43 (21)
11 0(1)
42 (10)
72 (32)
04 0(1)
08 0(2)
06 0(1)
pcupdate = 14:48, 5 October 2008 (UTC)

Leon Constantine (born February 24 1978, in Hackney, Greater London) is an English professional footballer who currently plays as a striker for Northampton Town.

Constantine played for Hendon and Edgware Town before joining Millwall in September 2000. He made his debut for Millwall on September 30, 2000, coming on as a late substitute for Paul Ifill in a 4-1 win away to Peterborough United.

He had loan spells with Leyton Orient and Partick Thistle, before moving to Brentford on a free transfer in August 2002. He struggled to establish himself at Griffin Park and in August 2003 joined Southend United, initially on non-contract terms, [cite web| url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/teams/s/southend_utd/3171063.stm| title=Constantine joins Blues| publisher=BBC Sport] signing a permanent deal the following month. [cite web| url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/teams/s/southend_utd/3149864.stm| title=Southend sign Constantine| publisher=BBC Sport]

Despite scoring at a rate of one every other game for Southend, he turned down the offer of a new two-year contract [cite web| url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/teams/s/southend_utd/3708635.stm| title=Southend deals for quartet| publisher=BBC Sport] and joined Peterborough United in May 2004. [cite web| url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/teams/s/southend_utd/3736869.stm| title=Posh sign Constantine| publisher=BBC Sport] In October 2004, he joined Torquay United on loan [cite web| url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/teams/t/torquay_united/3959961.stm| title=Constantine seals Gulls loan move] and in December 2004 moved to Torquay for a club record fee of £75,000. [cite web| url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/teams/t/torquay_united/4083045.stm| title=Constantine seals return to Gulls| publisher=BBC Sport]

His form was disappointing for Torquay, scoring just seven times in 38 appearances, and he was transfer-listed in October 2005 by Torquay manager Leroy Rosenior, along with Darren Garner, Mamadou Sow, Carl Priso, Morike Sako and Nick Skinner. [cite web| url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/teams/t/torquay_united/4393232.stm| title=Six put on list by Torquay boss| publisher=BBC Sport] Constantine moved to Port Vale in November 2005, [cite web| url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/teams/t/torquay_united/4406390.stm| title=Constantine leaves Gulls for Vale| publisher=BBC Sport] initially on loan, where he became a regular goalscorer. In the 2006-2007 season he broke a record, becoming the only Port Vale player to score more than 17 goals before Christmas. This happened when he scored twice against Brighton & Hove Albion on December 23, 2006. [cite web| url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/eng_div_2/6185569.stm| title=Port Vale 2-1 Brighton| publisher=BBC Sport]

He was set to move to Barnsley in the January 2007 transfer window, Vale agreeing a fee of £200,000 plus Marc Richards. However, the deal fell through when neither club could agree terms. [cite web| url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/teams/b/barnsley/6257123.stm| title=Constantine's Tykes move is off| publisher=BBC Sport] Despite finishing the season with 26 goals in all competitions for Port Vale (38 in 18 months for the club) he was never a fan favourite at Vale Park and split fans down the middle because of his lax looking approaches which made it appear that he was lazy and put no effort in. Leon claimed this couldn't be further from the truth in several interviews with the local media and took a parting shot at the Vale "boo boys" before announcing he was leaving.fact|date=April 2008

Constantine had been linked with a number of League One clubs throughout pre-season, however he agreed a contract in principle with Leeds United when they were in administration, paying out of his own pocket to take part in the pre-season programme. Leeds later completed the signing of Constantine on a 2 year contract on 7 August 2007.cite news| title = Leeds complete triple acquisition| url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/teams/l/leeds_united/6934746.stm| publisher=BBC Sport| date=2007-08-07| accessdate=2007-08-07] Constantine started his 1st game for Leeds in the 2-1 defeat to Bury in the JPT where he scored in the 8th minute. His career at Leeds so far has been blighted by injury, however, leading to him only making a handful of appearances for the club so far.

Constantine scored his first league goal for Leeds in their 3-1 home defeat at the hands of Oldham Athletic on January 1, 2008. Unfortunately, he was hit by injury again, breaking his arm in this same game after scoring, leading to a two-month lay-off. [cite web| url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/teams/l/leeds_united/7170386.stm| title=Constantine injury blow for Leeds| publisher=BBC Sport]

In March 2008, Constantine was sent to fellow League One side Oldham Athletic on loan to help him re-gain match fitness.

On July 2, Constantine completed a free transfer move to league one side Northampton Town.

References

External links

*soccerbase|id=22031|name=Leon Constantine's