Leon McKenzie

Football player infobox
playername = Leon McKenzie


fullname = Leon Mark McKenzie
height = height|ft=5|in=10
dateofbirth = Birth date and age|1978|5|17|df=y
cityofbirth = Croydon
countryofbirth = England
currentclub = Coventry City
clubnumber = 14
position = Striker
youthyears =
youthclubs = Crystal Palace
years = 1995–2000
1997
1998
2000–2003
2003–2006
2006–
clubs = Crystal Palace
→ Fulham (loan)
→ Peterborough United (loan)
Peterborough United
Norwich City
Coventry City
caps(goals) = 85 0(7)
03 0(0)
14 0(8)
90 (46)
79 (20)
49 (10)
nationalyears =
nationalteam =
nationalcaps(goals) =
pcupdate = 22:13, 20 September 2008 (UTC)
ntupdate =

Leon Mark McKenzie (born 17 May, 1978 in Croydon, Greater London) is an English professional footballer who currently plays for Coventry City. He is the son of former British and European boxing champion Clinton McKenzie and nephew of flyweight boxing champion Duke McKenzie and politician and retired boxer Winston McKenzie.

Football career

McKenzie began his career with his local club Crystal Palace, making his debut during the 1995-96 season. In 1997 he was loaned to Fulham and in 1998 to Peterborough United, where he scored 9 goals in 15 games.

In 2000 McKenzie moved to London Road on a permanent basis. In three years there he scored 49 goals in 103 games.

He joined Norwich from Peterborough in December 2003 for a fee of £325,000, and instantly won over the Canaries faithful by scoring twice on his debut to help beat local rival Ipswich Town at Portman Road and go top of division one. His goals made a significant contribution to Norwich's promotion to the Premier League as First Division champions.

Within a year, he had turned from a Second Division to a Premiership player. McKenzie took time to find his feet in the Premiership but he established a strike partnership with Dean Ashton which would become one of the most potent in the division during the closing stages of the 2004-05 season. His goals helped Norwich to haul themselves into contention to avoid the drop, although they were relegated on the last day of the season.

He was voted third place in the Norwich Player of The Season vote by supporters for the season 2004-05, beaten by Darren Huckerby and Damien Francis, ironically the same player who's cheekbone he broke in November 2004. Upon hearing Damien Francis had been having an affair with his Mrs, Leon punched Damien and had to be separated by players.Fact|date=August 2008

The 2005-06 season for McKenzie was interrupted by injuries and personal difficulties surrounding the break-up of his marriage. At the start of the 2006-07 in English football campaign, he handed in a transfer request to manager Nigel Worthington. Although Worthington rejected McKenzie's request, he subsequently confirmed that McKenzie would be sold if they received an offer that matched the club's valuation of the player.

McKenzie was signed by Coventry City on transfer deadline day in August 2006 for an intitial £600,000 that, according to appearances and promotion, could rise to £1m. Ironically, Coventry's first match after signing Mckenzie was against Norwich - however, Mckenzie was unable to play due to a condition of the transfer that prevented him from playing in either of the two fixtures between Coventry and Norwich in the 2006-07 season. He made his debut for Coventry on 12 September 2006 as a substitute against Ipswich Town at Portman Road.

He started the 2007/2008 season well, scoring against Barnsley on the opening day of the season and Hull, before a knee injury put him out of action for several weeks.

He scored in Coventry's opening game of the 2008/2009 season against his old club, Norwich City. This marked McKenzie's 100th professional career goal and he celebrated by revealing a vest with "100" on it. He was subsequently booked for his celebration.

McKenzie's cousin is Ashley McKenzie, who took part in the third series of "The X Factor", broadcasting on ITV1.

References

External links

* [http://www.ccfc.co.uk/page/ProfilesDetail/0,,10269~9257,00.html Leon McKenzie player profile] at ccfc.co.uk
* [http://www.canaries.co.uk/page/ProfilesDetail/0,,10355~9257,00.html Leon McKenzie player profile] at canaries.co.uk
*soccerbase|id=5178|mame=Leon McKenzie
* [http://www.uptheposh.com/people/14/ Profile] at [http://www.uptheposh.com/ UpThePosh! The Peterborough United Database]
* [http://www.ex-canaries.co.uk/players/mckenzie.htm Career information at ex-canaries.co.uk]