Constantine in Carlisle: Memories of a Shrimpers striker as he moves on once again

Last updated : 24 June 2011 By exiledessexboy / mark wallis

 
Leon Constantine; scored a few as a Shrimper in his only season at Roots Hall

York City manager Gary Mills has announced that five players are leaving the Blue Square Premier club, of which one is our former striker Leon Constantine.

Now 33, 15 clubs in all, and during the 2003/04 season our major goalscorer, and a very important reason we kept our league status at the end of that tough campaign when Tilly was starting to build something special.

Sadly he knew it, and buggered off to Peterborough with more dosh in his pocket, but never again to hit the same scoring heights outside his year spent with Port Vale.

Many hate him for what they see a treachery, others are just grateful he found the back of the net as many times as he did to keep the club outside the bottom two, a side that was to go on to bigger and better things without him.

This is what Robin Michel wrote on his excellent sufc data base back in 2004:

Leon is not the most graceful of players on a football pitch, in fact his long legs often appear to work independently of his body, but that may just help to confuse the opposition. Leon however has the ability to score goals, vital goals at a time when no one else in the team could get on the score sheet regularly. In fact his goal tally persuaded Wignall to give him a permanent contract when his trial period finished and Leon has continued to find the back of the net on a regular basis, even though he often gets pushed out onto the wing or into midfield.

Southend United Played Goals

L'gue

FAC

LCup

Other

Total

L'gue

FAC

LCup

Other

Total
03-04 season 40+3 3+1 0 6+1 49+5 21 0 0 4 25
TOTALS 40+3 3+1 0 6+1 49+5 21 0 0 4 25

 

(The full article is available at: www.sufcdb.co.uk/index.php)

Were you one of the 144?

Saturday, March 27th, 2009: Carlisle United 1 Southend United 2

Carlisle, who had only five League points just a week before Christmas, have been the Division’s in-form side at home since the turn of the year, and previous to this clash, had not been defeated in Cumbria since Mansfield Town returned triumphant in mid-November.

Indeed this vital victory was a massive three points for Southend, who move into seventeenth spot – but amazingly only three points away from the top half of the table – and all but suggested that Carlisle, after years of struggle, will more than likely be one of the two sides to lose their League status come May.

It’s far from over, but the Cumbrians have got a lot of work to do and the disagraceful behaviour of their frustrated supporters after this clash perhaps epitomised the feeling around the Great Border City, not, of course that that in any way provides a reasoning for the home supporters to throw coins and spit at the away supporters, it’s something nobody wants to see and hopefully will be looked into further.

Shrimpers new recruit, 20-year Arsenal loanee Nicky Nicolou fitted in perfectly at left back whilst Mark Bentley, cup-tied for the LDV Vans Trophy Final defeat against Blackpool six days earlier strode back into the midfield, striker Lawrie Dudfield however was still missing having come down with an illness.

Southend took some time to get into their flow in what was quite a drab opening period, whilst the home side were content to move forward quickly without really causing the visitor’s any serious problems.

It was however the Division’s bottom side who grabbed the first half chance in just the third minute when Craig Farrell stabbed a shot wide of Darryl Flahavan’s upright before, some ten minutes later former Southend trialist goalkeeper Matthew Glennon dis well to gather Mark Gower’s stinging long range shot at the second attempt.

A dangerous Carl Pettefer cross saw Drewe Broughton’s header blocked before Gower shot over the top before the final action of the first half saw Flahavan easily hold onto a Farrell free kick.

After the interval, Southend really came into their own, and the curse of their bogey ground was all of a sudden lifted.

The Shrimpers threatened as early on as two minutes after the re-start when Leon Constantine brilliantly shrugged off Peter Murphy before sprinting clear and lifting a chipped shot inches over the crossbar.

However, on 50 minutes the goal came and it was courtesy of another piece of excellent play from leading goalscorer Constantine who won the ball himself in midfield before taking on, and beating, the Carlisle defence before slipping a fabuolous right fotted shot past Glennon and into the bottom left hand corner. It was the 26-year old’s nineteenth strike of the campaign, little did we know that the twentieth would not be to far away.

Indeed, the visitor’s advantage was doubled on 77 minutes from a slightly controversial penalty. Mark Bentley’s low, driven free kick bounced off the boot of substitute Adam Rundle and hit him on the hand, and referee Lee Mason had no hesitation in pointing to the penalty spot for what amazingly became Southend’s fourteenth spot-kick of the season.

But it was all straightforward. Constantine neatly tucked away the penalty into the roof of the net, but Pettefer was adjudged to have stepped into the penalty area and thus the kick had to be retaken. Constantine’s second effort went into the bottom left hand corner and to the delight of his team mates and the travelling supporters, sent keeper Glennon the wrong way.

In the meantime, inspirational midfielder Bentley had seen a free kick held by Glennon and Andy Preece, one time player-manager of Bury, headed over from a good position following a run and cross by Farrell.

Glennon was tested again by the Essex side on 85 minutes as Constantine, searching for a hat-trick, nodded a cross from substitute Neil Jenkins straight into the custodians arms before a nervous ending was ensured when the home side pulled a goal back with three minutes left on the clock. A low ball from the right found Farrell on the edge of the box who turned and fired an impressive low finish past the dive of Flahavan.

Southend however had no problems in holding on to clinch a most important victory. It’s now onto Scunthorpe United at Roots Hall on Friday night where a victory will send Southend into the top half of the table for a day at least.

And finally, a mention must go to Leon Constantine for becoming the first Shrimper since Brett Angell in 1991-2 to score twenty goals in a season.Long may it continue!

Carlisle United

1-2

(Attendance: 6,173)

Southend United

Craig Farrell 87

Referee: Lee Mason

Match Time: 96:41

1st half: 46:53, 2nd half: 49:48

Leon Constantine 50,

77 (pen)

 

Matty Glennon

Lee Andrews

Mark Boyd --

Brian Shelley --

Kevin Gray

Chris Billy

Peter Murphy

Brendan McGill

Craig Farrell

Peter Duffield

Kelvin Langmead --

8

7

6

6

6

7(38)

7

7

8

7(58)

7(67)

Darryl Flahavan
Duncan Jupp
Nicky Nicolau
Leon Cort
Mark Warren --

Kevin Maher

Mark Bentley
Carl Pettefer
Mark Gower
Drewe Broughton

Leon Constantine

7

7

8

8

8

7

8

8

7(76)

6

8

Peter Keen

Paul Arnison

Adam Rundle

Michael Jack

Andy Preece

-

6(38)

7(67)

-

7(58)

Carl Emberson

Jamie Stuart

Tesfaye Bramble

Neil Jenkins --

Lewis Hunt

-

-

-

-(76)

-

 

6

2

4

0

0

14

7

4

Total Goal Attempts

Shots/headers On Target

Shots/headers Off Target

Blocked Shots

Hit Woodwork
Free-Kicks

Corners

Caught Offside

11

4

5

2

0

15

5

6

 

Match Stats

CARLISLE UNITED...(0) 1 SOUTHEND UNITED…(0) 2
Nationwide League Division Three, Saturday, 27th March 2004 @ Brunton Park


Goals:
Carlisle: Farrell 87 (neatly turned before firing in a well struck low shot following a low centre in the area; inside area; timed at 86:35). Southend: Constantine 50 (a superb run which saw Constantine outpace the home defence and slot a fantastic finish into the bottom left hand corner; inside area; timed at 49:08), Constantine 77 (penalty; timed at 76:21)
Bookings: Carlisle: Langmead (45 – foul), Shelley (62 – foul), Boyd (90 – foul) Southend: Jenkins (86 – foul), Warren (90 – foul).

Indicated stoppage time:
First Half: 2 minutes (Actual: 01:53), Second Half: 4 minutes (04:48)


Referee:
Lee Mason (Lancashire), 8 out of 10 – Perhaps the Shrimpers penalty was fortunate, but Mason was definitely one of the better referee’s Southend have had this season. After the penalty Carlisle got angry and the referee kept everything under control brilliantly and to be honest, was a very brave man to award the spot kick in the first place.


Attendance:
6,173 (144 away fans)

(Report by Mark Wallis first appeared in The Little Gazette, March 28th, 2004)

The Constantine Files

Leon Constantine York City v. Rushden & Diamonds 04-09-10 1.png
Constantine with York City
Personal information
Full name Leon Charles Constantine[1]
Date of birth 24 February 1978 (1978-02-24) (age 33)[2]
Place of birth Hackney, England
Height 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m)
Playing position Striker
Club information
Current club Free Agent
Number 25
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
000?–2000 Edgware Town ? (?)
2000–2002 Millwall 1 (0)
2001 → Leyton Orient (loan) 10 (3)
2002 → Partick Thistle (loan) 2 (0)
2002–2003 Brentford 17 (0)
2003–2004 Southend United 43 (21)
2004 Peterborough United 11 (1)
2004 → Torquay United (loan) 4 (3)
2004–2006 Torquay United 38 (7)
2005–2006 → Port Vale (loan) 9 (3)
2006–2007 Port Vale 63 (29)
2007–2008 Leeds United 4 (1)
2008 → Oldham Athletic (loan) 8 (2)
2008–2009 Northampton Town 32 (2)
2009 → Cheltenham Town (loan) 6 (1)
2009–2010 Hereford United 35 (6)
2010–2011 York City 26 (8)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 19:44, 25 April 2011 (UTC).
† Appearances (Goals).

(Player info supplied by Wikipedia, for the full info go here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leon_Constantine)

National League Division 3 2003/04 (Fourth Tier)

 TeamPlWDLFAWDLFAWDLFAPtsGD
1 Doncaster Rovers 46 17 4 2 47 13 10 7 6 32 24 27 11 8 79 37 92 +42
2 Hull City 46 16 4 3 50 21 9 9 5 32 23 25 13 8 82 44 88 +38
3 Torquay United 46 15 6 2 44 18 8 6 9 24 26 23 12 11 68 44 81 +24
 
4 Huddersfield Town 46 16 4 3 42 18 7 8 8 26 34 23 12 11 68 52 81 +16
5 Mansfield Town 46 13 5 5 44 25 9 4 10 32 37 22 9 15 76 62 75 +14
6 Northampton Town 46 13 4 6 30 23 9 5 9 28 28 22 9 15 58 51 75 +7
7 Lincoln City 46 9 11 3 36 23 10 6 7 32 24 19 17 10 68 47 74 +21
 
8 Yeovil Town 46 14 3 6 40 19 9 2 12 30 38 23 5 18 70 57 74 +13
9 Oxford United 46 14 8 1 34 13 4 9 10 21 31 18 17 11 55 44 71 +11
10 Swansea City 46 9 8 6 36 26 6 6 11 22 35 15 14 17 58 61 59 -3
11 Boston United 46 11 7 5 35 21 5 4 14 15 33 16 11 19 50 54 59 -4
12 Bury 46 10 7 6 29 26 5 4 14 25 38 15 11 20 54 64 56 -10
13 Cambridge United 46 6 7 10 26 32 8 7 8 29 35 14 14 18 55 67 56 -12
14 Cheltenham Town 46 11 4 8 37 38 3 10 10 20 33 14 14 18 57 71 56 -14
15 Bristol Rovers 46 9 7 7 29 26 5 6 12 21 35 14 13 19 50 61 55 -11
16 Kidderminster Harriers 46 9 5 9 28 29 5 8 10 17 30 14 13 19 45 59 55 -14
17 Southend United 46 8 4 11 27 29 6 8 9 24 34 14 12 20 51 63 54 -12
18 Darlington 46 10 4 9 30 28 4 7 12 23 33 14 11 21 53 61 53 -8
19 Leyton Orient 46 8 9 6 28 27 5 5 13 20 38 13 14 19 48 65 53 -17
20 Macclesfield Town 46 8 9 6 28 25 5 4 14 26 44 13 13 20 54 69 52 -15
21 Rochdale 46 7 8 8 28 26 5 6 12 21 32 12 14 20 49 58 50 -9
22 Scunthorpe United 46 7 10 6 36 27 4 6 13 33 45 11 16 19 69 72 49 -3
 
23 Carlisle United 46 8 5 10 23 27 4 4 15 23 42 12 9 25 46 69 45 -23
24 York City 46 7 6 10 22 29 3 8 12 13 37 10 14 22 35 66 44 -31