Leon Court; from the league's fourth tier to the Premiership
When centre half Leon Court was turning out for Southend on a cold Tuesday night in Halifax in front of just over a thousand spectators eight years ago, could he really believe that he would ever become a million pound player turning out at Old Trafford, Anfield, the Emirates, and other cathedrals of the British game.
Premiership strugglers Burnley picked up Leon Cort for £1.5million from Stoke City during the January transfer window on a three-and-a-half-year deal. Stoke say the deal could rise to £2m for the now 30-year-old!
The midlands side made Leon their record signing at £1.2m when he arrived at the Britannia Stadium from Crystal Palace two years ago. The former Shrimper played an important part in the club's promotion to the Premier League in the 2007-08 season.
However, due to the impressive form of Ryan Shawcross and Abdoulaye Faye, along with the signing of Robert Huth during the summer, he had few chances to get back into the first team.
Stoke boss Tony Pulis said: 'Leon was an influential figure in the club's promotion triumph and a dependable performer whenever called upon in our first season in the Premier League. We would like to thank him for his contribution to that success and wish him all the best in the future with his new club.'
It was during his spell at Selhurst Park that Leon came up against the Blues for the first time during our ill-fated season in the Championship.
On Tuesday August 8th 2006 all was well as Southend dominated the first half and held a 1-0 lead through, who else, Freddie Eastwood, sadly it all went down hill after that and, bless him, it was the tall centre back that started the rot.
S24 editor Adam Duffill wrote at the time: "The nine-minute spell of pressure on the Shrimpers goal began with one of their own. Leon Cort, who made well over 100 appearances for the Blues during a three-year spell at the hall had been given a great ovation by the Southend faithful before the game. Chants of '
A goal of the like we were to see many times during that campaign as relegation loomed up.
Meanwhile, back at Turf Moor, Burnley supporter and ex-Tony Blair spin doctor, sorry director of strategy and communications, one Alastair Campbell, showed his softer side after Leon's debut on February 6th that resulted in a 2-1 win for his new side over West Ham. Their first Premiership win since beating Hull 3-0 on October 31st!
Writing on http://football.fanhouse.co.uk Campbell said: "There are wins and there are WINS and this was a WIN about as WINtastic as they come.
Normally when I plan to head home to London after games, I get to the nearest gangway ready to leg it as soon as the final whistle is blown.
But today I wanted to linger a while and share in the joy and the relief flooding round Turf Moor. Brian Laws looked one happy manager as his staff hugged him.
We all knew that a defeat today - after four successive losses since he took over - would have been a disaster, probably a moment at which we'd have looked at each other, shrugged and whispered that maybe relegation was now inevitable.
There are moments and MOMENTS in matches and of course the most important moments are goals. But for me the real MOMENT today was a first-half goal-line clearance by Leon Cort, one of the seven signings Brian Laws has made, and who had his second successive great game alongside Clarke Carlisle at the back.
The two of them won everything in the air, their distribution was good, but Cort's clearance was breathtaking. Benni McCarthy was through on goal after a sustained period of West Ham pressure. He rolled the ball towards the net. I watched the subs on the West Ham bench rise up to celebrate but somehow Cort got there and cleared it away.
This is a club without a league win since October, and still angry at Owen Coyle, (now with Bolton), for leaving it in the lurch.
But the reason Cort's clearance mattered so much was not just the difference between one-nil up and one-all at half-time. It was what it said about the fight and the spirit that we know Burnley will need to survive. They chucked themselves into tackles. They closed down, they tracked back, they never stopped running and harrying and fighting like their lives depended on it."
Sadly, after making such a terrific debut, only three days later Burnley's awayday problems continued with a 3-0 defeat at Fulham and Cort limped off after only 32 minutes.
As Burnley get ready for a trip to Aston Villa, will Leon give a thought to one of his old sides playing at Milton Keynes!
The Cort Files
| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Leon Terence Anthony Cort | ||
| Date of birth | September 11, 1979 (1979-09-11) | ||
| Place of birth | Southwark, London, England | ||
| Height | 1.91 m (6 ft 3 in) | ||
| Playing position | Defender | ||
| Club information | |||
| Current club | Burnley | ||
| Number | 18 | ||
| Youth career | |||
| 1997-1998 | Dulwich Hamlet | ||
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps† | (Gls)† |
| 1998-2001 | Millwall | 0 | (0) |
| 2000-2001 | → Forest Green Rovers (loan) | 12 | (0) |
| 2001 | → Stevenage Borough (loan) | 9 | (0) |
| 2001-2004 | Southend United | 137 | (11) |
| 2004-2006 | Hull City | 86 | (10) |
| 2006-2008 | Crystal Palace | 49 | (7) |
| 2007-2008 | → Stoke City (loan) | 14 | (4) |
| 2008-2010 | Stoke City | 30 | (4) |
| 2010- | Burnley | 3 | (0) |
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 15:26, 10 February 2010 (UTC). † Appearances (Goals). | |||
(Player information supplied by Wikipedia, for the full article go here:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leon_Cort)