After the furore following Mark Rawle’s U-turn having agreed to sign for the Shrimpers during the summer, Shrimpers fans will have taken Constantine’s verbal arrangement to sign for Blues last Friday with a pinch of salt. However, the former Millwall and Brentford man has not gone back on his word, and he visited Roots Hall this afternoon to finally fully pledge his 2003/4 campaign to the Seasiders, having netted four times from six starts so far this season.
Manager Steve Wignall had first looked at Constantine during the summer, and he played a part in United’s pre-season campaign before representing Rushden & Diamonds in a friendly fixture. However, having proved to the former Aldershot Town boss that he was fit, Constantine was snapped up on non-contract terms and he celebrated by scoring in the home matches against Bury and Carlisle United and on his travels against Hull City and then again on Saturday at Scunthorpe United to secure Blues’ first away point from a possible forty-two.
Speaking to the club’s official website, www.southendunited.co.uk, Wignall said, “He deserves it as he has worked very hard. I know that Rushden fancied him quite a bit as well. To be fair to the lad he said he wanted to play for Southend United and that is what he has done. He loves it here, the ground, the pitch, the facilities and the supporters. It’s everything he wants really”.
Constantine himself also revealed to the official website that, “I’m really happy to have signed”. Obviously delighted to have made the deal permanent, the 25-year-old commented, “It’s really nice to know that everything is concrete now and I know I am here until the end of the season”. And as he looked forward to the battle ahead, Constantine declared, “I just want to try and score as many goals as possible, if I see an opportunity then I expect to score. I am a striker and that is what I should be aiming for".
Leon Constantine – The Story So Far
At-A-Glance Statistics
Position: Forward
Nationality: English
Age: 25
Previous Clubs: Edgware Town, Millwall, Leyton Orient (loan), Partick Thistle (loan), Brentford
In-Depth Statistics
Factfile
Full Name: Leon Constantine
Born: Hackney, East London
Date of Birth: 24th February 1978
Height: 6ft 2ins
Weight: 11st 10lbs
Signed: 21st August 2003
Footballing Career
Total Matches: 43
(Of Which As Substitute): 21
Total Goals: 7
League Matches: 19(19)
League Goals: 7
F.A. Cup Matches: 1
F.A. Cup Goals: 0
League Cup Matches: 1(1)
League Cup Goals: 0
Other Matches: 1(1)
Other Goals: 0
Club-By-Club
Edgware Town (1st August 1999-1st September 2000) – no figures available
Millwall (free – 1st September 2000-10th August 2002) – 1(1) games, 0 goals
Leyton Orient (loan – 27th August 2001-17th October 2001) – 9(2) games, 3 goals
Partick Thistle (loan – 10th January 2002-28th April 2002) – 3 games, 0 goals
Brentford (free – 10th August 2002-30th June 2003) – 3(16) games, 0 goals
Southend United (free - 21st August 2003-) – 6(2) games, 4 goals
Game-By-Game At Southend United
2003/4 – Mansfield Town (h), York City (a), Bury (h), Oxford United (a), Hull City (a), Lincoln City (h), Carlisle United (h), Scunthorpe United (a)
Southend United Career Statistics
Total Matches: 6(2) (6(2) League)
Total Goals: 4 (4 League)
Total Yellow Cards: 0
Total Red Cards: 0
Goals per Game: 0.50
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Robert Craven