Carl Winston Leaburn (born 30 March 1969) is an English former

footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby le ...

who played as a

striker Striker or The Strikers may refer to: People *A participant in a strike action *A participant in a hunger strike *Blacksmith's striker, a type of blacksmith's assistant *Striker's Independent Society, the oldest mystic krewe in America People wi ...

Career

Born in nearby

Lewisham Lewisham () is an area of southeast London, England, south of Charing Cross. It is the principal area of the London Borough of Lewisham, and was within the Historic counties of England, historic county of Kent until 1889. It is identified i ...

, Leaburn progressed through the youth set-up at

Charlton Athletic Charlton Athletic Football Club is an English professional football club based in Charlton, south-east London, which compete in . Their home ground is The Valley, where the club have played since 1919. They have also played at The Mount in C ...

and made his debut in the late 1980s. He also played in the England Under-20s team under Graham Taylor. A regular in Charlton's team for over a decade, he developed the reputation of a centre forward who was a target man. One highlight was scoring a goal against

Manchester United Manchester () is a city in Greater Manchester, England. It had a population of 552,000 in 2021. It is bordered by the Cheshire Plain to the south, the Pennines to the north and east, and the neighbouring city of City of Salford, Salford to ...

Old Trafford Old Trafford () is a football stadium in Old Trafford, Greater Manchester, England, and the home of Manchester United. With a capacity of 74,310 it is the largest club football stadium (and second-largest football stadium overall after Wemb ...

in the

FA Cup The Football Association Challenge Cup, more commonly known as the FA Cup, is an annual knockout football competition in men's domestic English football. First played during the 1871–72 season, it is the oldest national football competi ...

in 1994. Leaburn became a cult figure with many fans with one popular chant being the repetition of his surname. However, he did manage double figures in seasons 1991–92 and 1993–94, during which Charlton were contenders for a place in the play-offs.

Clive Mendonca Clive Paul Mendonca (born 9 September 1968) is an English former professional footballer, who played as a striker between 1986 and 2002 notably for Grimsby Town and Charlton Athletic. Mendonca also played for Sheffield United, Doncaster Rovers a ...

has claimed that Leaburn was the best strike partner he played with whilst at the club. In January 1998, Leaburn moved to

Premier League The Premier League (legal name: The Football Association Premier League Limited) is the highest level of the men's English football league system. Contested by 20 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation with the English Foo ...

side

Wimbledon Wimbledon most often refers to: * Wimbledon, London, a district of southwest London * Wimbledon Championships, the oldest tennis tournament in the world and one of the four Grand Slam championships Wimbledon may also refer to: Places London * ...

for a £300,000 fee. He made his debut as a substitute against

Liverpool Liverpool is a city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. With a population of in 2019, it is the 10th largest English district by population and its metropolitan area is the fifth largest in the United Kingdom, with a popul ...

Anfield Anfield is a football stadium in Anfield, Liverpool, Merseyside, England, which has a seating capacity of 53,394, making it the seventh largest football stadium in England. It has been the home of Liverpool F.C. since their formation in 1892. ...

on 10 January 1998. His first goals for his new club came when he scored twice away to Crystal Palace in a 3–0 win on 9 February 1998. This was perhaps the finest moment of his Wimbledon career as he had helped defeat rivals Crystal Palace in the "Landlords vs. Tenants" derby game at

Selhurst Park Selhurst Park is a football stadium in Selhurst in the London Borough of Croydon which is the home ground of Premier League side Crystal Palace. The stadium was designed by Archibald Leitch and opened in 1924. It has hosted international footba ...

. He went on to score twice more for Wimbledon in the 1997–98 season with strikes against

Aston Villa Aston Villa Football Club is a professional football club based in Aston, Birmingham, England. The club competes in the , the top tier of the English football league system. Founded in 1874, they have played at their home ground, Villa Park ...

and

Southampton Southampton () is a port city in the ceremonial county of Hampshire in southern England. It is located approximately south-west of London and west of Portsmouth. The city forms part of the South Hampshire built-up area, which also covers Po ...

. However the four goals he scored for Wimbledon that season would be the only goals he would score in the league for the South London club. Leaburn's only other goal for the club came in a League Cup tie with

Portsmouth Portsmouth ( ) is a port and city in the ceremonial county of Hampshire in southern England. The city of Portsmouth has been a unitary authority since 1 April 1997 and is administered by Portsmouth City Council. Portsmouth is the most dens ...

in September 1998. His major contribution to Wimbledon was more in working hard to create goals for teammates, rather than scoring himself. His record of four goals in 58 league games does not do justice to either his work-rate or his popularity with fans, who greatly valued his enthusiasm and indefatigability. Leaburn stayed on at the Dons following their relegation from the Premier League in 2000, but he was eventually sold to Queens Park Rangers on 31 December 2001 where he played only one game against Reading before being released. He then dropped into

non-League football Non-League football describes football leagues played outside the top leagues of a country. Usually, it describes leagues which are not fully professional. The term is primarily used for football in England, where it is specifically used to de ...

with

Grays Athletic Grays Athletic Football Club is a football club based in Grays, Essex, England. They are currently members of the and play at Parkside in nearby Aveley. History The club was established as Grays Juniors in 1890, before merging with former S ...

where he scored nine times between December 2002 and May 2005 when he ended his football career. After retiring, Leaburn completed a study for a BTEC Radio Broadcasting course. He worked for BBC London as a match summariser and interviewer. He now works for

productions as a match analyst and occasionally as a security guard for the Canary Wharf estate. Leaburn also worked with Redstone.fm, a community radio station for Redhill, Reigate and Banstead.

Personal life

Leaburn’s son is current Charlton Athletic forward Miles Leaburn.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Leaburn, Carl 1969 births Living people English footballers Charlton Athletic F.C. players Northampton Town F.C. players Wimbledon F.C. players Queens Park Rangers F.C. players Grays Athletic F.C. players Premier League players Isthmian League players Association football forwards