John David Leah (born 3 August 1978) is a Welsh

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 plays as a

midfielder A midfielder is an outfield position in association football. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in that case known as defensive midfielders. As central midfielders often go across boundarie ...

. He briefly played in the

Football League The English Football League (EFL) is a league of professional football clubs from England and Wales. Founded in 1888 as the Football League, the league is the oldest such competition in the world. It was the top-level football league in Engla ...

for

Darlington Darlington is a market town in the Borough of Darlington, County Durham, England. The River Skerne flows through the town; it is a tributary of the River Tees. The Tees itself flows south of the town. In the 19th century, Darlington underwen ...

Career

Leah began his career as a youth team player with Llansantffraid, making his first team debut in August 1996. After a short spell with Newtown, Leah joined

Football League Third Division The Football League Third Division was the third tier of the English football league system in 1920–21 and again from 1958 until 1992. When the FA Premier League was formed, the division become the fourth tier level. In 2004, following the f ...

side

where he made 10 appearances in all competitions before returning to Newtown in 2000. In 2001, Leah rejoined Total Network Solutions and remained with the side following their renaming as The New Saints in 2006, being named Welsh Premier League Player of the Year for the 2006–07 season. Leah was released by The New Saints in April 2009, instead signing with

Rhyl Rhyl (; cy, Y Rhyl, ) is a seaside town and community (Wales), community in Denbighshire, Wales. The town lies within the Historic counties of Wales, historic boundaries of Flintshire (historic), Flintshire, on the north-east coast of Wales at ...

. Financial problems at the club saw Leah almost return to Newtown during the 2010 January transfer window however, after rejecting the move, Leah was named captain of the club. In January 2011 he moved to

Airbus UK Airbus UK is a wholly owned subsidiary of Airbus which produces wings for Airbus aircraft. When Airbus was incorporated as a joint-stock company in 2001, BAE Systems transferred its UK Airbus facilities in return for a 20% share of the new compa ...

. After a year and a half at Airbus, John returned to

Rhyl F.C. Rhyl Football Club ( cy, Clwb Pêl Droed Y Rhyl) was a Welsh football club based in Rhyl in Denbighshire. It withdrew from footballing activities in April 2020 and had its entire footballing record for the 2019/2020 season expunged. It was fo ...

Personal life

He studied for a degree in

Physiotherapy Physical therapy (PT), also known as physiotherapy, is one of the allied health professions. It is provided by physical therapists who promote, maintain, or restore health through physical examination, diagnosis, management, prognosis, patient ...

at the

University of Salford , caption = Coat of ArmsUniversity of Salford , mottoeng = "Let us seek higher things" , established = 1850 - Pendleton Mechanics Institute 1896 – Royal Technical Institute, Salford 1967 – gained ...

and graduated in the summer of 2011.

Honours

Welsh Premier League The Cymru Premier, known as the JD Cymru Premier for sponsorship reasons, is the national football league of Wales. It has both professional and semi-professional status clubs and is at the top of the Welsh football league system. Prior to 20 ...

Player of the Season: 2006–07 * Welsh Premier League Team of the Year: 2006–07, 2007–08, 2008–09

References

External links

*
Welsh Premier profile
1978 births Living people Welsh footballers The New Saints F.C. players Rhyl F.C. players Newtown A.F.C. players Darlington F.C. players Cymru Premier players English Football League players Alumni of the University of Salford Airbus UK Broughton F.C. players Association football midfielders {{Wales-footy-midfielder-stub