Leonard Badger (8 June 194520 May 2021) was an English

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

right-back In the sport of association football, a defender is an outfield position whose primary role is to stop attacks during the game and prevent the opposition from scoring. Centre-backs are usually positioned in pairs, with one full-back on either s ...

. He spent the majority of his career at

Sheffield United Sheffield United Football Club is a professional football club in Sheffield, South Yorkshire, England, which compete in the . They are nicknamed "the Blades" due to Sheffield's history of cutlery production. The team have played home games at ...

before moving on to a shorter spell at

Chesterfield Chesterfield may refer to: Places Canada * Rural Municipality of Chesterfield No. 261, Saskatchewan * Chesterfield Inlet, Nunavut United Kingdom * Chesterfield, Derbyshire, a market town in England ** Chesterfield (UK Parliament constitue ...

where he finished his career.

Early life

Badger was born in the

Darnall Darnall is a suburb of eastern Sheffield, South Yorkshire, England. Darnall is approximately east-north-east of Sheffield city centre. History Darnall was initially a small hamlet usually included with Attercliffe. William Walker, a resident ...

area of

Sheffield Sheffield is a city status in the United Kingdom, city in South Yorkshire, England, whose name derives from the River Sheaf which runs through it. The city serves as the administrative centre of the City of Sheffield. It is Historic counties o ...

on 8 June 1945. He played school football for both Sheffield Boys and England Schoolboys. He progressed through the junior ranks at

and signed his first professional contract in August 1962.

Professional career

Sheffield United

Badger made his league debut for the Blades first team against

Leyton Orient Leyton Orient Football Club is a professional football club based in Leyton, East London, England, who compete in , the fourth tier of the English football league system. They are the second oldest football club in London to play at a professio ...

Bramall Lane Bramall Lane is a association football, football stadium in Sheffield, South Yorkshire, England, which is the home of Sheffield United F.C., Sheffield United. The stadium was originally a cricket ground, built on a road named after the Bramal ...

on 26 April 1963. By the end of the 1963–64 season he established himself as first choice at

, replacing club stalwart

Cec Coldwell George Cecil Coldwell (12 January 1929 – 9 November 2008) was a professional footballer who played for Sheffield United from 1951 to 1968. He played in the position of right-back. Playing career Coldwell signed for Sheffield United in Septe ...

and remained a regular there until 1975. He was appointed captain in 1968 by manager John Harris. This made him the youngest league captain in United history, and one of the youngest skippers in the league at the time. He served as captain for two years before relinquishing the role to

Eddie Colquhoun Edmund Peter Skirving Colquhoun (; 29 March 1945 – 16 April 2023) was a Scottish footballer who played as a centre back for Sheffield United and Scotland. Known to players and fans as Eddie Colquhoun, he started his professional football ca ...

. Badger's

left-back In the sport of association football, a defender is an outfield position whose primary role is to stop attacks during the game and prevent the opposition from scoring. Centre-backs are usually positioned in pairs, with one full-back on either s ...

colleagues of the early and mid-sixties included Graham Shaw and

Bernard Shaw George Bernard Shaw (26 July 1856 – 2 November 1950), known at his insistence simply as Bernard Shaw, was an Irish playwright, critic, polemicist and political activist. His influence on Western theatre, culture and politics extended from ...

, but it was the arrival of

Ted Hemsley Edward John Orton Hemsley (born 1 September 1943) is an English former professional footballer, playing at left-back for Sheffield United and Shrewsbury Town. He was also a first-class cricketer for Worcestershire. Football career Hemsley was b ...

in 1968 that provided him with his most fruitful partnership which continued through one of United's most successful post war periods from 1969 to 1972. Badger's attacking instincts, along with those of Hemsley, showed well as United narrowly failed to win promotion in the 1969–70 season. Badger was an ever present in the Division Two promotion winning side of the 1970–71 season. Although he did not score a goal in that particular season, he was best remembered for buccaneering runs, crosses from the right-wing and for his occasional thunderous shot from 25

yard The yard (symbol: yd) is an English unit of length in both the British imperial and US customary systems of measurement equalling 3 feet or 36 inches. Since 1959 it has been by international agreement standardized as exactly 0.914 ...

s or more. In his time with United Badger made 458

league League or The League may refer to: Arts and entertainment * ''Leagues'' (band), an American rock band * ''The League'', an American sitcom broadcast on FX and FXX about fantasy football Sports * Sports league * Rugby league, full contact footba ...

appearances with seven goals.

Chesterfield

Badger left Bramall Lane soon after the arrival of new Blades manager

Jimmy Sirrel James Sirrel (2 February 1922 – 25 September 2008) was a Scottish football player and manager; he gained his highest profile in the latter role. Born in Glasgow, Sirrel began his career with Celtic before moving to England, spending most of ...

, being sold to

on 1 January 1976. He played for a further two seasons for the Spireites making 46 appearances before a series of knee injuries ended his career.

International career

Badger played seven times for England Youths, thirteen times for England U23s and for 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 ...

side. He faced competition for a place on the England team from

George Cohen George Reginald Cohen (22 October 1939 – 23 December 2022) was an English professional footballer who played as a right-back. He spent his entire professional career with Fulham, and won the 1966 World Cup with England. He was inducted int ...

and Keith Newton.

Later life

After retiring from football, Badger became a publican in the

area. He also served as a matchday host with Sheffield United. Badger died on 20 May 2021. He was 75, and had undergone a complicated surgical procedure.

Career statistics

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Badger, Len 1945 births 2021 deaths Footballers from Sheffield Men's association football fullbacks England men's youth international footballers England men's under-23 international footballers English Football League players Sheffield United F.C. players Chesterfield F.C. players English Football League representative players English men's footballers People from Darnall