Leon Townley (born 16 February 1976) is an English retired semi-professional

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 ...

, best remembered for his spell as a defender with

Brentford Brentford is a suburban town in West London, England and part of the London Borough of Hounslow. It lies at the confluence of the River Brent and the Thames, west of Charing Cross. Its economy has diverse company headquarters buildings whi ...

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 ...

between 1997 and 1999. After his release, he 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 ...

and retired from senior football in 2005.

Career

Tottenham Hotspur

Townley began his career as a trainee at

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 ...

club

Tottenham Hotspur Tottenham Hotspur Football Club, commonly referred to as Tottenham () or Spurs, is a professional association football, football club based in Tottenham, London, England. It competes in the Premier League, the top flight of English footba ...

in 1992 and signed a professional contract at the age of 18 in 1994. Townley received his maiden call into the first team for Spurs' 1995 Intertoto Cup campaign, though he failed to make an appearance and was an unused substitute during an infamous 8–0 defeat to

1. FC Köln 1. Fußball-Club Köln 01/07 e. V., commonly known as simply FC Köln () or FC Cologne in English, is a German professional football club based in Cologne in North Rhine-Westphalia. It was formed in 1948 as a merger of the clubs ''Kölner Ballspi ...

in July 1995. Townley left

White Hart Lane White Hart Lane was a Association football, football stadium in Tottenham, North London and the home of Tottenham Hotspur F.C., Tottenham Hotspur Football Club from 1899 to 2017. Its capacity varied over the years; when changed to all-seater i ...

in 1997, after failing to break into the first team.

Brentford

On 18 September 1997, Townley joined

Second Division In sport, the Second Division, also called Division 2 or Division II is usually the second highest division of a league, and will often have promotion and relegation with divisions above and below. Following the rise of Premier League style compet ...

club

on a three-year contract for a £25,000 fee, rising to £55,000 on appearances. He made his debut the following day with a starting appearance in a 1–1 home league draw with

Wycombe Wanderers Wycombe Wanderers Football Club is an English professional association football club based in the town of High Wycombe, Buckinghamshire. The team compete in League One, the third tier of the English football league system. They play their home ...

. He scored his first Brentford goals in a 3–1 win over

Blackpool Blackpool is a seaside resort in Lancashire, England. Located on the North West England, northwest coast of England, it is the main settlement within the Borough of Blackpool, borough also called Blackpool. The town is by the Irish Sea, betw ...

on 13 December 1997, scoring his first after two Blackpool players were sent off on the hour mark and scoring again in the 78th minute. He fell out of favour with new manager Micky Adams in January 1998 and finished the 1997–98 season with 19 appearances and three goals. After Brentford's relegation to the

Third Division In sport, the Third Division, also called Division 3, Division Three, or Division III, is often the third-highest division of a league, and will often have promotion and relegation with divisions above and below. Association football *Belgian Thir ...

in May 1998, incoming manager

Ron Noades Ronald Geoffrey Noades (22 June 1937 – 24 December 2013) was an English businessman, best known for his investments in football clubs. He was the chairman of Southall, Wimbledon, Crystal Palace and finally Brentford. He was also the manager of ...

elected to

transfer-list The transfer market is the arena in which football players are available for transfer to clubs. The transfer market consists of a list of players available for transfer, and also the money moving between clubs as they contest to purchase and sell t ...

Townley during the 1998 off-season. He failed to make a single appearance during the Bees' 1998–99 Third Division championship-winning season and instead played for the

reserve team In sports, a reserve team is a team composed of players under contract to a club but who do not normally play in matches for the first team. Reserve teams often include back-up players from the first team, young players who need playing time to i ...

. Townley left the club in September 1999, when his contract was cancelled by mutual consent.

Non-League football

Townley joined

Isthmian League The Isthmian League () is a regional men's football league covering Greater London, East and South East England, featuring mostly semi-professional clubs. Founded in 1905 by amateur clubs in the London area, the league now consists of 82 tea ...

Premier Division club Slough Town on a one-month

loan In finance, a loan is the lending of money by one or more individuals, organizations, or other entities to other individuals, organizations, etc. The recipient (i.e., the borrower) incurs a debt and is usually liable to pay interest on that d ...

on 23 August 1999 and the move was made permanent in September 1999. A virtual ever-present, Townley made a total of 48 appearances in all competitions during the 1999–00 season and scored four goals. He made 33 appearances during the 2000–01 season and left the club after its relegation to the Isthmian League First Division in May 2001. Townley made a total of 81 appearances during his time at Arbour Park and scored four goals. Between 2001 and 2009, Townley played in the Isthmian,

Southern Southern may refer to: Businesses * China Southern Airlines, airline based in Guangzhou, China * Southern Airways, defunct US airline * Southern Air, air cargo transportation company based in Norwalk, Connecticut, US * Southern Airways Express, M ...

and Hertfordshire Senior County Leagues for Aldershot Town, St Albans City, Windsor & Eton, Boreham Wood,

Hitchin Town Hitchin Town Football Club is an English semi-professional football club based in Hitchin, Hertfordshire. They are currently members of the . Founded in 1865 and known as 'The Canaries', Hitchin Town have been based at Top Field since their fou ...

and Debden Sports.

Career statistics

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Townley, Leon 1976 births Living people People from Loughton English men's footballers Men's association football defenders English Football League players Brentford F.C. players Slough Town F.C. players Aldershot Town F.C. players St Albans City F.C. players Windsor & Eton F.C. players Boreham Wood F.C. players Hitchin Town F.C. players Isthmian League players Southern Football League players Footballers from Essex