Léandre Griffit (born 21 May 1984) is a French 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 ...

who plays as a winger and is currently a free agent.

Career

Europe

Griffit was born in

Maubeuge Maubeuge (; historical nl, Mabuse or nl, Malbode; pcd, Maubeuche) is a commune in the Nord department in northern France. It is situated on both banks of the Sambre (here canalized), east of Valenciennes and about from the Belgian border ...

. He began his career in his native France with Amiens SC, before moving to

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 ...

in the Premiership in 2003. He only played seven games for Southampton and scored against

Blackburn Rovers Blackburn Rovers Football Club is a professional football club, based in Blackburn, Lancashire, England, which competes in the , the second tier of the English football league system. They have played home matches at Ewood Park since 1890. T ...

and

Newcastle United Newcastle United Football Club is an English professional football club, based in Newcastle upon Tyne, that plays in the Premier League – the top flight of English football. The club was founded in 1892 by the merger of Newcastle East End ...

. He was loaned out to

Leeds United Leeds United Football Club is a professional football club based in Leeds, West Yorkshire in England. The club competes in the Premier League, the highest level of England's football league system, and plays its home matches at Elland Road S ...

and

Rotherham United Rotherham United Football Club, nicknamed The Millers, is a professional football club based in Rotherham, South Yorkshire, England, which compete in the . The club's colours were initially yellow and black, but changed to red and white around 1 ...

before being released. He then moved to Sweden and played for

IF Elfsborg Idrottsföreningen Elfsborg, more commonly known as IF Elfsborg or simply Elfsborg (), is a professional football club based in Borås, Sweden, and is affiliated to the Västergötlands Fotbollförbund. They play in the Allsvenskan and have spent ...

where he only played 21 games and was loaned out to

IFK Norrköping Idrottsföreningen Kamraterna Norrköping, more commonly known as IFK Norrköping or simply Norrköping, is a Swedish professional football club based in Norrköping. The club is affiliated to Östergötlands Fotbollförbund and play their ...

in the 2007–08 season. In the summer of 2008 he went on an unsuccessful trial with

Championship In sport, a championship is a competition in which the aim is to decide which individual or team is the champion. Championship systems Various forms of competition can be referred to by the term championship. Title match system In this system ...

Plymouth Argyle Plymouth Argyle Football Club is a professional football club based in the city of Plymouth, Devon, England. As of the 2021–22 season, the team are competing in League One, the third tier of English football. They have played at Home Park, ...

. He then went on trial with Neil Warnock's

Crystal Palace Crystal Palace may refer to: Places Canada * Crystal Palace Complex (Dieppe), a former amusement park now a shopping complex in Dieppe, New Brunswick * Crystal Palace Barracks, London, Ontario * Crystal Palace (Montreal), an exhibition building ...

and was signed, but only made a handful of appearances for the club before departing.

North America

After an unsuccessful trial with

Major League Soccer Major League Soccer (MLS) is a men's professional soccer league sanctioned by the United States Soccer Federation, which represents the sport's highest level in the United States. The league comprises 29 teams—26 in the U.S. and 3 in Canada ...

club

Houston Dynamo Houston Dynamo FC (formerly officially, but still commonly, called the Houston Dynamo) is an American professional soccer club based in Houston. The Dynamo compete in Major League Soccer (MLS) as a member of the Western Conference. Establi ...

, Griffit went on to sign with Houston's league rivals

Columbus Crew The Columbus Crew, formerly known as Columbus Crew SC, is an American professional soccer club based in Columbus, Ohio. The Crew competes in Major League Soccer (MLS) as a member of the league's Eastern Conference and began play in 1996 as one ...

on 16 April 2010. Griffit made his first-team debut for the Crew on 6 July 2010 in the Black & Gold's 3–0 home triumph over the

USL-2 The USL Second Division (commonly referred to as USL-2) was a professional men's soccer league in the United States, operated by United Soccer Leagues (USL). It was at the third tier of soccer in the United States, behind Major League Soccer ...

Charleston Battery The Charleston Battery are an American professional association football, soccer club based in Charleston, South Carolina, and member of the USL Championship. Founded in 1993, the Battery are one of the oldest continuously operating professiona ...

in the 2010 Lamar Hunt US Open Cup Quarterfinals. He entered the match in the 76th minute and was credited with an assist on the Crew's third goal. He made his first MLS appearance on 24 July 2010 against the Dynamo, entering in the 87th minute, and scoring his first MLS goal three minutes later by collecting a rebound of a shot by

Guillermo Barros Schelotto Guillermo Barros Schelotto (; born 4 May 1973) is an Argentine football manager and former forward who currently manages the Paraguay national team. Barros Schelotto played 16 years of his professional career in the Argentine Primera Divis ...

. On 15 July 2011, he was traded to

Toronto FC Toronto Football Club (commonly known as Toronto FC or TFC) is a Canadian professional soccer club based in Toronto. The club competes in Major League Soccer (MLS) as a member of the Eastern Conference. The team plays its home matches at BMO ...

along with

Andy Iro Andy Iro (born 26 November 1984) is an English former professional footballer who played primarily as a defender. Iro played college soccer for the UC Santa Barbara Gauchos men's soccer team, where he was named the Most Outstanding Player (De ...

for

Tony Tchani Tony may refer to: People and fictional characters * Tony (given name), including a list of people and fictional characters * Gregory Tony (born 1978), American law enforcement officer * Motu Tony (born 1981), New Zealand international rugby lea ...

. Griffit made his debut for Toronto in the

CONCACAF Champions League The CONCACAF Champions League, known officially as the Scotiabank CONCACAF Champions League for sponsorship reasons, is an annual continental club football competition organized by CONCACAF. The tournament is contested by clubs from North Ameri ...

group stage on 25 August against

FC Dallas FC Dallas is an American professional Association football, soccer club based in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex. The club competes as a member of the Western Conference (MLS), Western Conference in Major League Soccer (MLS). The franchise be ...

, he came on as a second half sub for

Gianluca Zavarise Gianluca Zavarise (born July 28, 1986) is a Canadian retired soccer player who played as a midfielder. Career Club career Zavarise began his career in Canada with Roman Tulis European Soccer School of Excellence and won the 2003 School Boy Awar ...

. Griffit was waived by Toronto on 23 November 2011.

Personal

Griffit is married to Milena and they have a son, Enzo.

Career statistics

Honours

IF Elfsborg * 2006

Allsvenskan Allsvenskan (; en, the All-Swedish, also known as Fotbollsallsvenskan, en, the Football All-Swedish) is a Swedish professional league for men's association football clubs. It was founded in 1924 and is the top tier of the Swedish football lea ...

champions

References

External links

* * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Griffit, Leandre 1984 births Living people People from Maubeuge French people of Martiniquais descent French footballers France under-21 international footballers Amiens SC players Southampton F.C. players Leeds United F.C. players Rotherham United F.C. players IF Elfsborg players IFK Norrköping players Crystal Palace F.C. players Columbus Crew players Toronto FC players Premier League players English Football League players Allsvenskan players Major League Soccer players Expatriate footballers in England Expatriate footballers in Sweden Expatriate soccer players in the United States UR La Louvière Centre players French expatriate footballers French expatriate sportspeople in the United States Association football wingers Sportspeople from Nord (French department) Footballers from Hauts-de-France French expatriate sportspeople in England French expatriate sportspeople in Sweden French expatriate sportspeople in Canada Expatriate soccer players in Canada Expatriate footballers in Belgium French expatriate sportspeople in Belgium