Leigh Hinton (born 21 February 1979 in

Birmingham Birmingham ( ) is a city and metropolitan borough in the metropolitan county of West Midlands in England. It is the second-largest city in the United Kingdom with a population of 1.145 million in the city proper, 2.92 million in the West ...

) is an English former

rugby union Rugby union, commonly known simply as rugby, is a close-contact team sport that originated at Rugby School in the first half of the 19th century. One of the two codes of rugby football, it is based on running with the ball in hand. In its m ...

footballer. His usual position was at full-back, although he could also play at

centre Center or centre may refer to: Mathematics *Center (geometry), the middle of an object * Center (algebra), used in various contexts ** Center (group theory) ** Center (ring theory) * Graph center, the set of all vertices of minimum eccentricity ...

or on the

wing A wing is a type of fin that produces lift while moving through air or some other fluid. Accordingly, wings have streamlined cross-sections that are subject to aerodynamic forces and act as airfoils. A wing's aerodynamic efficiency is expres ...

. Hinton joined Leeds on a two-year deal along with team-mate and Welsh international back-row

Rhys Oakley Rhys Oakley (born 16 September 1980 in Plymouth) is a former professional rugby union footballer who played as a number eight. Oakley began his professional career with Bristol Rugby, before moving to the Newport Gwent Dragons, Leeds Tykes, ...

at the start of the 2006–07 season from

Newport Gwent Dragons Dragons RFC ( cy, Dreigiau) are one of the four professional rugby union regional teams in Wales. They are owned by the Welsh Rugby Union and play their home games at Rodney Parade, Newport and at other grounds around the region. They play in ...

making his début against

London Welsh London Welsh Rugby Football Club ( cy, Clwb Rygbi Cymry Llundain) was a rugby union club formed in 1885. Based in Old Deer Park, Richmond-upon-Thames, London Welsh RFC played in the English Premiership in the 2012–13 and 2014–15 seasons, ...

Headingley Headingley is a suburb of Leeds, West Yorkshire, England, approximately two miles out of the city centre, to the north west along the A660 road. Headingley is the location of the Beckett Park campus of Leeds Beckett University and Headingle ...

on 3 September 2006. Leeds' then director of rugby Stuart Lancaster said at the time: "Leigh is a proven points-scorer in this division, both with his boot and as a try scorer. He has had a frustrating season last year and I know he is keen to put that behind him and make a fresh start with us. He can play at full-back or in the centres and with his experience he will be excellent for our younger players to work with." Hinton was known as 'Points Machine' when he was with Orrell R.U.F.C. and

Bedford Blues Bedford Blues are a rugby union club in the town of Bedford, England, currently playing in The RFU Championship. Bedford is one of the few towns in England where the rugby club is better supported than the football team. The Blues are a semi-pro ...

National Division One The RFU Championship is an English rugby union competition comprising twelve clubs. It is the second level of men’s English rugby and is played by both professional and semi-professional players. The competition has existed since 1987, when ...

scoring over 650 points in just two seasons before moving to Newport at the start of the 2005/07 season. The full-back has also played for

Moseley Rugby Football Club Birmingham Moseley Rugby Club is an English rugby union club, based in Birmingham, that compete in the third tier of English rugby. They were historically the premier rugby club in Birmingham, reaching the final of the John Player Cup three ti ...

and Birmingham & Solihull RFC in

. In the 2003–04 season he set new records for tries and conversions in a season for Orrell, finishing with 313 points. In the following season he was leading points scorer in the division, finishing 60 points clear of Bristol’s Jason Strange and helping Bedford Blues to their Powergen Shield victory at

Twickenham Twickenham is a suburban district in London, England. It is situated on the River Thames southwest of Charing Cross. Historically part of Middlesex, it has formed part of the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames since 1965, and the boroug ...

, scoring 9 of their 14 points in the Final. At Newport Gwent Dragons, after making his début against

Glasgow Warriors Glasgow Warriors are a professional rugby union side from Scotland. The team plays in the United Rugby Championship league and in the European Professional Club Rugby tournaments. In the 2014–15 season they won the Pro12 title and became t ...

he went on to make just a further seven appearances but it was a frustrating time for Hinton, and he registered just one try and two conversions in his spell in Wales. In his first season with the Tykes, Hinton finished the season as top points scorer in National Division One. Hinton was one of the stars of the failing Leeds Carnegie side that were relegated from the Premiership 2007/2008, and stayed loyal to Leeds when staying on at the club for a second stint in the first division. Hinton has just brought up 400 points for Leeds with a try against Plymouth Albion at Headingley Carnegie Stadium. Hinton joined National Division 3 Midlands side

Rugby Lions The Rugby Lions, nicknamed The Lions, is an English rugby union club based in Rugby, Warwickshire. The club plays its home matches at Webb Ellis Road. Its developmental squad is known as the Crusaders. The club also has a ladies team known as ...

in 2011, as one of many major signings by the club, to help with their ambitions of reaching the Premiership within 5 seasons under new owner Mike Aland. He reached the 200-point landmark in his 13th appearance of the 2011-12 season against Broadstreet, the team he also hit the 300-point mark against on 14 April. On 3 March 2012, in the home match against South Leicester, Hinton broke the Lions' record for points in a season. Rugby won the league with two games remaining on 31 March 2012, with Hinton kicking 3 penalties (and receiving a yellow card) in a 19-14 win over Dudley Kingswinford. At the end of season awards dinner, Hinton was awarded a special award for having scored the most points for the Lions in the season, finishing with 315. This consisted of 12 tries, 13 penalties and 108 conversions. In the summer of 2012, Hinton announced his retirement from Rugby.

References

External links

Leeds profileNewport Gwent Dragons profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Hinton, Leigh 1979 births Living people English rugby union players Leeds Tykes players Moseley Rugby Football Club players Dragons RFC players People educated at King's School, Worcester Rugby union players from Birmingham, West Midlands Rugby union fullbacks