Michael Antonio Leary (born 17 April 1983) is an English former 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 ...

who played 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 played for

Luton Town Luton Town Football Club () is a professional association football club based in the town of Luton, Bedfordshire, England, that competes in the Championship, the second tier of the English football league system. Founded in 1885, it is nicknam ...

Bristol Rovers Bristol Rovers Football Club are a professional football club in Bristol, England. They compete in League One, the third tier of the English football league system. They play home matches at the Memorial Stadium in Horfield, they have been c ...

Walsall Walsall (, or ; locally ) is a market town and administrative centre in the West Midlands (county), West Midlands County, England. Historic counties of England, Historically part of Staffordshire, it is located north-west of Birmingham, east ...

Torquay United Torquay United Football Club is a professional football club based in Torquay, Devon, England. The team currently compete in the , the fifth tier of English football. They have played their home matches at Plainmoor since 1921 and are nicknamed ...

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 ...

Barnet Barnet may refer to: People *Barnet (surname) * Barnet (given name) Places United Kingdom *Chipping Barnet or High Barnet, commonly known as Barnet, one of three focal towns of the borough below. *East Barnet, a district of the borough below; an ...

Grimsby Town Grimsby Town Football Club is a professional football club based in Cleethorpes, North East Lincolnshire, England, that in the 2022–23 season will compete in , the fourth tier of the English football league system, following the victory in ...

Gainsborough Trinity Gainsborough Trinity Football Club is a football club based in Gainsborough, Lincolnshire, England. Established in 1873, the club became members of the Football League in 1893 and remained members of the Second Division until 1912, making Gainsbo ...

and Spalding United.

Career

Luton Town

Born in

Ealing Ealing () is a district in West London, England, west of Charing Cross in the London Borough of Ealing. Ealing is the administrative centre of the borough and is identified as a major metropolitan centre in the London Plan. Ealing was histor ...

, London, Leary began his career as a trainee with

, turning professional on 3 August 2001. He played in two

Football League Trophy The English Football League Trophy, known for sponsorship purposes as the Papa Johns Trophy after restaurant chain Papa John's Pizza, is an annual English association football knockout competition open to all clubs in EFL League One and EFL Leag ...

games the following season and in May 2003 was handed a new two-year contract. He made his league debut on 20 September 2003 in a 1–1 draw at home to

Queens Park Rangers Queens Park Rangers Football Club, commonly abbreviated to QPR, is a professional football club based in Shepherd's Bush, West London, England, which compete in the . After a nomadic early existence, they have played home matches at Loftus Ro ...

. In August 2005 he joined

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 ...

initially for a month. This was extended for another month after some decent performances and then until the end of the year. In January 2006 he joined

on loan until the end of the season. This meant that for most of the 2005–06 season he was a Luton player but not at the club. In the summer of 2006 Leary signed a contract extension of one year for Luton. In November 2006 Leary joined

on loan, making his debut as a substitute in the 1–0 defeat away to

on 4 November 2006. Leary signed for Brentford on a one-month loan deal on 4 January 2007. This was extended to the end of the season on 31 January after doing well for Brentford during his initial deal.

Barnet

In May 2007, Luton released Leary on a free transfer. He signed for

on 3 July, spending two years at the club. During his time he was also used as a centre back and put in some creditable performances in this position. Despite this he was released in the summer of 2009.

Grimsby Town

His next port of call was to join his former manager Mike Newell at

League Two The English Football League Two (often referred to as League Two for short or Sky Bet League Two for sponsorship purposes, and known as the Football League Two from 2004 until 2016) is the third and lowest division of the English Football Lea ...

side

in July on a two-year contract. Leary was in and out of the team on a regular basis, but had lost his way in the ranks under the new management of

Neil Woods Neil Stephen Woods (born 30 July 1966) is an English football manager and former professional footballer who is academy manager at Grimsby Town. As a player, he was a striker from 1983 to 2000 for Doncaster Rovers, Rangers, Ipswich Town, Bra ...

. Grimsby were relegated at the end of the season to the

Conference National The National League, known as the Vanarama National League for sponsorship reasons, is the highest level of the National League System and fifth-highest of the overall English football league system. It is the highest league that is semi-profes ...

. During Grimsby's debut Conference season Leary served the side as a bit part player. He was eventually released by Grimsby's new managerial duo Rob Scott and

Paul Hurst Paul Michael Hurst (born 25 September 1974) is an English football manager and former player who is the manager of club Grimsby Town. As a player, he was a defender from 1993 to 2008, notably playing his entire career at Rotherham United, ba ...

after the conclusion of the 2010–11 season.

Gainsborough Trinity

On 8 July Leary joined

Conference North The National League North, formerly Conference North, is a division of the National League in England, immediately below the National League division. Along with the National League South, it is at the second level of the National League Sy ...

side

on trial. On 18 July he played for Gainsborough in their 8–0 friendly victory over Brigg Town, and the following day he played for

Boston United Boston United Football Club is a semi-professional association football club based in Boston, Lincolnshire, England. The club participates in the National League North, at the sixth tier of the English football league system. The club is known ...

in their 2–2 draw with Stamford. On 21 July he signed for Gainsborough on a one-year contract. Leary signed for another year following the completion of the 2011–2012 season. During the 2012–13 season Leary became club captain and nearly helped The Blues reach the final of the

FA Trophy The Football Association Challenge Trophy, commonly known as the FA Trophy, is a men's football knockout cup competition run by and named after the English Football Association and competed for primarily by semi-professional teams. The compet ...

, but despite beating

side

Wrexham Wrexham ( ; cy, Wrecsam; ) is a city and the administrative centre of Wrexham County Borough in Wales. It is located between the Welsh mountains and the lower Dee Valley, near the border with Cheshire in England. Historically in the count ...

2–1 in the semi-final second leg at home (with Leary scoring the winner), the club went out 4–3 on aggregate. Leary was expected to sign for a cash rich and recently promoted

North Ferriby United North Ferriby United Association Football Club was a semi-professional football club in North Ferriby, East Riding of Yorkshire, England. At the time of their demise they were members of the Northern Premier League and played at Grange Lane. F ...

in May 2013 along with teammates Daniel Hone,

Jonathan D'Laryea Jonathan Amar D'Laryea (born 3 September 1985) is an English footballer who plays as a midfielder for Newark and Sherwood United, where he is also the clubs manager. Beginning his career with Manchester City, he went on to make over 90 appeara ...

and

Jamie Yates Jamie Yates (born 24 December 1988) is an English Football coach and professional footballer who is the player/assistant manager of Sheffield FC. As a player he is a midfielder who notably played in the Football League for Rotherham United, bef ...

, but instead did a U-turn and signed a fresh one-year contract with The Blues on 4 June 2013.

Spalding United

In July 2014, Leary signed a deal with Spalding United.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Leary, Michael 1983 births Living people English men's footballers Men's association football midfielders Luton Town F.C. players Bristol Rovers F.C. players Walsall F.C. players Torquay United F.C. players Brentford F.C. players Barnet F.C. players Grimsby Town F.C. players Gainsborough Trinity F.C. players Spalding United F.C. players English Football League players National League (English football) players Footballers from the London Borough of Ealing People from Ealing