Ryan Ian Leonard (born 24 May 1992) is an English 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 plays as a defender or

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 ...

for

Millwall Millwall is a district on the western and southern side of the Isle of Dogs, in east London, England, in the London Borough of Tower Hamlets. It lies to the immediate south of Canary Wharf and Limehouse, north of Greenwich and Deptford, east ...

. A

, he graduated through the

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, ...

Academy to make his senior debut in March 2010, following which he spent time on loan at

Weston-super-Mare Weston-super-Mare, also known simply as Weston, is a seaside town in North Somerset, England. It lies by the Bristol Channel south-west of Bristol between Worlebury Hill and Bleadon Hill. It includes the suburbs of Mead Vale, Milton, Oldmixon ...

of the League South and

Tiverton Town Tiverton Town Football Club are an English football club based in Tiverton, Devon. The club are currently members of the and play at Ladysmead. History The club was established in 1913 as Tiverton Athletic, and initially played at the Athle ...

of the Southern Football League. In July 2011, he moved to Southend United, and after establishing himself in the first team in the 2013–14 season, he won the club's Player of the Year Award in 2014. He helped the club to secure promotion out of League Two in 2014–15.

Club career

Plymouth Argyle

Born in

Plympton Plympton is a suburb of the city of Plymouth in Devon, England. It is in origin an ancient stannary town. It was an important trading centre for locally mined tin, and a seaport before the River Plym silted up and trade moved down river to Plym ...

, England Leonard was a graduate from

Ivybridge Community College Ivybridge Community College is a state-funded secondary school and academy in Ivybridge, Devon, England. Located on the southern slopes of Dartmoor, it takes students from the surrounding of the South Hams, from 14 contributory primary schools ...

, he signed for

in June 2001 as a schoolboy. He progressed through the club's Centre of Excellence to be rewarded with a two-year apprenticeship at the end of the 2007–08. Regarded as one for the future. His elevation to training regularly with the club's first-team coincided with the return of former player

Paul Mariner Paul Mariner (22 May 1953 – 9 July 2021) was an English football player and coach. A centre forward during his playing days, Mariner began his career with Chorley. He became a professional player in 1973 with Plymouth Argyle, where he scored ...

to Plymouth Argyle and, despite still being an apprentice, he made his first-team debut for the club on 27 March 2010 against

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 ...

Home Park Home Park is a football stadium in Plymouth, England. The ground has been the home of Football League One club Plymouth Argyle since 1901.

Loans to Weston-super-Mare and Tiverton Town

He joined

on loan in December 2010, where he made five appearances in the

Conference South The National League South, formerly Conference South, is one of the second divisions of the National League in England, immediately below the top division National League. Along with National League North, it is in the second level of the N ...

. In January 2011, he joined

on loan for one month, which was then extended until the end of April.

Return to Plymouth Argyle

He was released by Plymouth Argyle at the end of the 2010–11 season.

Southend United

Leonard signed a one-year deal with

Southend United Southend United Football Club is a professional association football club based in Southend-on-Sea, Essex, England. As of the 2022–23 season, the team competes in the National League, the fifth tier of English football. Southend are known as ...

on 27 July 2011, with the option of a further year after impressing on trial. Leonard scored three goals during Southend's pre-season, including one from inside his own half. On 7 March 2014, Leonard signed a new three-and-a-half year contract extension with Southend. At the end of the 2014–15 season he played for Southend in the League Two play-off final against

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 ...

. Southend won in a penalty shoot-out and were promoted to League One. Leonard was voted Player of the Season at the end of the 2015–16 season, the second time he has claimed the award after also winning in 2013–14. At the end of the 2016–17 season, Leonard became only the second player in Southend history, after Ron Pountney, to win the Player of the Season award three times. Leonard also scooped awards for Players Player and Goal of the Season.

Sheffield United

On 5 January 2018, Southend announced that terms had been agreed 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 ...

club

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 ...

for Leonard's transfer. Leonard agreed terms with the Blades on 6 January, and it was reported he would join them subject to completing a medical. Leonard signed for Sheffield United on 9 January 2018 and was unveiled as a player on the same day.

Millwall

On 31 August 2018, Leonard signed for Millwall initially on loan, but the deal became permanent in January for a club record fee of £1.5million.

Personal life

His father, David, is a former player who played for

. Having worked as a coach at Plymouth Argyle's Centre of Excellence, he has managed numerous clubs in the South West of England, including Liskeard Athletic, Plymouth Parkway and Truro City.

Career statistics

Honours

Southend United *

Football League Two play-offs The EFL League Two play-offs are a series of play-off matches contested by the association football teams finishing from fourth to seventh in EFL League Two, the fourth tier of the English football league system. They are part of the annual Engli ...

2015 File:2015 Events Collage new.png, From top left, clockwise: Civil service in remembrance of November 2015 Paris attacks; Germanwings Flight 9525 was purposely crashed into the French Alps; the rubble of residences in Kathmandu following the Apri ...

Individual * Southend United Player of the Year: 2013–14, 2015–16, 2016–17

References

External links

Ryan Leonard profile
SouthendUtd.com * {{DEFAULTSORT:Leonard, Ryan 1992 births Living people People from Plympton English footballers Association football defenders Association football midfielders Plymouth Argyle F.C. players Weston-super-Mare A.F.C. players Tiverton Town F.C. players Southend United F.C. players Sheffield United F.C. players Millwall F.C. players English Football League players National League (English football) players