Leon Terence Anthony Cort (born 11 September 1979) is a former

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 played as a defender. He is the younger brother of Carl Cort and the older half-brother of

Ruben Loftus-Cheek Ruben Ira Loftus-Cheek (born 23 January 1996) is an English professional footballer who plays as a midfielder for club Chelsea. Early life Loftus-Cheek was born in Lewisham, Greater London. He grew up in Swanley, Kent and attended High Firs Pr ...

. Cort began his career as at non-league side Dulwich Hamlet before turning professional with

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, eas ...

in 1998. He was unable to break into the first team at the New Den and after loan spells with

Forest Green Rovers Forest Green Rovers Football Club are a professional football club based in Nailsworth, Gloucestershire, England. The team compete in , the third tier of the English football league system, and have played their home games at The New Lawn since ...

and

Stevenage Borough Stevenage Football Club (known as Stevenage Borough Football Club until 2010) is a professional association football club based in the town of Stevenage, Hertfordshire, England. The team competes in EFL League Two, League Two, the fourth tier o ...

he left for

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 ...

. His career took off at

Roots Hall A root is the part of a plant, generally underground, that anchors the plant body, and absorbs and stores water and nutrients. Root or roots may also refer to: Art, entertainment, and media * ''The Root'' (magazine), an online magazine focusing ...

and in 2004 he earned a move to

Hull City Hull City Association Football Club is a professional football club based in Hull, East Riding of Yorkshire, England, that compete in the . They have played home games at the MKM Stadium since moving from Boothferry Park in 2002. The club's t ...

. He helped the Tigers gain promotion to the

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 ...

in 2004–05. He joined

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 ...

in the summer of 2006 before joining Stoke City in October 2007 in a swap deal with Clint Hill. Cort formed a strong defensive partnership with

Ryan Shawcross Ryan James Shawcross (born 4 October 1987) is an English former professional footballer who played as a centre-back. He is currently an assistant coach with MLS Next Pro club Inter Miami II. Shawcross began his career with Manchester Unite ...

at the

Britannia Stadium The Bet365 Stadium (stylised as ''bet365 Stadium'') is an all-seater football stadium in Stoke-on-Trent, Staffordshire, England and the home of EFL Championship club Stoke City. The stadium was previously called the Britannia Stadium but was ...

as Stoke gained promotion to the

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 Fo ...

. Cort was unable to hold on to his place in the top flight and joined

Burnley Burnley () is a town and the administrative centre of the wider Borough of Burnley in Lancashire, England, with a 2001 population of 73,021. It is north of Manchester and east of Preston, Lancashire, Preston, at the confluence of the River C ...

in January 2010 for a fee of £1.5 million. He then had a short loan spell with Preston North End before ending his career at

Charlton Athletic Charlton Athletic Football Club is an English professional football club based in Charlton, south-east London, which compete in . Their home ground is The Valley, where the club have played since 1919. They have also played at The Mount in ...

. Born in England, he represented Guyana at international level.

Club career

Southend United

Born in

Bermondsey Bermondsey () is a district in southeast London, part of the London Borough of Southwark, England, southeast of Charing Cross. To the west of Bermondsey lies Southwark, to the east Rotherhithe and Deptford, to the south Walworth and Peckham ...

, London, Cort began his career at local

non-League 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 d ...

side Dulwich Hamlet. He was invited by Mick Beard to trial at Millwall before signing pro-forms with his local league club

in 1998. His career at The New Den never really took off, and after a loan spell at

and

he joined

on a free transfer. While at Southend Cort earned rave reviews and was tipped for greater things. He became a regular in the side, achieving a remarkable feat of appearing in 130 consecutive league matches without missing any through injury or suspension.

Hull City

In May 2004, Cort was offered a new contract at Southend United but soon, Hull City manager

Peter Taylor Peter Taylor may refer to: Arts * Peter Taylor (writer) (1917–1994), American author, winner of the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction * Peter Taylor (film editor) (1922–1997), English film editor, winner of an Academy Award for Film Editing Politi ...

said he would be interested in signing Cort. Cort moved to newly promoted

in the summer of 2004, again on a free transfer. Hull were promoted again that season, to

The Championship The English Football League Championship (often referred to as the Championship for short or the Sky Bet Championship for sponsorship purposes) is the highest division of the English Football League (EFL) and second-highest overall in the En ...

, and in this division Cort excelled himself as Hull survived comfortably. At the end of the season, Cort signed a two-year extensions. In a game between Hull and Carl's team at the time

Wolverhampton Wanderers Wolverhampton Wanderers Football Club (), commonly known as Wolves, is a professional football club based in Wolverhampton, England, which compete in the . The club has played at Molineux Stadium since moving from Dudley Road in 1889. The club's ...

in 2006, Leon scored for Hull and Carl scored for Wolves.

Crystal Palace

At the end of that season manager

departed to

and made Cort his first signing for £1.25m, and gave him a return to his native South London. He again impressed and became popular with the Palace fans, winning the

Player of the Year Award Several sports leagues honour their best player with an award called Player of the Year (POY) . In the United States, this type of award is usually called a Most Valuable Player award. Association football In association football, this award is h ...

in 2007. The following season started poorly for the Eagles and saw Taylor sacked and replaced by Neil Warnock, and Cort soon departed on loan to Stoke City.

Stoke City

Cort's last game for Palace was at Selhurst Park against Stoke. Cort's career at the

began very well, with assured performances featuring a remarkable tally of eight goals in just six months from the defender helping the Potters gain promotion to the

. However the next season, Cort find himself further down the pecking order as

and

Abdoulaye Faye Abdoulaye Diagne-Faye (born 26 February 1978), known as Abdoulaye Faye, is a Senegalese former footballer who played as a defender. Faye began his career playing for ASEC Ndiambour and Jeanne d'Arc in his native Senegal before moving to Frenc ...

was preferred to be used in central defence.

Burnley

Cort signed for

side

on 27 January 2010 for £1.5 million signing a three-and-a-half-year deal. After appearing on the bench without being used for Burnley, Cort finally made his debut in a 1–1 draw against his former club Stoke City where he made his first start in the Premier League since 2008 when Cort at his former club Stoke. On 6 March 2010, Cort provided his first assist in the Premier League for

David Nugent David James Nugent (born 2 May 1985) is an English professional footballer who plays as a striker and is currently a free agent after leaving Preston North End. He started his career in 2002 when he signed his first professional contract with ...

in a 3–1 loss against Arsenal. Following Burnley relegation to Championship after losing 4–0 to

Liverpool Liverpool is a city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. With a population of in 2019, it is the 10th largest English district by population and its metropolitan area is the fifth largest in the United Kingdom, with a populat ...

, Cort believes the Clarets to climb back into the Premier League at the first time of asking. However, after the Clarets were relegated, he found opportunities limited after reduced of playing time and on 25 November 2010, Cort joined Preston North End on a monthlong loan. On 27 November 2010, Cort made his debut in a 0–0 draw against

. On 1 January 2011, Cort loan spell at Preston has extended until 23 January.

Charlton Athletic

On 29 August 2011, Cort was once again sent out on loan, this time to

. Cort made his debut for the club in a 3–2 win over

Rochdale Rochdale ( ) is a large town in Greater Manchester, England, at the foothills of the South Pennines in the dale on the River Roch, northwest of Oldham and northeast of Manchester. It is the administrative centre of the Metropolitan Borough ...

on 17 September 2011 as a substitute in the late minute. While at loan at Charlton, Cort made six appearances and didn't get more playing time so he was on the bench without been used due to good central defence performance from Michael Morrison and Matt Taylor. Cort was released by Burnley on 9 January 2012 after not making appearance for the club that season. On 12 January 2012, Cort signed a permanent deal with Charlton. From late March to nearly end of April, Cort able to get more playing time and led the club promoted to the Championship. On 18 August 2012, Cort scored his first league goal for The Addicks, on the opening day of the Championship season, in the 1–1 draw with

Birmingham City Birmingham City Football Club is a professional association football, football club based in Birmingham, England. Formed in 1875 as Small Heath Alliance, it was renamed Small Heath in 1888, Birmingham in 1905, and Birmingham City in 1943. Sin ...

. On 16 May 2013, Cort signed a one-year contract extension. On 22 May 2014, he was released from

. Following his release from Charlton, Cort began training with his former club Southend United but announced his retirement in July 2014.

International career

In October 2011, Cort was called up to Guyana for their 2014 FIFA World Cup qualifiers against

Barbados Barbados is an island country in the Lesser Antilles of the West Indies, in the Caribbean region of the Americas, and the most easterly of the Caribbean Islands. It occupies an area of and has a population of about 287,000 (2019 estimate) ...

and

Bermuda ) , anthem = "God Save the King" , song_type = National song , song = "Hail to Bermuda" , image_map = , map_caption = , image_map2 = , mapsize2 = , map_caption2 = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = , es ...

. He scored his only international goal on 11 November 2011 in a World Cup qualifier in a 2–1 win against

Trinidad and Tobago Trinidad and Tobago (, ), officially the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago, is the southernmost island country in the Caribbean. Consisting of the main islands Trinidad and Tobago, and numerous much smaller islands, it is situated south of ...

Career statistics

Club

Source:

International

Source:

Honours

; Hull City * Football League One runner-up: 2004–05 ; Stoke City * Football League Championship runner-up: 2007–08 ;Charlton Athletic * Football League One champions: 2011–12

References

External links

Leon Cort player profile
at cafc.co.uk * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Cort, Leon 1979 births Living people Footballers from Bermondsey English footballers English people of Guyanese descent Guyanese footballers Guyana international footballers Association football defenders Dulwich Hamlet F.C. players Millwall F.C. players Forest Green Rovers F.C. players Stevenage F.C. players Southend United F.C. players Hull City A.F.C. players Crystal Palace F.C. players Stoke City F.C. players Burnley F.C. players Preston North End F.C. players Charlton Athletic F.C. players Premier League players English Football League players National League (English football) players Bolton Wanderers F.C. non-playing staff