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Leon Best
Footballer (born 1986) / From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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Leon Julian Brendan Best (born 19 September 1986) is a retired professional footballer who played as a striker. He has played for the Republic of Ireland national football team. Best represented Ireland at under-21 level and won his first full international cap against Nigeria on 29 May 2009.
![]() Best playing for Brighton & Hove Albion in 2015 | |||
Personal information | |||
---|---|---|---|
Full name | Leon Julian Brendan Best[1] | ||
Date of birth | (1986-09-19) 19 September 1986 (age 37) | ||
Place of birth | Nottingham, England | ||
Height | 1.85 m (6 ft 1 in)[2] | ||
Position(s) | Striker | ||
Youth career | |||
2002–2004 | Notts County | ||
Senior career* | |||
Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
2004–2007 | Southampton | 15 | (4) |
2004–2005 | → Queens Park Rangers (loan) | 5 | (0) |
2005 | → Sheffield Wednesday (loan) | 2 | (1) |
2006 | → Sheffield Wednesday (loan) | 11 | (1) |
2006 | → AFC Bournemouth (loan) | 15 | (3) |
2006–2007 | → Yeovil Town (loan) | 15 | (10) |
2007–2010 | Coventry City | 92 | (19) |
2010–2012 | Newcastle United | 42 | (10) |
2012–2015 | Blackburn Rovers | 14 | (2) |
2014 | → Sheffield Wednesday (loan) | 15 | (4) |
2014–2015 | → Derby County (loan) | 15 | (0) |
2015 | → Brighton & Hove Albion (loan) | 13 | (0) |
2015–2016 | Rotherham United | 16 | (4) |
2016–2017 | Ipswich Town | 11 | (0) |
2017–2018 | Charlton Athletic | 5 | (0) |
Total | 286 | (58) | |
International career‡ | |||
2002 | Republic of Ireland U17 | 2 | (0) |
2005 | Republic of Ireland U19 | 1 | (1) |
2008 | Republic of Ireland U21 | 1 | (0) |
2009–2010 | Republic of Ireland | 7 | (0) |
*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 20:25, 1 January 2018 (UTC) ‡ National team caps and goals, correct as of 20:17, 10 March 2016 (UTC) |
Best had a youth career at Notts County. His first professional club was then Premier League club Southampton. He has also played for Coventry City and Newcastle United before his 2012 move to Blackburn Rovers, where he remained for three years before leaving by mutual consent. He has since taken up short spells with Rotherham United, Ipswich Town and Charlton Athletic.