Grant Leadbitter
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| Grant Leadbitter | ||
| Personal information | ||
|---|---|---|
| Full name | Grant Leadbitter | |
| Date of birth | January 7, 1986 | |
| Place of birth | Chester-le-Street, England | |
| Playing position | Midfielder | |
| Club information | ||
| Current club | Sunderland | |
| Number | 18 | |
| Senior clubs1 | ||
| Years | Club | App (Gls)* |
| 2003– 2005 |
Sunderland → Rotherham United (loan) |
87 (9) 5 (1) |
| National team2 | ||
| 2007– | England U21 | 3 (0) |
|
1 Senior club appearances and goals |
||
Grant Leadbitter (born January 7, 1986 in Chester-le-Street) is an English professional footballer who plays as a midfielder for the Premier League club Sunderland A.F.C.. He has played for sunderland since 2003 upon rising up as a product from the teams Youth Academy. In 2007 Grant Leadbitter received a callup for England U21, and has so far featured for them several times.
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[edit] Youth career
Grant Leadbitter grew up as a Sunderland fan, and joined the Sunderland youth academy at the age of 16. He progressed through the ranks and represented England at the U19 level in 2002, scoring against Brazil to help England finish in the top four in the league tournament.[1]
[edit] Career at Sunderland
Leadbitter's first professional appearance for Sunderland came as a substitute in a League Cup defeat against Huddersfield Town in September 2003. Before obtaining a regular first-team place at the club, he was loaned to Rotherham United in September 2005. After his loan stay in Rotherham, he began to be selected regularly by then manager Mick McCarthy, and started in several Premiership games for the Black Cats in February 2006.
After Sunderland's relegation in 2006, Leadbitter stalled on contract talks, with many predicting he was aiming to attract the attention of a Premiership club after his impressive displays during the previous season. However, a contract was subsequently agreed with the player claiming he only ever wanted to stay with Sunderland, and henceforth, Leadbitter has played an important role in the Black Cats' revival under the management of Roy Keane. Leadbitter took part in every one of Sunderland's games in the 2006–07 season and contributed seven goals,[2] ranking as the clubs 3rd top scorer of that season. On Sunderland's return to the Premier League Leadbitter has continued to feature regularly with Roy Keane even making comparisons with Paul Scholes (he wears the no. 18 shirt allegedly in honour of his hero Scholes).
[edit] International career
Grant Leadbitter came on as a late substitute replacing Gabriel Agbonlahor, in a 2–0 win in England Under 21's 2009 UEFA European Under-21 Football Championship qualification group, against Bulgaria national under-21 football team.[3] He featured again for England U21 on March 25, 2008 in a 0-0 draw against Poland U21.
He also played in a 2-0 win for England U21 against Wales U21 on May 15th 2008. Scorers in this game were Tom Huddlestone and Theo Walcott.
[edit] External links
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