Few footballers exemplify Tottenham Hotspur more than Ledley King, so let’s learn all about the iconic defender and his immense commitment to the Lilywhites over the years.
King only ever played for one club in his career, and were it not for injuries, his reputation would have been even stronger, with many of his peers citing him as one of the most difficult defenders to face.
But who is Ledley King? How many games did he play for Spurs? And what is he doing now? Here, we explain all you need to know about the Tottenham legend.
Ledley King came through the Tottenham Hotspur academy
Ledley King developed through the Tottenham Hotspur academy, after making a name for himself at one of the best Sunday League teams of all time, Senrab FC.
That’s the same team that produced players such as Jermain Defoe, John Terry, Sol Campbell, and the late Ugo Ehiogu.
He was promoted to the Tottenham first-team squad in 1998 at the age of 17, but had to wait until the end of March 1999 to make his debut, getting 45 minutes against Liverpool in a 3-2 defeat.
A Tottenham legend and one-club man
King made 323 appearances for Tottenham over the course of his career, and never played for another club, remaining fiercely loyal to his beloved boyhood club.
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In those appearances, King bagged 14 goals and registered eight assists from the centre-half position. He even managed to score one of the fastest goals in Premier League history, striking against Bradford City in 2000 after just 9.82 seconds.
King was named Tottenham captain in 2005, and remained so until the day he retired in 2012 at the age of 31. During that time, he was able to lift the League Cup for the club in 2008; the last trophy Spurs won and one of the biggest moments of the club’s modern era.
Thanks to his loyalty to the club, his supreme talent on the field, and his leadership qualities, King goes down as one of Tottenham’s greatest ever players and servants. He is so respected at the club, in fact, that Spurs have unofficially retired the number 26 shirt in his honour.
Injuries held Ledley King back
King saw his playing career severely disrupted by injuries between 2006 and 2011, during which time he missed a massive 105 games.
He suffered six different significant injuries, most notably a couple of spells out with a knee issue, but also affecting his thigh, groin, and adductor. In total, King was out injured for 507 days throughout his career.
Were it not for those injuries, there is little doubt that King would have been regarded as one of the greatest defenders in Premier League history, and he would certainly have racked up more caps for England, too.
King has spoken about these issues quite candidly, claiming he reached a point where he could not train until the day before a game, and those sessions might only last five minutes before he had to give up.
He said: “I’d try to play again on the Saturday and that was the cycle for five years. The biggest problem was muscle injuries during that time. I’d play three or four games and then I felt a hamstring or groin or quad and I’d be out for a few weeks.”
At his peak, King was one of the most revered centre-halves in the game, and the kind of defender forwards hated to play against. Thierry Henry once said: “I don’t like defenders who hold the shirts of other players. The only defender who doesn’t do that and still gets the ball off my feet easily is Ledley King. He is the only guy who doesn’t hold players. He will get the ball off you without you even noticing.”
King has stayed with Spurs since his retirement
Unsurprisingly, King has still not left Tottenham, taking on a coaching role before becoming a club ambassador, a role he still holds to this day.
Upon his retirement, King was offered an ambassadorial role at Tottenham. This role involves him getting involved in community outreach programmes as part of the Tottenham Hotspur Foundation, making guest appearances at various functions, representing the club in the media, and being present on matchdays at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium.
King was appointed assistant coach to Jose Mourinho in 2020, but returned to his ambassadorial role in 2021 when the Portuguese coach was sacked on the cusp of the 2021 League Cup final.
A brief England career
Ledley King won 21 caps for England and scored two goals for his country. He made his debut in 2002, playing 45 minutes in a friendly against Italy.
Sven-Goran Eriksson handed the Spurs man his debut, but he was left out of the following four games and did not make the World Cup squad.
He had to wait until February 2003 for his next appearance for the Three Lions, playing 45 minutes in a 3-1 defeat against Australia.
Again, King had to wait a long time for his next cap, getting 90 minutes against Portugal in February 2004. That began King’s most consistent period for his country, and he went on to play two games as part of the England squad in Euro 2004.
King’s injuries got in the way from there on out, with the defender largely featuring in the odd friendly and qualifier here and there. His final appearance in an England shirt was a 45 minute outing in World Cup 2010 against the USA.
Ledley King personal information and social media
Ledley King was born in London, England, on October 12, 1980.
He is 1.88m tall, and always had a very athletic physique during his playing days, making him a surprisingly quick footballer.
King was arrested in 2009 for suspected assault and spent the night in a police cell before being released pending investigation. At the time, King released a statement saying: “I sincerely regret that a night out with friends went too far… I fully appreciate that, as a professional footballer, I have a duty to behave in a responsible manner.”
He has been married since 2015, and he and his wife have one child, a son named Coby.
You can find Ledley King on Instagram where he has over 41k followers, or on Twitter where he has 157k followers.