Mikele Leigertwood

Mikele Leigertwood

Leigertwood playing for Reading in 2011
Personal information
Full name	Mikele Benjamin Leigertwood
Date of birth	12 November 1982
Place of birth	Enfield, London, England
Height	1.88 m (6 ft 2 in)
Playing position	Defensive midfielder
Youth career
	Wimbledon
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps	(Gls)
2001–2004	Wimbledon	56	(2)
2002	→ Leyton Orient (loan)	8	(0)
2004–2006	Crystal Palace	63	(1)
2006–2007	Sheffield United	21	(0)
2007–2011	Queens Park Rangers	131	(12)
2010–2011	→ Reading (loan)	22	(1)
2011–2014	Reading	75	(6)
Total		376	(22)
National team^‡
2008–2014	Antigua and Barbuda	11	(1)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 19:01, 6 May 2014 (UTC). ‡ National team caps and goals correct as of 01:02, 13 June 2012 (UTC)

Mikele Benjamin Leigertwood (born 12 November 1982) is an English-born Antiguan retired footballer who last played for Reading. He also played for the Antigua and Barbuda national football team.

Career

Club

Leigertwood was born in Enfield. He began his career with Wimbledon, but he made his professional debut while on loan to Leyton Orient in November 2001. He got his first game at Wimbledon at the end of the 2001–2002 season, in a 1–0 defeat against Barnsley. While at Wimbledon, he played 65 games, scoring just three times in games against Norwich,^[1] Watford^[2] and Portsmouth in the League Cup.^[3]

He transferred to Crystal Palace for £155,000 in January 2004, becoming the first permanent signing of Iain Dowie, and played in 10 league games for the remainder of the 2003–2004 season, helping to secure Palace's promotion to the FA Premier League. In the 2004–2005 season, he made 23 appearances for Palace, including his first goal for the club against Tottenham Hotspur.^[4]

After the relegation of his club Crystal Palace, he joined Sheffield United on a three-year deal after the Blades paid a £600,000 compensation fee. Although Leigertwood was out of contract, a fee was due as he was under 24 years of age at the time. Leigertwood joined Queens Park Rangers for a fee of £900,000 in August 2007.^[5]

During his time at Queens Park Rangers, he made 141 appearances and 12 goals for Queens Park Rangers. Leigertwood went on loan to Reading in November 2010 after being out of favour with Neil Warnock. After a series of consistently good performances, this was extended to the end of the 2011 season, including the playoffs should it be needed. He scored his first goal for the club against Stevenage in the FA Cup on 29 January 2011. A week later Leigertwood added another goal to his tally with a 21st minute deflected strike against Cardiff City in a 2–2 draw.

In May 2011, it was announced that Reading had signed Leigertwood on a three-year contract. Leigertwood's first goal of the 2011/12 season came at home to Southampton in a 1–1 draw. His second goal of the campaign came at home to Leicester in a 3–1 win, and this was followed up with strikes against Blackpool and West Ham United as Reading surged towards promotion with an incredible run of games of which Leigertwood was an important figure in. The key role Leigertwood had played was rewarded when he scored the winning goal in a 1–0 victory at home to Nottingham Forest which secured Reading's promotion back to the top flight after a four-year absence. He scored his first Premier League goal for Reading in a 3–3 draw with Fulham with a superb strike from 20 yards. After a year out injured, Leigertwood made his Reading return on 8 April 2014.^[6] On 6 May 2014 Leigertwood was released from Reading,^[7] and in July joined Nottingham Forest on trial.^[8] Whilst on trial, Leigertwood sustained a hip injury which forced him to retire from the game.^[9]

International

Leigertwood is eligible to represent Antigua and Barbuda. Willie Donachie, Antigua and Barbuda's manager, tried to get Leigertwood into the squad for a World Cup Qualifier in June 2008, but Leigertwood had a wedding to attend.^[10] Leigertwood received a red card and four match ban in a match against Birmingham City on 28 October 2008, for a challenge on Lee Carsley. During this ban, he accepted a call up for the 2008 Caribbean Championship to represent Antigua and Barbuda. He made his national debut on 5 November 2008 in a 3–2 loss against Trinidad and Tobago and scored his first goal in their next match against Guyana. In November 2010 he returned to the national team and participated in the second stage of the 2010 Caribbean Championship, playing in all three matches.

After football

After retiring from professional football, Leigertwood took up a coaching role at Maccabi London Lions as their Sunday Team Coach.^[11]

On 19 July 2016 Leigertwood returned to Reading as Academy Loan Manager.^[12]

Career statistics

Club

As of match played 3 May 2014.

Club	Season	League^[A]		FA Cup		League Cup		Other^[B]		Total
		Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals
Wimbledon	2001–02[13]	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	0
	2002–03[14]	28	0	2	0	3	1	0	0	33	1
	2003–04[15]	27	2	3	0	1	0	0	0	31	2
	Total	56	2	5	0	4	1	0	0	65	3
Leyton Orient (loan)	2001–02[16]	8	0	2	0	0	0	0	0	10	0
	Total	8	0	2	0	0	0	0	0	10	0
Crystal Palace	2003–04[17]	12	0	0	0	0	0	3	0	15	0
	2004–05[18]	20	1	1	0	2	0	0	0	23	1
	2005–06[19]	27	0	1	0	1	0	1	0	30	0
	Total	59	1	2	0	3	0	4	0	68	1
Sheffield United	2006–07[20]	19	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	19	0
	2007–08[21]	2	0	0	0	2	0	0	0	4	0
	Total	21	0	0	0	2	0	0	0	23	0
Queens Park Rangers	2007–08[22]	40	5	0	0	0	0	0	0	40	5
	2008–09[23]	42	2	2	0	2	0	0	0	46	2
	2009–10[24]	40	5	2	0	3	0	0	0	45	5
	2010–11[25]	9	0	0	0	1	0	0	0	10	0
	Total	131	12	4	0	6	0	0	0	141	12
Reading	2010–11[26]	22	1	4	1	0	0	3	0	29	2
	2011–12[27]	41	5	1	0	0	0	0	0	42	5
	2012–13	30	1	2	1	2	1	0	0	34	3
	2013–14	4	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	4	0
	Total	97	7	7	2	2	1	3	0	109	10
Career totals		372	21	20	2	17	2	7	0	416	25

A. ^ The "League" column constitutes appearances and goals (including those as a substitute) in the Premier League and the Football League.

B. ^ The "Other" column constitutes appearances and goals (including those as a substitute) in the play-offs.

International

Antigua and Barbuda[28]
Year	Apps	Goals
2008	3	1
2009	0	0
2010	3	0
2011	3	0
2012	2	0
Total	11	1

International goals

Mikele Leigertwood: International Goals

#	Date	Venue	Opponent	Score	Result	Competition
1	7 November 2008	Marvin Lee Stadium, Macoya, Trinidad and Tobago	Guyana	1–0	2-1	2008 Caribbean Championship

Honours

Club

Queens Park Rangers

• Football League Championship (1): 2010–11

Reading

• Football League Championship: 2011–12

References

1. "Norwich 3–2 Wimbledon". BBC. 26 August 2003. Retrieved 24 October 2009.
2. "Wimbledon 1–3 Watford". BBC. 25 October 2003. Retrieved 24 October 2009.
3. "Portsmouth 1–3 Wimbledon". BBC. 1 October 2002. Retrieved 3 November 2009.
4. "Crystal Palace 3–0 Tottenham". BBC. 22 January 2005. Retrieved 24 October 2009.
5. "QPR complete Leigertwood transfer". BBC Sport. 31 August 2007. Retrieved 31 August 2007.
6. "Bournemouth 3-1 Reading". Reading FC. Retrieved 9 April 2014.
7. "Jobi, Mikele & Kaspars to move on". Reading FC. Retrieved 6 May 2014.
8. "Mikele Leigertwood has chance to earn Nottingham Forest contract". http://www.nottinghampost.com. Nottingham Post. Retrieved 14 July 2014. External link in |website= (help)
9. "Nottingham Forest: Leigertwood's fitness key to possible deal". BBC Sport. 4 August 2014. Retrieved 26 November 2015.
10. Armstrong, Mark (30 September 2008). "Willie Donachie attempts success with Antigua". London: Telegraph. Retrieved 5 November 2008.
11. "Leigertwood makes a start at Lions". http://www.londonlions.com/. London Lions F.C. 20 July 2015. Retrieved 11 November 2015. External link in |website= (help)
12. http://www.readingfc.co.uk/news/article/2016-17/mikele-leigertwood-joins-royals-as-academy-loan-manager-3193399.aspx
13. "MK Dons 2001/2002 player appearances". Soccerbase. Retrieved 31 August 2011.
14. "MK Dons 2002/2003 player appearances". Soccerbase. Retrieved 31 August 2011.
15. "MK Dons 2003/2004 player appearances". Soccerbase. Retrieved 31 August 2011.
16. "Leyton Orient 2001/2002 player appearances". Soccerbase. Retrieved 31 August 2011.
17. "C Palace 2003/2004 player appearances". Soccerbase. Retrieved 31 August 2011.
18. "C Palace 2004/2005 player appearances". Soccerbase. Retrieved 31 August 2011.
19. "C Palace 2005/2006 player appearances". Soccerbase. Retrieved 31 August 2011.
20. "Sheff Utd 2006/2007 player appearances". Soccerbase. Retrieved 31 August 2011.
21. "Sheff Utd 2007/2008 player appearances". Soccerbase. Retrieved 31 August 2011.
22. "QPR 2007/2008 player appearances". Soccerbase. Retrieved 31 August 2011.
23. "QPR 2008/2009 player appearances". Soccerbase. Retrieved 31 August 2011.
24. "QPR 2009/2010 player appearances". Soccerbase. Retrieved 31 August 2011.
25. "QPR 2010/2011 player appearances". Soccerbase. Retrieved 31 August 2011.
26. "Reading 2010/2011 player appearances". Soccerbase. Retrieved 31 August 2011.
27. "Reading 2011/2012 player appearances". Soccerbase. Retrieved 31 August 2011.
28. "Mikele Leigertwood". http://www.national-football-teams.com/. National Football Teams. Retrieved 11 November 2015. External link in |website= (help)

External links

• Official profile at Reading FC
• Mikele Leigertwood career statistics at Soccerbase
  
• International Statistics at CaribbeanFootballDatabase