Aaron Lennon

Aaron Lennon is an English right winger of London side Tottenham and the Three Lions. He is one of the shortest and fast footballers in the Premier League. Aaron was born in Leeds, England.

Lennon began his professional career in one of the most famous English club Leeds United. Aaron came to ‘The Whites’ in 2001, when he was 14. In two years the footballer joined the first team. He made his debut for Leeds at the age of 16 years (and 129 days), which made him the youngest player ever to appear in the main English League. By the way, Aaron’s first match was against his future team Tottenham Hotspur. The game at White Hart Lane was a 2-1 win of Spurs.

Long before that, in 2001, the midfielder set one more record, when he became the youngest player to sign a sponsor contract. Lennon’s partner was the famous German sport company Adidas. The winger was only 14 years old when the contract was signed. In a year Aaron could move to Russia as an expensive acquisition of CSKA head coach Valery Gazzaev, but the club manager eventually abandoned the idea to buy the English footballer. Soon Leeds began to experience severe financial problems and the club started to sell its leaders in order to get money for running the whole team. That is when Lennon was sold to Tottenham. The London side club bought the midfielder in July 2005 for £1 million. The English footballer made his debut for the new team in a couple of months in a match against Chelsea. On 16 March 2006, the winger got on the scoresheet in the Premier League, scoring a tremendous goal in a 2-0 win over Birmingham. At the end of 2005/2006 the footballer was nominated the PFA Young Player of the Year, but Manchester United player Wayne Rooney got the award as he made a tremendous start in his team. On 28 March 2006, Aaron signed a new contract with Tottenham till the summer 2010.

In 2006/2007 Aaron was nominated the PFA Young Player of the Year again, but he took third place after Cesk Fabregas and Cristiano Ronaldo who ultimately clinched the title. On 8 January 2007, Lennon extended his contract with the Spurs once again and this time his wage was raised to £20,000 a week.

The footballer rather soon became the key right winger of the squad. He took part in almost every match without being substituted and always created danger for the rivals’ goal. Lennon is famous for his wonderful dribbling ability, pace and tremendous skills. Spurs managed to pass the UEFA Champions League 2010/2011 qualification and show good results in the tournament not without Aaron’s help.

In October 2005 the footballer was capped for the England national youth team. On 8 May 2006, he was called up to the Three Lions squad for the 2006 World Cup.

Aaron was named the Player of the Match on 25 May 2006, when he played for England B against Belarus at the Madejski Stadium, Reading. The England national squad eventually lost 1-2. Lennon made his debut for the senior team in eight days, when the midfielder made a sub appearance in the second half of a hammering 6-0 victory over the Jamaica national football team.

On 15 June 2006, Aaron substituted Michael Owen after 58 minutes of the 2006 World Cup second group stage game against Trinidad and Tobago. After his appearance, England netted two goals and won 2-0. The Three Lions’ fans liked the play of the young midfielder so much that they believed he would be a great substitute for David Beckham. By the way, Lennon came as a substitution for the injured David Beckham in the 2006 World Cup quarter-final match. The England national team played against Portugal and Aaron came on the field after the half time, on the 52nd minute. The midfielder had a good game, but he was substituted for Jamie Carragher on the 119th minute of extra time. The Three Lions eventually lost to the Portugal national team after a penalty shootout.

On 24 March 2007, Aaron made his first start for the full England team against Israel.

In 2010 the winger was included in the England national squad for the 2010 World Cup and took part in two matches, but did not show any spectacular actions. He failed to come to the UEFA Euro 2012 with the team because of injuries he had got in the second half of 2011/2012.

On the whole, Lennon is not a pivot of the full national squad, but his skills are often useful in different matches of the Three Lions.