Current club: Tottenham Hotspur
Tottenham’s Ledley King has spent his entire career at White Hart Lane and is currently the club’s longest-serving player.
Having come through the academy system he is now the club captain and in 2009-10 was instrumental in guiding Spurs to their best league finish in two decades – finishing fourth and gaining a place in the Champions League qualifying round.
After nine appearances for England’s Under-21s, the 6’2” centre-half picked up his first senior cap in 2002, coming on as a substitute in the 2-1 defeat to Italy at Elland Road. It was almost a year until his next appearance for the Three Lions and another 12 months after that when he picked up his third cap – a 1-1 draw with Portugal where King scored his only goal in an England shirt.
Under Sven Goran Eriksson, King was part of the England squad that attended the 2004 European Championship in Portugal, being involved in two games as England reached the quarter-finals.
Persistent knee problems have stopped him gaining more than his current tally of senior caps but having shown that his condition can be managed effectively and proving towards the end of the 2009-10 season that he can handle several games in a short space of time, Fabio Capello named King in his 23-man World Cup squad.
