Leon Britton

Leon James Britton (born 16 September 1982 in Wandsworth, Greater London) is an English professional football player, who plays for Swansea City following a short lived spell for Sheffield United.

Club career

Youth career

A member of the England Development School at Lilleshall where he was a year behind Joe Cole, Britton began his career as an Arsenal trainee. When he signed for West Ham United for £400,000 in 1998, he attracted the highest transfer fee ever paid for a 16 year-old at that time.

West Ham

Unable to break into the first team at West Ham, Britton joined Swansea City on loan in December 2002, helping the club to avoid relegation from the Football League. He was named PFA Fans' Player of the Year for the Third Division in the 2002–03 season. Swansea manager Brian Flynn was impressed enough to sign him permanently after he was released by West Ham.

Swansea

A diminutive but skilful midfielder, Britton won Player of the Year awards from an online supporters' group in both 2002–03 and 2005–06 seasons.

Including his appearances whilst on loan with the club, to the end of the 2005–06 season, Britton had played 137 times for Swansea City in all competitions (with a further 18 appearances as a substitute) and had scored nine goals.

On 9 February 2008, Britton played his 200th game for Swansea City. In January 2010, Swansea rejected an £750,000 offer for Britton from Wigan Athletic but at the...
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