About Ledley King
Ledley Brenton King (born 12 October 1980) is an English former professional footballer. A one-club man, he spent his entire career with Premier League club Tottenham Hotspur and played 323 competitive matches for them from 1999 to 2012. He is a club ambassador for Tottenham Hotspur. Highly rated as a central defender, in 2009 he was named by The Times as Tottenham's 25th best player of all time. From 2002 to 2010, King made 21 international appearances for England, scoring twice and representing the nation at UEFA Euro 2004 and the 2010 FIFA World Cup. In the latter part of his career, King was plagued by chronic knee problems, for which no effective treatment or remedy was found. Instead of training with the rest of the squad, King undertook fitness exercises on his own, allowing him to play one first team game per week. His former manager Harry Redknapp called King "an absolute freak" for being able to perform at a Premier League level despite not training. Whilst playing, King was cited by opponents and pundits as one of the best defenders in the Premier League. King announced his retirement from all forms of football on 19 July 2012 as a result of the chronic knee injuries that plagued much of his career. In August 2020, King was appointed assistant first team coach to work alongside José Mourinho and other coaching staff at Tottenham. When breaking into the first team under former manager George Graham he was often used as a midfielder. His first goal for Tottenham came in December 2000 in a 3–3 draw away to Bradford City after just ten seconds, setting a new Premier League record for the quickest goal.
Biography source: Wikipedia. The profile adds birthday-specific historical context from the Celebs Birthday Today editorial database.