Aaron Lennon

Leeds United

In 2001, Lennon joined the Leeds United Academy. He set a record as the youngest player ever to have his boots sponsored when he signed up with Adidas at the age of just 14. Two years later, he began his professional career at Leeds United, where he became the youngest player to appear in the Premier League at the age of 16 years and 129 days, coming off the bench at White Hart Lane against Tottenham Hotspur in a 2–1 loss in August 2003. Lennon scored his only goal for Leeds against Sunderland on 26 December 2004 during a 3–2 win. Lennon had been featuring from the bench up until that point, but he soon took his chance when John Oster was sacked for bad behaviour, becoming a regular starter from then on. His pace and skills on the wing excited Leeds fans, and he was one of the star performers in Leeds' first season in the Championship under the management of Kevin Blackwell with his performances earning rave reviews. His last involvement at Leeds was playing and scoring in Lucas Radebe's testimonial. With Leeds' financial problems, Lennon was sold to Spurs for a heavily reduced fee, with a sell-on clause inserted into the deal.

Tottenham Hotspur

With Leeds suffering financial difficulties, Lennon made a £1 million move to Tottenham Hotspur on 15 June 2005. His Spurs debut came a couple of months later in a 2–0 home defeat against Chelsea on 27 August 2005. On 18 March 2006, Lennon scored his first Premier League goal in Tottenham's 2–0 victory…

Lennon was called up to the England U21 team for the first time in October 2005 and on 8 May 2006, he was picked in England's 2006 FIFA World Cup squad, despite being only 19 years of age and uncapped at senior level. He was named man of the match in the England B encounter against Belarus on 25 May 2006 in England's World Cup warm-up match at the Madejski Stadium in Reading, which England B ultimately lost 2–1. He made his full England debut as a second-half substitute in the 6–0 win over Jamaica on 3 June. Lennon appeared as a second-half substitute for England in their 2006 World Cup group stage match against Trinidad and Tobago (his first World Cup finals appearance). England scored twice following his and Wayne Rooney's arrival on the field, winning the match 2–0. Lennon then played in the quarter-final match against Portugal, coming on as a substitute for the injured David Beckham. Lennon was then himself substituted for Jamie Carragher immediately prior to a penalty shootout, in which England lost. Lennon also came on as a substitute during a 5–0 Euro 2008 qualifying victory over Andorra on 2 September 2006 and made an instant impact by assisting Peter Crouch's second goal after receiving the ball for the first time. He made his first start for England in a Euro 2008 qualifier against Israel in March 2007 and was also selected in the first XI for the following match against Andorra. This proved to be Lennon's last appearance for exactly two years as he was selected…

Born in Leeds, West Yorkshire, Lennon has a younger brother and a younger sister, and is of Irish and Jamaican heritage. He attended City of Leeds High School. He was first spotted by scouts when he was eight years old; his older brother Anthony played for Manchester United's youth team.

On 30 April 2017, Lennon was detained under the Mental Health Act 2007. He was taken to hospital "for assessment" after police were called to reports of danger to a man's life in Salford. Lennon was said to be "receiving care and treatment for a stress-related illness", Everton reported. In March 2019, he spoke about the incident, and said that other players had asked him for advice.