Ken Leek

As a teenager, Leek played football for Ynysybwl Boys attracting a number of club scouts. In August 1952, he signed for Third Division South side Northampton Town. He soon appeared for the first team and also won honours for the Welsh under-23 side. He scored for Northampton in their 1958 FA Cup triumph against First Division side Arsenal. In six years with Northampton, he had a strike-rate of one goal every three games, scoring 27 goals from 71 league games, and was also given a testimonial match. He left Northampton in May 1958 to join First Division side Leicester City for a fee of £10,000 as an inside left or outside left. The same summer, he travelled with the Welsh national side to Sweden for the World Cup. He made his Leicester debut on 23 August against Everton, scoring once in a 2–0 victory. His goals ratio helped him to compete with Derek Hines for the centre forward position. He scored in every round of the 1960–61 FA Cup competition to help Leicester reach the final. However, after Leek's celebrations after the semi-final victory, manager Matt Gillies dropped his striker and replaced him with Hughie McIlmoyle for the final, which Leicester lost 2–0 to Tottenham Hotspur. He left Leicester just weeks later, having scored 43 goals in 108 appearances, with 34 of those coming in 93 league matches. In the summer of 1961 he played with Montreal Concordia in the International Soccer League, and National Soccer League. He signed for Newcastle United for £25,000 for whom…

Leek was a non-playing member of Wales's squad for the 1958 FIFA World Cup in Sweden. It took another two years for him to win his first international cap for Wales in a 2–0 victory against Scotland during the 1961 British Home Championship. He followed it up with games against the other home nations, England and Northern Ireland, among six caps that year. He won another three caps in 1962, and played for a second time against England in 1963. It was another two years before he was selected again, winning three more in 1965, the latter two being both in 1966 World Cup qualifying matches against Greece. His goals included two in the final minutes of a 1965 British Home Championship game against Scotland to give his country a 3–2 victory, which Leek said was his "favourite memory" of Cardiff.

Leek initially played as an inside or outside left forward but moved to centre forward early in his career. He was tall and said to be "effective in the air", had pace and was adept with both feet. He also suffered from injuries because of his robust style. Former Leicester teammate Gordon Banks said of Leek: "He was a terrific player – a great centre forward. He was very elusive and caused a lot of problems for centre halves."

Leek was born on 26 July 1935 in Ynysybwl, South Wales, where he lived next door to Birmingham City and future Welsh international footballer Don Dearson. He attended two rugby-playing schools before taking up football himself at the age of 14. He also spent two years in national service.