Luke Young

Tottenham Hotspur

Young started his career with Tottenham Hotspur's youth system and signed a professional contract on 3 July 1997. George Graham gave him his first-team debut on 28 November 1998, playing the full 90 minutes of a 2–1 loss at West Ham, alongside Sol Campbell in the centre of defence. He hit a 25-yard volley which was saved by Shaka Hislop. Young made appearances in the 1998–99 League Cup, but was an unused substitute for the final at Wembley Stadium, which Tottenham won 1–0 against Leicester City on 21 March 1999. He was also present in the team's run through the rounds of the FA Cup, in which they lost after extra time to Newcastle United in the semi-finals.

Charlton Athletic

Young transferred to Charlton Athletic on 25 July 2001 on a four-year contract for an initial £3 million fee, adding £250,000 at the end of each of the first four seasons in which Charlton remained in the Premier League. He made his debut on 18 August 2001, in a 2–1 home loss to Everton. In his first season at the Valley, he played alongside Mark Fish, Jorge Costa and Jonathan Fortune in a defence whose last names combined to 'Young Fish Cost a Fortune'. On 25 August 2004, Young scored the first goal of his career, assisted by Dennis Rommedahl to conclude a 3–0 home win over Aston Villa. He followed this on 18 September 2004 when he exploited an error by goalkeeper Maik Taylor to open a 1–1 draw at Birmingham City. In the spring of 2005, he was voted Player of the Year…

In May 2005, Young was called up for the first time to the England team for their tour of the United States, after the injury withdrawal of Gary Neville. He made his debut on 28 May against the United States in Chicago, as a substitute for Andy Johnson with 14 minutes to play of the 2–1 win. Due to another Neville injury, his first full appearance in an England shirt came on 3 September 2005, when he played the full 90 minutes in the World Cup qualifying match against Wales, which England won 1–0. Young was put on standby for Sven-Göran Eriksson's 2006 World Cup squad, but withdrew with an ankle injury and was replaced by Michael Dawson. On 21 March 2007, Steve McClaren drafted Young into the England team for the qualifiers against Israel and Andorra because of injuries to Micah Richards and Jonathan Woodgate. In total Young played for his country seven times, his final cap coming against Argentina in November 2005. He was also called up by Fabio Capello, but he did not play for him either. His final appearance in an England squad was for the friendly against Spain in February 2009. On 11 November 2009, it emerged that Young had, in February 2009, made his unavailability for future international duties known to The Football Association on personal grounds. This retirement from international football was made public when Young rejected an offer to reverse his decision following the injury of Glen Johnson before a match against Brazil.

Club

International

Young was born in Harlow, Essex, and has an older brother, Neil Young, who was also a professional footballer and most notably played for AFC Bournemouth. During Neil's testimonial match, he captained the Bournemouth team and brother Luke captained the opponents Charlton Athletic. The final score was a 5–2 win for Charlton. Luke's 17-year-old half-brother, Andre Young, was found dead on 12 August 2009 whilst on holiday in Malia, Crete, after sustaining head injuries. Young said at the time: "He was a tremendous and talented person and a diligent student and this is such a waste of a promising life." In November 2011, British authorities recorded an open verdict on the cause of death. Luke's youngest brother, Jake Young, played for West Ham United's academy as a midfielder.