Growing into a star had its downsides

Last updated : 06 July 2006 By Editor

The winger was all set for a first season among the reserves until injury to Wayne Routledge led Martin Jol to take a look at Lennon in the first team. He started 22 times for Spurs last season, scoring twice including the winner in the last home game of the season that secured the return of European football to White Hart Lane.

To top off a remarkable first year in the Premiership, he went to the World Cup and ended up starring for England as a substitute for half an hour against Trinidad and for an hour against Portugal. Supporters of the Three Lions cheered him on this summer more than any other homegrown player, bar Wayne Rooney.

Richard Williams writes in The Guardian: ‘Lennon brings with him an inherent dynamism. What we also know about the 19-year-old graduate of the Leeds United academy is that he is comfortable playing in the centre of the attack. The sooner Lennon is fully installed in the No7 shirt the sooner Steve McClaren will have begun to stamp a different and more positive identity on the England team.'

Lennon told ITV Sport: "It was tough when I first went to Spurs because I didn't really want to leave Leeds but the club couldn't afford to keep me. I wouldn't say I struggled to adapt but I missed life in Leeds and I was pretty homesick."