Andy King (footballer, born 1988)

Andy King

King training with Leicester City in 2013
Personal information
Full name	Andrew Philip King[1]
Date of birth	29 October 1988[1]
Place of birth	Barnstaple, England
Height	6 ft 0 in (1.83 m)[1]
Playing position	Midfielder
Club information
Current team	Leicester City
Number	10
Youth career
1998–2004	Chelsea
2004–2006	Leicester City
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps^†	(Gls)^†
2006–	Leicester City	293	(52)
National team^‡
2007	Wales U19	7	(0)
2007–2010	Wales U21	10	(2)
2009–	Wales	32	(2)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 10:44, 2 May 2016 (UTC). † Appearances (goals) ‡ National team caps and goals correct as of 23:23, 26 December 2015 (UTC)

Andrew Philip "Andy" King (born 29 October 1988) is a professional footballer who plays as a midfielder for Premier League club Leicester City.

He has made over 300 appearances across all competitions for Leicester, where he has spent his entire career. He won the League One, Championship and Premier League in 2009, 2014 and 2016 respectively, making him the first player to win the top three divisions with the same team in the Premier League era.^[2] He is Leicester's all-time highest scoring midfielder.

Born in England, King is a Wales international, qualifying through his grandfather. He made his international debut in 2009, and has gone on to earn over 30 caps.

Early life and career

King was born in Barnstaple, Devon on holiday and was brought up in Maidenhead, Berkshire.^[3] He attended Furze Platt Senior School and joined Chelsea when he was nine years old.^[4][5] After being released in 2004 when he was 15 years old, he joined the Leicester City youth academy.^[6]

Leicester City

Academy and early career

He was given a squad number for the 2006–07 season.^[7] During that season, King scored eight goals in 21 appearances for the Leicester academy side, which saw them win the FA Premier League Group B.^[8]

King playing for Leicester City in 2008

King was offered his first professional contract with Leicester on 5 May 2007.^[9] He also went on trial with Conference National team York City in August,^[8] and after playing in a pre-season friendly against Sheffield he turned down a possible loan move to the club on the advice of his agent.^[10] King made his first team debut in a 0–0 draw with Wolverhampton Wanderers on 2 October 2007,^[11] before scoring his first senior goal with a 35 yard shot described as a "rocket" in a 2–1 defeat to Southampton on 1 December.^[12] He made 11 league appearances as Leicester were relegated to League One at the end of the 2007–08 season.^[13]

2008–09 season

King's impressive start the following season earned him a new three-year contract on 21 August 2008.^[6] He scored his first goal of the season in a 3–2 League Cup defeat to Fulham on 27 August, scoring from 18 yards.^[14] He went on to score nine league goals to help Leicester secure their promotion as League One champions. His performances earned him the club's young player of the season award on 28 April 2009. He was also nominated for players' player of the season and player of the season awards, but lost out to teammates Matty Fryatt and Steve Howard.^[15] King dedicated his award to team captain Stephen Clemence, who missed the entire season through injury.^[16]

2009–10 season

During pre-season, King believed the Leicester squad was good enough to challenge for promotion.^[17] He scored his first goal of the season in a 1–0 win over Plymouth Argyle at the Walkers Stadium on 21 November 2009.^[18] Following a fine start to the 2009–10 season, King said on 23 November there is a firm belief that the team can win promotion to the Premier League.^[19] He drew praise from then-manager Nigel Pearson after scoring his fourth goal of the season in a 2–1 FA Cup win over Swansea City on 2 January 2010.^[20] His overall performance earned him the players' player of the year award on 28 April 2010 which he shared with teammate Jack Hobbs.^[21]

King playing for Leicester City in 2010

2010–11 season

King had his best season yet in terms of goalscoring in 2010–11, as he ended up the club's top scorer, netting 15 times in the league and 16 times in all competitions from midfield.^[22] He earned himself a four-year contract on 15 April 2011, keeping him at the club until 2015.^[23] Three days later, King's form that season was acknowledged by his fellow professionals as he was named in the Championship's PFA Team of the Year with teammate Kyle Naughton.^[24] He then took the club's players' player of the season award for the second season in a row.^[25]

2011–12 season

King began the 2011–12 season with a goal drought, scoring just one goal in his first 14 games of the season, but got back on track, netting a brace against West Ham United on 29 October 2011, the first game following Sven-Göran Eriksson's sacking as manager,^[26] before adding his fourth of the season at home to Blackpool a month later. However, the latter part of his season was disrupted due to injury.^[27] King finished the season scoring 4 times in 32 games across all competitions, King's lowest goal and appearance tally since becoming a first team regular in the 2008/09 season.

2012–13 season

King regained his form at the beginning of the following season though, scoring a goal in both the opening 2012–13 Championship fixtures against Peterborough United and Charlton Athletic respectively.^[28] King's central midfield partner often changed between Matty James & Danny Drinkwater with former forming a formidable partnership with King in the latter part of the season as Leicester attempted to get their promotion push back on track. King scored his 50th goal for Leicester on the final day of the 2012/13 season away at Nottingham Forest, a game that city won 3–2, a result that clinched 6th place and the final play-off position. King's performance's in the play-off semi final against Watford, particularly the second leg had heroic tendencies but unfortunately it wasn't enough as Leicester lost 3–2 on aggregate thanks to a 97th minute Troy Deeney strike, despite winning the first leg 1–0 at the King Power Stadium. King scored 7 times during the 2012/13 season in 48 games.

2013–14 season

King started the 2013–14 Championship season, how he finished the last. Scoring twice in the first 8 games, both fantastic strikes against Birmingham City and Blackpool, the former voted the Foxes goal of the month for August and the latter a show in for September's award. King's first goal of the season also marked his 250th Leicester appearance. Due to the fantastic and consistent run of form from Midfield pairing Danny Drinkwater & Matty James, King found opportunities limited to substitute appearances.^[29] King scored his 54th goal for the Foxes in their 2–2 draw against Wigan Athletic on April 1, 2014, making him the clubs highest scoring midfielder in their 130 year history as Leicester made their way to the 2013-14 Football League Championship and promotion to the Premier League.

2014–15 season

King made his Premier League debut, playing the full 90 minutes in the 2–2, opening day draw with Everton, putting in an impressive display, finishing the match with a 95.6% pass completion record.^[30] King signed a new four-year contract with the club on his 26th birthday, 29 October 2014, keeping him at the club until the summer of 2018, stating that he would love it if he spent his entire career with the Foxes.^[31] On 4 April 2015, King scored his 50th league goal for Leicester, a late winner in the 2-1, Premier League victory over West Ham United.^[32] On 29 April 2015, King made his 300th appearance for the club in the 1-3 defeat to Chelsea, the club that released him as a teenager.^[33]

2015–16 season

King started the new campaign in the Leicester team, playing the full 90 minutes as Leicester topped the Premier League table following a 4–2 win against Sunderland at the King Power Stadium on 8 August 2015, with new manager Claudio Ranieri singling out him and midfield partner Danny Drinkwater for praise.^[34][35] He won the league title on 2 May 2016, becoming the first player to win the top three divisions with the same club in the Premier League era;^[2] Roy Bailey, Larry Carberry, John Elsworthy, Jimmy Leadbetter and Ted Phillips having previously achieved the feat with Ipswich Town in the 1950s and 1960s.

International career

King qualified to play for Wales through a Welsh grandfather and is a former Wales under-19 and under-21 international, receiving his first call-up on 10 October 2007.^[36] He scored his first goal in a 5–1 UEFA European Under-21 Championship qualifying win over Luxembourg under-21 on 31 March 2009.^[37] He was in the squad that narrowly lost out to England in the play-offs for a spot at the 2009 European Championships.

On 22 May 2009, King received his first call-up to the senior Wales squad when he was named in manager John Toshack's squad for a friendly match against Estonia.^[38][39] Despite naming King in the squad, Toshack admitted that he was not yet ready for international football.^[40] He made his debut as a last-minute substitute for Ched Evans in a 1–0 victory.^[41] King's first international goal came on 11 August 2010 in a 5–1 friendly victory over Luxembourg at Parc y Scarlets in Llanelli.^[42]

King was a regular in Wales' successful UEFA Euro 2016 qualifying campaign. He was given a straight red card in the 47th minute on 13 October 2014, in a home qualifier against Cyprus, for a foul on Constantinos Makrides. However Wales won 2–1, the same score at the time of the red card.^[43] Manager Chris Coleman blamed the attitude of himself and his staff for aggressively rallying the team prior to King's red card.^[44]

Career statistics

Club

As of match played 1 May 2016.

Appearances and goals by club, season and competition

Season	Club	League			FA Cup		League Cup		Other		Total
		Division	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals
Leicester City	2007–08[13]	Championship	11	1	1	0	0	0	—		12	1
	2008–09[45]	League One	45	9	4	1	2	1	3[lower-alpha 1]	0	54	11
	2009–10[46]	Championship	43	9	1	1	1	0	2[lower-alpha 2]	1	47	11
	2010–11[47]	Championship	45	15	2	1	3	0	—		50	16
	2011–12[48]	Championship	30	4	1	0	1	0	—		32	4
	2012–13[49]	Championship	42	7	2	0	2	0	2[lower-alpha 2]	0	48	7
	2013–14[50]	Championship	30	4	1	0	2	0	—		33	4
	2014–15[51]	Premier League	24	2	1	0	1	0	—		26	2
	2015–16[52]	Premier League	23	1	2	0	2	1	—		27	2
Career total			293	52	15	3	14	2	7	1	329	58

1. Appearances in Football League Trophy
2. Appearances in Championship play-offs

International

As of match played 13 November 2015.^[53]

Appearances and goals by national team and year

National team	Year	Apps	Goals
Wales	2009	3	0
	2010	3	1
	2011	5	0
	2012	4	0
	2013	8	1
	2014	5	0
	2015	4	0
Total		32	2

International goals

As of match played 16 November 2013. Wales score listed first, score column indicates score after each King goal.^[53]

International goals by date, venue, cap, opponent, score, result and competition

No.	Date	Venue	Cap	Opponent	Score	Result	Competition	Ref
1	11 August 2010	Parc y Scarlets, Llanelli, Wales	4	Luxembourg	3–1	5–1	Friendly	[42]
2	16 November 2013	Cardiff City Stadium, Cardiff, Wales	23	Finland	1–0	1–1	Friendly	[54]

Honours

Leicester City

• Premier League: 2015–16
• Football League Championship: 2013–14^[55]
• Football League One: 2008–09^[55]

Individual

• Championship PFA Team of the Year: 2010–11^[24]
• Leicester City Young Player of the Year: 2008–09^[15]
• Leicester City Player's Player of the Year: 2009–10 (joint winner),^[21] 2010–11^[25]

Records

• Leicester City all-time highest scoring midfielder:^[56] 58 goals

References

1. Hugman, Barry J., ed. (2010). The PFA Footballers' Who's Who 2010–11. Edinburgh: Mainstream Publishing. p. 236. ISBN 978-1-84596-601-0.
2. Leicester City: Andy King on his rise from Champions League mascot to player BBC Sport, 4 May 2016
3. "Friday Interview: King gets taste of the big time". Leicester Mercury. 3 October 2008. Retrieved 13 April 2014.
4. "Andy King at the Raffle". Cookham Dean F.C. 26 December 2009. Retrieved 13 April 2014.
5. "The Friday Interview: The more I play, the better I will get – Leicester City's Andy King". Leicester Mercury. 5 February 2010. Retrieved 27 October 2013.
6. "King of the Castle". Leicester City F.C. 21 August 2008. Archived from the original on 19 September 2008. Retrieved 21 August 2008.
7. "Leicester City". FootballSquads. Retrieved 2 August 2007.
8. Flett, Dave (2 August 2007). "City check out Leicester duo". The Press (York). Retrieved 27 October 2013.
9. "Young Stars Make The Grade". Leicester City F.C. 23 May 2007. Archived from the original on 18 February 2012. Retrieved 27 October 2013.
10. Flett, Dave (8 August 2007). "One-year York deal for Jones". The Press (York). Retrieved 27 October 2013.
11. "Leicester 0–0 Wolves". BBC Sport. 2 October 2007. Retrieved 10 April 2009.
12. "Leicester 1–2 Southampton". BBC Sport. 1 December 2007. Retrieved 10 April 2009.
13. "Games played by Andy King in 2007/2008". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 13 April 2014.
14. "Fulham 3–2 Leicester". BBC Sport. 27 August 2008. Archived from the original on 31 August 2008. Retrieved 28 August 2008.
15. "Howard bags club gong". Leicester City F.C. 28 April 2009. Archived from the original on 30 April 2009. Retrieved 29 April 2009.
16. "Steve Howard wins Leicester City player-of-the-year award". Leicester Mercury. 29 April 2009. Retrieved 27 October 2013.
17. "King ponders Premier League place". BBC Sport. 6 July 2009. Retrieved 27 October 2013.
18. "Leicester 1–0 Plymouth". BBC Sport. 21 November 2009. Archived from the original on 28 January 2010. Retrieved 20 February 2010.
19. "King confident on promotion goal". BBC Sport. 23 November 2009. Retrieved 27 October 2013.
20. "Leicester's Nigel Pearson hails midfielder Andy King". BBC Sport. 4 January 2010. Retrieved 7 January 2010.
21. "Hobbs Lands Awards Double". Leicester City F.C. 27 April 2010. Archived from the original on 29 April 2010. Retrieved 28 April 2010.
22. "Goal Scorers – 2010/11". The Football League. Retrieved 27 October 2013.
23. "King Commits To Foxes Until 2015". Leicester City F.C. 18 April 2011. Archived from the original on 20 April 2011. Retrieved 27 October 2013.
24. "City Duo Honoured at PFA Awards". Leicester City F.C. 18 April 2011. Archived from the original on 23 April 2011. Retrieved 27 October 2013.
25. "Richie Wellens and Andy King top polls in Leicester City awards". Leicester Mercury. 4 May 2011. Retrieved 28 August 2014.
26. "West Ham Utd vs Leicester City". Leicester City F.C. 29 October 2011. Archived from the original on 1 February 2012. Retrieved 27 October 2013.
27. "Leicester City v Blackpool". Leicester City F.C. 29 November 2011. Archived from the original on 1 February 2012. Retrieved 27 October 2013.
28. "Leicester City v Peterborough". BBC Sport. Retrieved 18 August 2012.
29. "I'll sacrifice my starting spot for promotion, says Leicester City's Andy King | Leicester Mercury". leicestermercury.co.uk. Retrieved 18 April 2014.
30. "Andy King statistics 2014/15". whoscored.com. Retrieved 17 August 2014.
31. "Andy King Signs New Leicester City Deal". Leicester City. Retrieved 11 January 2015.
32. "Report: Leicester City 2 West Ham 1". Leicester City. Retrieved 10 April 2015.
33. "Report: Leicester City 1 Chelsea 3". Leicester City. Retrieved 16 August 2015.
34. "Report: Leicester City 4 Sunderland 2". Leicester City. Retrieved 15 August 2015.
35. "Concentration Key For Claudio". Leicester City. Retrieved 15 August 2015.
36. "King Earns Welsh Recognition". Leicester City F.C. 10 October 2007. Archived from the original on 12 October 2007. Retrieved 10 October 2007.
37. "Wales U21 5–1 Luxembourg U21". BBC Sport. 31 March 2009. Retrieved 5 April 2009.
38. "King of Wales". Leicester City F.C. 22 May 2009. Archived from the original on 24 May 2009. Retrieved 22 May 2009.
39. "Wales v Estonia – Nationwide International Match". The Football Association of Wales. 22 May 2009. Archived from the original on 27 May 2009. Retrieved 22 May 2009.
40. "Uncapped trio not ready – Toshack". BBC Sport. 22 May 2009. Retrieved 5 February 2010.
41. "Wales 1–0 Estonia". BBC Sport. 29 May 2009. Archived from the original on 18 May 2009. Retrieved 30 May 2009.
42. Dulin, David (11 August 2010). "Wales 5–1 Luxembourg". BBC Sport. Retrieved 4 March 2016.
43. "Wales 2–1 Cyprus". BBC Sport. 13 October 2014. Retrieved 14 October 2014.
44. "Wales: Sent-off Andy King not to blame, says Chris Coleman". BBC Sport. 13 October 2014. Retrieved 14 October 2014.
45. "Games played by Andy King in 2008/2009". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 13 April 2014.
46. "Games played by Andy King in 2009/2010". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 13 April 2014.
47. "Games played by Andy King in 2010/2011". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 13 April 2014.
48. "Games played by Andy King in 2011/2012". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 13 April 2014.
49. "Games played by Andy King in 2012/2013". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 13 April 2014.
50. "Games played by Andy King in 2013/2014". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 26 December 2015.
51. "Games played by Andy King in 2014/2015". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 25 May 2015.
52. "Games played by Andy King in 2015/2016". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 4 March 2016.
53. "King, Andy". National Football Teams. Retrieved 26 December 2015.
54. Pope, Bruce (16 November 2013). "Wales 1-1 Finland". BBC Sport. Retrieved 4 March 2016.
55. "A. King". Soccerway. Perform Group. Retrieved 21 April 2016.
56. "Andy King Signs New Leicester City Deal". Leicester City. Retrieved 24 April 2015.

External links

• Andy King profile at Leicester City F.C.
• Andy King career statistics at Soccerbase