Carl Winston Leaburn (born 30 March 1969) is an English former

footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby lea ...

and co-commentator for

BBC London BBC London is the BBC English Region producing local radio, television, teletext and online services in London, Surrey and parts of the surrounding areas of the Home Counties. Its output includes the daily '' BBC London'' news bulletin and w ...

. As a player he was a striker who played for

Charlton Athletic Charlton Athletic Football Club is a professional association football club based in Charlton, south-east London, England. The team compete in the EFL Championship, the second level of the English football league system. Their home ground is ...

over eleven years where he scored 53 league goals in 322 games. Following promotion to the

Premier League The Premier League is a professional association football league in England and the highest level of the English football league system. Contested by 20 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation with the English Football Lea ...

in 1998 he joined fellow top tier side

Wimbledon Wimbledon most often refers to: * Wimbledon, London, a district of southwest London * Wimbledon Championships, the oldest tennis tournament in the world and one of the four Grand Slam championships Wimbledon may also refer to: Places London * W ...

where he remained for two seasons until the Dons were relegated. He had a brief spell with

Northampton Town Northampton Town Football Club is a professional association football club based in the town of Northampton, England. The team competes in EFL League One, League One, the third level of the English football league system. Founded in 1897, the c ...

and later with

Queens Park Rangers Queens Park Rangers Football Club, commonly abbreviated to QPR, is a professional association football club based in Shepherd's Bush, West London, England. The team currently compete in the EFL Championship, the second level of the English f ...

during the 2001–02 season before retiring in 2005 with non-league

Grays Athletic Grays Athletic Football Club is a football club based in Grays, Essex, England. They are currently members of the and play at Chadfields in nearby Tilbury. History The club was established as Grays Juniors in 1890, before merging with former ...

. He is a former

England U20 England national under-20 football team, also known as England Under-20s or England U20(s) or England Men's Elite Squad, represents England in association football at an under-20 age level and is controlled by the Football Association, the gov ...

international.

Career

Charlton Athletic

Born in nearby

Lewisham Lewisham ( ) is an area of southeast London, England, south of Charing Cross. It is the principal area of the London Borough of Lewisham, and was within the Historic counties of England, historic county of Kent until 1889. It is identified in ...

, Leaburn progressed through the youth set-up at

and made his debut in the late 1980s. He also played in the England Under-20s team under

Graham Taylor Graham Taylor (15 September 1944 – 12 January 2017) was an English football player, manager, pundit and chairman of Watford Football Club. He was the manager of the England national football team from 1990 to 1993, and also managed Lincoln ...

. A regular in Charlton's team for over a decade, he developed the reputation of a centre forward who was a target man. One highlight was scoring a goal against

Manchester United Manchester United Football Club, commonly referred to as Man United (often stylised as Man Utd) or simply United, is a professional association football, football club based in Old Trafford (area), Old Trafford, Greater Manchester, Engl ...

Old Trafford Old Trafford () is a football stadium in Old Trafford, Greater Manchester, England, and is the home of Manchester United. With a capacity of 74,197, it is the largest club football stadium (and second-largest football stadium overall after W ...

in the

FA Cup The Football Association Challenge Cup, more commonly known as the FA Cup, is an annual Single-elimination tournament, knockout association football, football competition in domestic Football in England, English football. First played during ...

in 1994. Leaburn became a cult figure with many fans with one popular chant being the repetition of his surname. However, he did manage double figures in seasons 1991–92 and 1993–94, during which Charlton were contenders for a place in the play-offs.

Clive Mendonca Clive Paul Mendonca (born 9 September 1968) is an English former professional footballer, who played as a forward between 1986 and 2002, notably for Grimsby Town and Charlton Athletic. Mendonca also played for Sheffield United, Doncaster Rovers ...

has claimed that Leaburn was the best strike partner he played with whilst at the club.

Wimbledon

In January 1998, Leaburn moved to

side

for a £300,000 fee. He made his debut as a substitute against

Liverpool Liverpool is a port City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. It is situated on the eastern side of the River Mersey, Mersey Estuary, near the Irish Sea, north-west of London. With a population ...

Anfield Anfield is a Association football, football stadium in the area of Anfield (suburb), Anfield, Liverpool, England, which has been the home of Liverpool F.C. since its formation in 1892. The stadium has a seating capacity of 61,276, making it the ...

on 10 January 1998. His first goals for his new club came when he scored twice away to

Crystal Palace Crystal Palace may refer to: Places Canada * Crystal Palace Complex (Dieppe), a former amusement park now a shopping complex in Dieppe, New Brunswick * Crystal Palace Barracks, London, Ontario * Crystal Palace (Montreal), an exhibition buildin ...

in a 3–0 win on 9 February 1998. This was perhaps the finest moment of his Wimbledon career as he had helped defeat rivals

in the "Landlords vs. Tenants" derby game at

Selhurst Park Selhurst Park is a football stadium in Selhurst, in the London Borough of Croydon, England, which is the home ground of Premier League club Crystal Palace. The stadium was designed by Archibald Leitch and opened in 1924. It has hosted interna ...

. He went on to score twice more for Wimbledon in the 1997–98 season with strikes against

Aston Villa Aston Villa Football Club (commonly referred to as simply Villa) is a professional football club based in Aston, Birmingham, England. The club, founded in 1874, compete in the Premier League, the top tier of English football. The team have p ...

and

Southampton Southampton is a port City status in the United Kingdom, city and unitary authority in Hampshire, England. It is located approximately southwest of London, west of Portsmouth, and southeast of Salisbury. Southampton had a population of 253, ...

. However the four goals he scored for Wimbledon that season would be the only goals he would score in the league for the South London club. Leaburn's only other goal for the club came in a League Cup tie with

Portsmouth Portsmouth ( ) is a port city status in the United Kingdom, city and unitary authority in Hampshire, England. Most of Portsmouth is located on Portsea Island, off the south coast of England in the Solent, making Portsmouth the only city in En ...

in September 1998. His major contribution to Wimbledon was more in working hard to create goals for teammates, rather than scoring himself. His record of four goals in 58 league games does not do justice to either his work-rate or his popularity with fans, who greatly valued his enthusiasm and indefatigability. Leaburn stayed on at the Dons following their relegation from the Premier League in 2000.

Later career

He was eventually sold to

on 31 December 2001 where he played only one game against Reading before being released. He then dropped into

non-League football Non-League football describes association football, football leagues played outside the top leagues of a country. Usually, it describes leagues which are not fully professional. The term is primarily used for football in England, where it is ...

with

where he scored nine times between December 2002 and May 2005 when he ended his football career.

Media career

After retiring, Leaburn completed a study for a BTEC Radio Broadcasting course. He worked for

as a match summariser and interviewer. He now works for

productions as a match analyst and occasionally as a security guard for the Canary Wharf estate. Leaburn also worked with Redstone.fm, a community radio station for Redhill,

Reigate Reigate ( ) is a town status in the United Kingdom, town in Surrey, England, around south of central London. The settlement is recorded in Domesday Book of 1086 as ''Cherchefelle'', and first appears with its modern name in the 1190s. The ea ...

and

Banstead Banstead is a town in the borough of Reigate and Banstead in Surrey, England. It is south of Sutton, London, Sutton, south-west of Croydon, north of Reigate, south-east of Kingston-upon-Thames, and south of Central London. On the North Dow ...

Personal life

Leaburn's son is current Charlton Athletic forward Miles Leaburn.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Leaburn, Carl 1969 births Living people English men's footballers Charlton Athletic F.C. players Northampton Town F.C. players Wimbledon F.C. players Queens Park Rangers F.C. players Grays Athletic F.C. players Premier League players Isthmian League players Men's association football forwards People from Lewisham Footballers from the London Borough of Lewisham