Daniel Edwin Gleeson (born 17 February 1985) is an English former professional

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 ...

who played as a

right back In the sport of association football, a defender is an Glossary of association football terms#O, outfield player whose primary role is to stop attacks during the game and prevent the opposition from scoring. Defenders fall into four main categ ...

Career

Born in

Cambridge Cambridge ( ) is a List of cities in the United Kingdom, city and non-metropolitan district in the county of Cambridgeshire, England. It is the county town of Cambridgeshire and is located on the River Cam, north of London. As of the 2021 Unit ...

Cambridgeshire Cambridgeshire (abbreviated Cambs.) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the East of England and East Anglia. It is bordered by Lincolnshire to the north, Norfolk to the north-east, Suffolk to the east, Essex and Hertfor ...

, Gleeson joined

Cambridge United Cambridge United Football Club is a professional association football club based in the city of Cambridge, England. They currently compete in EFL League Two, the fourth tier of the English football league system. Nicknamed the U’s, the club h ...

as a trainee in 2001 and his debut on 1 November 2003, in

Division Three The Football League Third Division was the third tier of the English football league system in 1920–21 and again from 1958 until 1992. When the FA Premier League was formed, the Third Division become the fourth tier of English football. In 2 ...

against

Kidderminster Harriers Kidderminster Harriers Football Club are a professional association football club based in Kidderminster, Worcestershire, England. The team competes in the National League North, the sixth level of the English football league system. Formed in ...

. He made a total of 51 Football League and Conference appearances for Cambridge before signing for

Notts County Notts County Football Club is a professional association football, football club in Nottingham, England, which competes in EFL League Two, the fourth tier of Football in England, English football, following promotion and relegation, promotion ...

in July 2006. He rejoined Cambridge on loan in March 2007, where he has been an established player for the

Conference National The National League, officially known as Vanarama National League for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in England. The National League is the first division of the National League (English football), National Le ...

side. The deal was made permanent in the summer. Gleeson scored his first senior goal in the 7–0 win against Weymouth in March 2007. Following a great start to the 2007–08 season, he was rewarded by his first

England National Game XI The England national football C team (previously known as the England National Game XI and the England Semi-Pro national team) are the football teams that represent England at non-League level. Formed in 1979 as the England Non-League team, it f ...

(England 'C') cap in November and signed a new deal to 2010. On 19 May 2010 Gleeson joined Cambridge's Conference rivals

Luton Town Luton Town Football Club is a professional association football, football club from Luton, Bedfordshire, England. The club currently competes in EFL League One, the third level of the English football league system. Nicknamed "The Hatters", L ...

on a free transfer, signing a two-year contract. He was a regular in the side during the

2010–11 1 (one, unit, unity) is a number, numeral, and glyph. It is the first and smallest positive integer of the infinite sequence of natural numbers. This fundamental property has led to its unique uses in other fields, ranging from science to sp ...

season, also playing in Luton's play-off final defeat to

AFC Wimbledon AFC Wimbledon is an English professional association football club based in Wimbledon, London, Wimbledon, London Borough of Merton, London. The team competes in , the third tier of the English football league system. The club was founded in ...

. Gleeson played far fewer games the next season due to a combination of injury and being kept out of the team by

Curtis Osano Curtis Osano (born 8 March 1987) is a Kenyan footballer who plays as a defender, most recently for Farnborough. Career Early years Born in Nakuru, Kenya, Osano moved to England at the age nine when his father joined the British Army. However, ...

. On 30 May 2012, Luton manager

Paul Buckle Paul John Buckle (born 16 December 1970) is an English football manager and former player. He has previously been the interim head coach of San Diego Wave FC of the National Women's Soccer League (NWSL), the manager of Torquay United, Bristol ...

did not offer Gleeson a new contract, and he subsequently left the club. On 2 July 2012, Gleeson signed for Lowestoft Town.

Personal life

He was born just minutes from the Abbey and watched

with his family before joining the club as a scholar.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Gleeson, Dan 1985 births Living people English men's footballers England men's semi-pro international footballers Cambridge United F.C. players Welling United F.C. players Notts County F.C. players Luton Town F.C. players Lowestoft Town F.C. players Cambridge City F.C. players St Neots Town F.C. players Histon F.C. players English Football League players National League (English football) players Men's association football defenders Footballers from Cambridge Cambridge City F.C. managers St Neots Town F.C. managers Godmanchester Rovers F.C. managers 21st-century English sportsmen