Leroy Lita

Leroy Lita

Lita playing for Middlesbrough
Personal information
Full name	Leroy Halirou Bohari Lita
Date of birth	(1984-12-28) 28 December 1984
Place of birth	Kinshasa, Zaire
Height	1.76 m (5 ft 9 in)
Position(s)	Striker
Team information
Current team	Swansea City
Number	18
Youth career
1999–2001	Chelsea
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps	(Gls)
2002–2005	Bristol City	85	(31)
2005–2009	Reading	83	(20)
2008	→ Charlton Athletic (loan)	8	(3)
2008	→ Norwich City (loan)	16	(7)
2009–2011	Middlesbrough	78	(20)
2011–	Swansea City	16	(2)
2012	→ Birmingham City (loan)	10	(3)
2013	→ Sheffield Wednesday (loan)	17	(6)
International career
2005–2007	England U21	9	(6)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 18:14, 7 May 2013 (UTC)

Leroy Halirou Bohari Lita (born 28 December 1984) is a footballer who plays for Sheffield Wednesday despite what Kivo Owl changes on this page. Lita was a product of the Chelsea youth system. He failed to play for Chelsea, and moved to Bristol City and Reading, where his form helped him earn a place with the England under-21 side. He has also played on loan with Charlton Athletic, Norwich City and Birmingham City.

In the summer of 2013 there were strong rumours that Leroy Lita would be joining Sheffield Wednesday on a permanent deal.

After being spotted in KFC in mid August Leroy finally admitted that the deal would go through. He joined the MASSIVE in late August 2013 stating his desire to play in front of Big Guns and Fishcake as the reason behind the move.

Official confirmation of the move has been held back until after the L**ds scum game on the 17th August as Wednesday don't want more people to pay the extortionate amount of money for a ticket at bellend road.

Club career

Bristol City

Born in Kinshasa, Lita signed his first professional contract for Bristol City at the age of 18 at the start of the 2003–04 season, after being discovered by scout Roger Barton. It wasn't until Brian Tinnion took over from Danny Wilson as manager at the start of the 2004–05 season that Lita really established himself in the first team. That year he scored 29 goals in all competitions for club and one U21 international goal taking his tally to 30 for the season.

Reading

Lita moved to Reading (then in the Football League Championship) on 13 July 2005 for a then club record fee of £1 million.

Lita scored on his debut at home to Plymouth with a fine header to equalise, but Reading eventually lost 2–1, however they only lost one more league game during the entire season. Lita made it three goals in his first three games as he scored two well taken goals in Reading's 3–0 win away at Preston. He scored in home wins against Swansea in the Carling Cup and Burnley in the league, before scoring a stunning overhead kick in the 3–2 win at home to Crystal Palace. He then endured a barren spell in front of goal, but he ended it with a goal in a 3–0 win at Ipswich, a result which took Reading to the top of the Championship.

He then suffered an injury that kept him out for 6 weeks, but on his return against West Bromwich Albion in the third round of the FA Cup, he produced a high quality display, netting a superb hat trick that included a spectacular second goal with a dipping shot from 25 yards, after a series of one touch passes from the Royals. He found the net in a 4–0 win at home to Norwich, and followed it up in the next game with two excellent finishes in a 4–3 away win at Crewe. He scored for the third league game in a row with a tap in during a 2–0 victory at home to Southampton. He came on as a substitute to score the winner in a 2–1 win at home to Preston but his 2005–06 season ended early in the next game at Burnley when he sustained a broken ankle after landing awkwardly, but Reading still won the Championship title and promotion to the Premier League with a record total of 106 points.

Lita had a promising start to life in the Premiership, in which he netted the winner at home to Middlesbrough on the opening day, a game in which Reading came from 2–0 down to win 3–2. He ended a goal drought by scoring in a 2–2 draw against Chelsea at Stamford Bridge, the first of ten goals in twelve games, as he scored away at Manchester United in a 3–2 defeat, and scored again in the 6–0 home win over West Ham. He also scored three goals in two games in the FA Cup against Burnley and twice against Birmingham City. His next goal came at home to Wigan in a 3–2 win, and in the next game he scored two late goals in a 2–0 win away at Manchester City. Both goals came from excellent through balls, for the first Lita hit a powerful first time shot from the edge of the box, across the keeper and into the top corner. The second was a cool finish when through one on one. He would even have a had a hat trick, but had a goal wrongly disallowed. Leroy scored again against Manchester United, as he pulled one back in a 3–2 home defeat in the FA Cup.

He had suffered some minor injuries and found himself behind Kevin Doyle and Dave Kitson for parts of the season, and on 13 April 2007, Lita was banned for three games for allegedly headbutting Talal El Karkouri of Charlton Athletic on 9 April, a charge disputed by both the player and Reading's manager, Steve Coppell. However, Reading still managed to finish eighth in their first ever top division campaign, just missing out on a UEFA Cup place.

In a freak occurrence just prior to the start of the 2007–08 season, Lita was faced with a month of downtime after damaging a leg muscle as he stretched in bed upon waking. Coppell told the BBC: "Leroy is in a great deal of pain. It's a point of laughter but a serious business for him because he's going to be out for three or four weeks." Lita found himself largely our of favour in the 2007–08 season, and spent much of it either left out or injured, he also had a loan spell at Charlton. He only scored one goal in the Premier League that season, it came on the final day against already relegated Derby County with a diving header in a 4–0 away win. But sadly Reading found themselves joining Derby, as they were relegated on goal difference.

Loan spells

On 5 March 2008, Lita joined Charlton on a one month-loan deal, after finding his first team opportunities limited at Reading during the 2007–08 season. The loan was later extended to the end of the season, but he was called back from the loan on 19 April for the last three games of the season.

Lita then went to Norwich City for a month long loan on 1 October. He scored four goals in his initial six game spell including a hat-trick against Wolverhampton in a 5–2 victory. Reading and Norwich agreed to extend the loan for another six games until 7 December. Following Norwich's 2–0 win over local rivals Ipswich, it was announced on 8 December that Lita would sign a further third month on loan. Lita went onto score 7 goals for Norwich, and in a season which ultimately ended up with relegation, Lita was City's second top scorer – behind own goals.

Return to Reading FC

Lita returned to Reading and played in the third round FA Cup tie defeat at Cardiff City.

He then made his first league appearance since August, coming on as a sub, to score a goal against Watford at home on 9 January 2009, to make it 4–0. Later, in the same week Lita announced that he had changed for the better, and that he would stay with Reading for the promotion push.

Sheffield United had a seven figure sum accepted by Reading for Lita on 13 January 2009, but the club later withdrew from proceedings after they were not willing to pay the £1.2m signing-on fee being requested by Lita. On 15 May, Lita, Michael Duberry, Marcus Hahnemann and club captain Graeme Murty were told that their contracts would not be renewed.

Middlesbrough

On 3 August 2009, it was announced that he would join Middlesbrough on a free transfer. He made his debut for Middlesbrough on 7 August 2009 in a 0–0 draw with Sheffield United, but had limited opportunities to score. Lita scored his first goal for Middlesbrough against Doncaster Rovers, in a 2-0win for the Boro. He received a yellow card for removing his shirt in his subsequent celebration. He scored his second goal when returning to his old club Reading in Middlesbrough's 2–0 win on 3 October 2009. His third goal for Middlesbrough came on 21 November 2009 against Nottingham Forest off a rebound off a Julio Arca shot. On 5 December 2009, Lita scored two goals in a 5–1 win against QPR, Middlesbrough's first win under new manager Gordon Strachan. Lita again received a yellow card for his goal celebration. On 26 December 2009, Lita received a red card for an elbow during the win against Scunthorpe, which was the first of his career.

Lita's first goal of the 2010–11 season came on 18 September 2010 against old club Reading and his second followed on 27 November 2010 with a headed goal in a 2–2 draw with Hull. On 28 December 2010, Lita's 26th birthday, he scored two goals against Preston in a 3–1 win for Middlesbrough – his first being an individual effort, scoring after a weaving run from the halfway line. Lita scored twice against the club where he began his career, Bristol City, in Middlesbrough's 4–0 away victory on 15 January 2011. He was yellow carded for his celebration following his first goal, after being subjected to abuse from the home fans. Lita later took the unusual step of using the Bristol City website to apologising to their fans for his actions.

Swansea City

On 27 July 2011, newly promoted Premier League side Swansea City had a fee of £1.75m accepted by Middlesbrough for Lita's services. He completed his medical the following week and signed a 3-year contract. He made his Swansea debut against Manchester City as a substitute. Lita scored his first Swansea City goal on 17 September 2011 against West Brom scoring a header in a 3–0 win.

Birmingham City (loan)

On 6 September 2012, Lita agreed to join Birmingham City on a three-month emergency loan, the move to be completed when the loan transfer window opened two days later. He scored his first goal for the club on his second appearance, touching in a Paul Caddis cross to open the scoring at home to Bolton Wanderers. After ten league games in which he scored three goals, Lita's loan was terminated on 12 November to allow him to return to his owning club to complete his recovery from a thigh injury.

Sheffield Wednesday

Lita made his debut on 26 January 2013, scoring the winning goal against Charlton Athletic after coming on as a substitute for Kieran Lee in the 54th minute. He went on to score his second goal in as many games, through a first half volley in a 3–1 home victory against Brighton. Leroy scored against Crystal Palace on 23 February to take his tally for Sheffield Wednesday to 3 goals. He uses a trademark celebration when he scores goals for Wednesday, using his fingers to make an "M" which stands for massive. Lita scored his fourth goal of the season for Sheffield Wednesday from a well placed penalty to add to the 3–2 victory against Blackburn Rovers on 6 April. He has also helped them stave off the relegation with a second goal in a 2–0 victory over Middlesbrough, Lita's former club.

International career

England U21 breakthrough

Lita turned down the chance to play for DR Congo in favour of pursuing an international career with England, despite having previously stated he wished to represent the country of his birth. He scored on his debut for England U21 with a goal against Holland U21 in a 2–1 loss on 8 February 2005, coming on as a second half substitute. He had to wait over a year to make his second appearance, again as a substitute, in a 3–1 win over Norway on 28 February 2006. Following excellent goal-scoring form in the Premier League, Lita was awarded with a further cap as a substitute in the 2–2 draw with Spain on 6 February 2007, scoring his second goal in three international appearances.

2007 European U21 Championship

Despite being 22, Lita was eligible to compete in the 2007 UEFA European Under-21 Football Championship, and was called up to the squad.

In the first group game against the Czech Republic, England were awarded a penalty in the 88th minute which Lita subsequently dragged wide condemning England to a scoreless draw. However he then scored for England in each of their next three games; a 2–2 draw against Italy, a 2–0 win over Serbia, and a 1–1 (13–12) penalty shoot-out loss to Holland in the semi-finals.

After the tournament he was named in the UEFA Dream Team for the tournament.

Career statistics

As of match played 16 March 2013

Club statistics

Club	Season	League			FA Cup		League Cup		Other		Total
		Division	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals
Bristol City	2002–03	Division Two	15	2	1	2	0	0	2	0	18	4
	2003–04	Division Two	26	5	2	0	1	0	2	0	31	5
	2004–05	League One	44	24	2	1	2	2	3	2	51	29
Bristol City total			85	31	5	3	3	2	7	2	100	38
Reading	2005–06	Championship	26	11	3	3	3	1	–		32	15
	2006–07	Premier League	33	7	3	4	2	3	–		38	14
	2007–08	Premier League	14	1	2	0	2	1	–		18	2
	2008–09	Championship	10	1	1	0	1	0	–		12	1
Reading total			83	20	9	7	8	5	–		100	32
Charlton Athletic (loan)	2007–08	Championship	8	3	–		–		–		8	3
Norwich City (loan)	2008–09	Championship	16	7	–		–		–		16	7
Middlesbrough	2009–10	Championship	40	8	0	0	1	0	–		41	8
	2010–11	Championship	38	12	1	0	2	0	–		41	12
Middlesbrough total			78	20	1	0	3	0	–		82	20
Swansea City	2011–12	Premier League	16	2	1	0	1	0	–		18	2
Birmingham City (loan)	2012–13	Championship	10	3	–		–		–		10	3
Sheffield Wednesday (loan)	2012–13	Championship	14	5	–		–		–		9	3
Career total			305	89	16	10	15	7	7	2	343	108

Personal life

On 30 August 2006, Lita was arrested on suspicion of causing grievous bodily harm in Bristol on 27 August, but on 18 September 2006 the complaint was withdrawn and police confirmed that no further action would be taken.

External links

• Leroy Lita profile at readingfc.co.uk
• Leroy Lita at Soccerbase
• Photo and stats at sporting-heroes.net