Sean St Ledger

Sean St Ledger

Sean St Ledger during a "welcome ceremony" for the Irish squad in Sopot before UEFA Euro 2012
Personal information
Full name	Sean Patrick St Ledger-Hall
Date of birth	(1984-12-28) 28 December 1984
Place of birth	Solihull, England
Height	1.83 m (6 ft 0 in)
Position(s)	Defender
Team information
Current team	Leicester City
Number	12
Youth career
2001–2002	Peterborough United
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps	(Gls)
2002–2006	Peterborough United	79	(1)
2004	→ Stevenage Borough (loan)	0	(0)
2006–2011	Preston North End	185	(10)
2009	→ Middlesbrough (loan)	15	(2)
2011–	Leicester City	35	(0)
2013	→ Millwall (loan)	6	(0)
International career‡
2009–	Republic of Ireland	36	(3)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 4 May 2013 (UTC) ‡ National team caps and goals, correct as of 12 June 2013 (UTC)

Sean Patrick St Ledger-Hall (born 28 December 1984) is a footballer who plays as a defender for Leicester City and the Republic of Ireland national team.

He was part of the team that lost controversially to France in the play-offs for the 2010 FIFA World Cup, later playing and scoring in UEFA Euro 2012. His equaliser against Croatia at Stadion Miejski in Poznań on 10 June 2012 introduced St Ledger into an elite club of Irish goalscorers at the UEFA European Football Championship.

St Ledger's career started with Peterborough United. He had stints at Preston North End and a loan spell with Middlesbrough before his move to Leicester City in 2011.

Club career

Peterborough United

St Ledger's career started in the youth system at Peterborough United in 2001, before joining the first team in 2002, playing mostly as a central defender, though occasionally as a full back or in midfield where he earned the nickname "Seb St Ledger". He joined Football Conference club Stevenage Borough on loan in January 2004. He featured in Sky's series Big Ron Manager, a behind the scenes look at Peterborough United's struggle to enter the Football League Two play-offs at the end of the 2005–06 season.

Preston North End

After a trial with Birmingham City on Barry Fry's recommendation, St Ledger signed a three-year contract with Preston North End in July 2006 for a fee of £225,000. On 5 August 2006, St Ledger made his debut for Preston in a 0–0 draw with Sheffield Wednesday at centre half alongside fellow new signing Liam Chilvers. On 9 April 2007, St Ledger scored his first goal for Preston in a 3–2 loss against Southend United. In his first season at Deepdale, St Ledger made 42 appearances whilst scoring one goal as Preston, who had been top of the league mid-season, failed to retain a playoff berth come May.

St Ledger began the 2007–08 season as first choice centre half alongside Youl Mawéné, scoring his second goal for Preston in a 1–0 win over Coventry City on 9 February 2008. The following week, St Ledger received the first red card of his Preston career in a 2–1 defeat at Colchester United, St Ledger taking out United's Karl Duguid as he went through on goal. St Ledger made 37 appearances for Preston during 2007/08 as the Lilywhites were guided clear of the relegation thanks to a late upturn in results under new manager Alan Irvine.

St Ledger's third and probably most impressive season came in 2008/09 with St Ledger scoring six goals against Watford, Barnsley, Derby, Wolves, QPR and Sheffield Wednesday as the Lancashire club reached the League One Playoff Semi-finals. It was St Ledger's late winner in a 2–1 victory over QPR that clinched the final playoff spot on the last day of the season, heading in a long throw by Jon Parkin. St Ledger made 47 appearances in 2008/09 as well as playing in both legs of the playoff semi final against Sheffield United which Preston lost 1–2 on aggregate.

St Ledger started 2009/10 as impressively as he had done the previous season but after only seven appearances for Preston, St Ledger joined Middlesbrough on loan with a view to a £4 million permanent move come the January transfer window. Rumours at the time told of how club chairman Derek Shaw informed St Ledger on the Preston team coach travelling to that evening's fixture at Scunthorpe that he had to join 'Boro as cash-strapped Preston needed the transfer money. St Ledger left his team mates en route to Lincolnshire and headed for Teesside. St Ledger went on to make 22 appearances for Preston in what became a nightmare season as he saw mentor Alan Irvine sacked one game after his return from Middlesbrough. The centre half scored two further goals against Plymouth and West Brom and Preston hung on to Championship status under Irvine's replacement Darren Ferguson.

St Ledger's final season at Deepdale came in 2010–11 and was blighted by injury and loss of form as Preston struggled under Ferguson. Despite Ferguson's dismissal in December 2010 and an eventual improvement in results under successor Phil Brown, St Ledger could not help Preston being relegated to League One. St Ledger played his final game for Preston on 19 March 2011 at home to Coventry before injury finished his season early. In his fifth and final season, St Ledger played 32 times from Preston, scoring his final goal for the club during the campaign at Watford in a 2–2 draw. Considered too good for League One football and with Preston desperate for both money from transfers and from a drop in the wage bill St Ledger left Deepdale in the summer of 2011 to join Leicester City.

Middlesbrough (loan)

In September 2009, St Ledger joined Middlesbrough on an initial three-month loan deal with a view to a permanent transfer in the January transfer window, however after failing to settle in the north east, the move was not made permanent and St Ledger returned to Preston. He made his full debut for Boro in September 2009 against West Bromwich Albion. St Ledger scored his first goal for Middlesbrough against Coventry City in late September. The loan spell proved to be an unhappy move for St Ledger who saw manager Gareth Southgate sacked shortly after signing the defender. St Ledger quickly fell out with new manager Gordon Strachan and was told he was no longer part of the Scotman's plans. St Ledger returned to Preston after his loan deal at Middlesbrough expired, failing to sign the permanent deal originally agreed by the two clubs earlier in the season.

Leicester City

St Ledger playing for Leicester City in 2013

On 4 July 2011, St Ledger joined Leicester City on a three-year contract for an undisclosed fee. He made his debut on 17 August 2011 in a 2–1 loss to Bristol City. After a row with manager Nigel Pearson on being unhappy about being dropped for the Boxing Day fixture against Ipswich Town, St Ledger was told he would never play for the Midlands club again and was transfer listed. Leicester and Ipswich Town agreed a fee for the defender but Ipswich manager Paul Jewell said although everything was agreed an injury in training to Leicester defender Aleksander Tunchev put the deal on hold as St Ledger was needed for cover. After Sol Bamba also left for the 2012 Africa Cup of Nations the following week Leicester were forced to bring St Ledger back into the team because of lack of cover. St Ledger impressed on being brought back into the team, with Pearson saying he was "delighted with his performances," so much so that he was taken off the transfer list and his proposed transfer to Ipswich was cancelled. St Ledger then became a permanent fixture in Nigel Pearson's side. On 28 May St Ledger announced he had been told by Leicester City he was surplus to requirements and had been advised to look for a new club.

International career

Although born in England, St Ledger is eligible to play for the Republic of Ireland because his grandfather is from Carlow. He made his debut on 29th May, 2009 in a friendly against Nigeria in a friendly in Craven Cottage. St Ledger scored his first goal for Ireland in a 2–2 with Italy at Croke Park, Dublin, in a FIFA World Cup qualifier in October 2009. The goal gave Ireland a late lead against the World Champions and was almost St Ledger's "Ray Houghton" moment, guaranteeing him iconic status in only his sixth appearance, only for Alberto Gilardino to score an even later equaliser for the Italians.

On 12 October 2010, St Ledger scored his second goal for Ireland in a UEFA Euro 2012 qualifier against Slovakia which finished 1–1.

On 10 June 2012, he scored his third international goal against Croatia in Ireland's first group stage game at UEFA Euro 2012. His header was the equaliser to make the score 1–1 after Ireland had fallen behind in the first half, though they lost the game 3–1. It turned out to be the team's only goal of the competition, as they exited the group stage with three defeats from three games and nine goals conceded. On 11 June 2013, at Yankee Stadium Sean St Ledger thought that he had scored his fourth goal for Ireland but it was ruled out further replays show that Simon Cox was in a offside position when he kneed the ball to Ledger to put it in Spain won 2–0.

International goals

Goal	Date	Venue	Opponent	Score	Result	Competition
1.	10 October 2009	Croke Park, Dublin, Republic of Ireland	Italy	2–1	2–2	2010 FIFA World Cup qualification
2.	12 October 2010	Štadión pod Dubňom, Žilina, Slovakia	Slovakia	0–1	1–1	UEFA Euro 2012 qualification
3.	10 June 2012	Municipal Stadium, Poznań, Poland	Croatia	1–1	1–3	UEFA Euro 2012

Honours

International

• Nations Cup (1): 2011

Awards

• Preston North End Player of The Year (1): 2008

External links

• Sean St Ledger profile at Preston North End F.C.
• Sean St Ledger at Soccerbase
• St Ledger.html Sean St Ledger at National-Football-Teams.com