Leon Townley
| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Leon Townley | ||
| Date of birth | 16 February 1976 | ||
| Place of birth | Loughton, England | ||
| Height | 1.88 m (6 ft 2 in) | ||
| Playing position | Defender | ||
| Youth career | |||
| 1992–1997 | Tottenham Hotspur | ||
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
| 1997–1999 | Brentford | 16 | (2) |
| 1999 | → Slough Town (loan) | 7 | (2) |
| 1999–2001 | Slough Town | 58 | (1) |
| 2001–2002 | Aldershot Town | 43 | (1) |
| 2002 | St Albans City | 16 | (0) |
| 2002 | → Windsor & Eton (loan) | 0 | (0) |
| 2002–2004 | Windsor & Eton | 3 | (0) |
| 2004–2005 | Boreham Wood | 2 | (1) |
| 2005 | Hitchin Town | 6 | (0) |
| Teams managed | |||
| 2008–2009 | Debden Sports (reserves) | ||
| * Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only. |
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Leon Townley (born 16 February 1976) is an English retired professional football defender. He is best remembered for his spell with Brentford in the Football League between 1997 and 1999. After his release, he dropped into non-league football and retired from senior football in 2005.
Growing up in Loughton, Essex, England, Townley began his career as a trainee at Premier League side Tottenham Hotspur in 1992. He signed professional terms at the age of 18 in 1994. Townley received his maiden call into the first team for Spurs' 1995 Intertoto Cup campaign, though he failed to make an appearance and was an unused substitute for an infamous 8–0 defeat to Cologne. Townley left in 1997 after failing to break into the first team.
Townley signed for Division Two side Brentford on 18 September 1997 in a £25,000 deal (rising to £55,000 on appearances), signing a three-year contract and linking up with former Spurs teammates Kevin Dearden, Ijah Anderson, Simon Wormull and Simon Spencer. Manager Eddie May commented "he's big, strong and quick for a defender. He tries to play football and doesn't waste the ball, but he is also a big boy and has a presence in the penalty box". Townley made his debut the following day with a starting appearance in a 1–1 home league draw with Wycombe Wanderers. After the match, he commented that "it was more physical than the reserves. I got a bad whack on the hip, but fortunately I could carry on". He scored his first Brentford goals in a 3–1 win over Blackpool on 13 December, bagging the winner after two Blackpool players were sent off on the hour mark and scoring again in the 78th minute. He scored in his first appearance in the Football League Trophy, grabbing an injury time consolation in a 2–1 second round defeat to Luton Town on 13 January 1998. He made only two more appearances that season and was unable to help prevent Brentford's relegation to Division Three. Townley made 19 appearances during the 1997–98 season and scored three goals. New manager Ron Noades elected to transfer-list Townley and he failed to make a single appearance during the 1998–99 Division Three title-winning season, instead appearing for the reserve team. Townley left the club in September 1999 after his contract was cancelled by mutual consent.
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