Joe Leesley
Personal information
Full name Joe Sydney Leesley[1]
Date of birth (1994-03-29) 29 March 1994 (age 29)
Place of birth Sheffield, England
Height 6 ft 0 in (1.82 m)[2]
Position(s) Winger
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2011–2012 Winterton Rangers
2012–2015 Matlock Town
2015–2016 Alfreton Town 49 (2)
2016–2022 Harrogate Town 122 (22)
2019–2020 → Stockport County (loan) 10 (0)
2020 → Stevenage (loan) 8 (0)
2020–2021 → Boston United (loan) 9 (3)
2021–2022 → Boston United (loan) 34 (3)
2022 Boston United 10 (0)
2022 → Darlington (loan) 7 (1)
2022–2024 Kidderminster Harriers 27 (2)
International career
2016 England C 1 (0)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 19:31, 14 February 2024 (UTC)

Joe Sydney Leesley (born 29 March 1994) is an English professional footballer who plays as a winger.

He previously played in the Football League for Stevenage and has played for England C, the team that represents the country at non-league level.

Career

Born in Sheffield, South Yorkshire, Leesley spent his early career with Winterton Rangers,[3] Matlock Town, Alfreton Town, Harrogate Town and Stockport County,[2] moving on loan to Stevenage on 6 January 2020.[4] He made his debut two days later in the EFL Trophy.[5] In November 2020 he moved on loan to Boston United.[6][7] In June 2021, after Leesley agreed a season loan to Boston United, Harrogate manager Simon Weaver said he would be unlikely to play for his parent club again.[8]

On 1 August 2022, Leesley signed for Boston United on a permanent deal having left Harrogate Town.[9] In October, he joined league rivals Darlington on loan for a month.[10] After an impressive seven-match spell during which he demonstrated versatility and leadership, both he and Darlington wanted to extend the loan, but Boston would only allow him to leave for a fee, which put him out of their reach.[11] Leesley signed for another National North club, Kidderminster Harriers, on 18 November 2022, on a contract to run until the end of the 2023–24 season.[12] He left the club in February 2024.[13]

Career statistics

As of match played 10 February 2024
Appearances and goals by club, season and competition
Season Club League FA Cup EFL Cup Other Total
Division Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals
Alfreton Town 2014–15[14] Conference Premier 11 0 0 0 — 0 0 11 0
2015–16[2][15] National League North 38 2 2 0 — 1[a] 0 41 2
Total 49 2 2 0 — 1 0 52 2
Harrogate Town 2016–17[2][16] National League North 42 5 4 2 — 4[a] 2 50 9
2017–18[2][17] National League North 39 14 4 1 — 8[b] 7 51 22
2018–19[2] National League 35 2 2 0 — 3[c] 0 40 2
2019–20[2] National League 6 1 0 0 — 0 0 6 1
2020–21[18] League Two 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Total 122 22 10 3 0 0 15 9 147 34
Stockport County (loan) 2019–20[2] National League 10 0 1 0 — 0 0 11 0
Stevenage (loan) 2019–20[5] League Two 8 0 0 0 0 0 2[d] 0 10 0
Boston United (loan) 2020–21[2] National League North 9 3 0 0 — 3[a] 1 12 4
2021–22[2][19] National League North 34 3 3 2 — 2[a] 0 39 5
Boston United 2022–23[2][20] National League North 10 0 3 0 — 0 0 13 0
Total 53 6 6 2 — 5 1 64 9
Darlington (loan) 2022–23[2] National League North 7 1 0 0 — 0 0 7 1
Kidderminster Harriers 2022–23[2] National League North 13 1 — — 5[e] 0 18 1
2023–24[2] National League 14 1 0 0 — 0 0 14 1
Total 27 2 0 0 — 5 0 32 2
Career total 276 33 19 5 0 0 28 10 323 48
  1. ^ a b c d Appearance(s) in FA Trophy
  2. ^ Six appearances and six goals in FA Trophy, two appearances and one goal in National League North play-offs
  3. ^ Two appearances in FA Trophy, one in National League play-offs
  4. ^ Appearances in EFL Trophy
  5. ^ Two appearances in FA Trophy, three in National League North play-offs

Honours

Harrogate Town

Kidderminster Harriers

References

  1. ^ "Notification of shirt numbers: Harrogate Town" (PDF). English Football League. 11 September 2020. p. 33. Retrieved 14 September 2020.
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n "J. Leesley". Soccerway. Perform Group. Retrieved 14 February 2024.
  3. ^ Watters, David (11 August 2012). "Gem is great prospect, says Atkins". Northern Premier League. Retrieved 22 October 2022.
  4. ^ "Joe Leesley: Stevenage bring in Harrogate Town winger on loan until end of the season". BBC Sport. 6 January 2020. Retrieved 22 October 2022.
  5. ^ a b "Games played by Joe Leesley in 2019/2020". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 28 March 2021.
  6. ^ "Boston United add double promotion winner Joe Leesley to squad". LincolnshireWorld. 10 November 2020. Retrieved 22 October 2022.
  7. ^ ""He knows what success looks like!" Boston United 'lucky' to land winger Joe Leesley". LincolnshireWorld. 19 November 2020. Retrieved 22 October 2022.
  8. ^ Howell, Rhys (23 June 2021). "Joe Leesley unlikely to play for Harrogate Town again after loan switch to Boston United is agreed". Harrogate Advertiser. Retrieved 22 October 2022.
  9. ^ Singleton, Craig (1 August 2022). "United clinch Leesley signature". Boston United F.C. Retrieved 22 October 2022.
  10. ^ "Quakers sign Joe Leesley on loan". Darlington F.C. 21 October 2022. Retrieved 21 October 2022.
  11. ^ "Darlington lose out on loan ace Joe Leesley to Kidderminster". The Northern Echo. Darlington. 18 November 2022. Retrieved 24 November 2022.
  12. ^ Paddock, Matty (18 November 2022). "Joe Leesley joins Harriers". Kidderminster Harriers F.C. Retrieved 24 November 2022.
  13. ^ "Joe Leesley departs". Official Website of the Harriers - Kidderminster Harriers FC. 14 February 2024.
  14. ^ "The squad – 2014/15 apps/goals". Alfreton Town F.C. Archived from the original on 23 May 2016.
  15. ^ For FA Cup 2nd and 3rd qualifying rounds: match reports linked from "Fixtures: 2015/2016". Alfreton Town F.C. Archived from the original on 18 August 2016.
    For FA Trophy: "Alfreton Town knocked out of FA Trophy at first hurdle after Nuneaton Town defeat". Derbyshire Times. 29 November 2015. Retrieved 21 October 2022.
  16. ^ For FA Cup 2nd and 3rd qualifying rounds: match reports linked from "Fixtures & results". Harrogate Town A.F.C. Archived from the original on 24 June 2017.
    For FA Trophy 3rd qualifying round: match reports linked from "Results archive: 2016/17". Salford City F.C. Archived from the original on 21 October 2022. Retrieved 21 October 2022.
  17. ^ For FA Cup 2nd and 3rd qualifying rounds and FA Trophy 3rd qualifying round: match reports linked from "Results". Harrogate Town A.F.C. Archived from the original on 21 March 2018.
  18. ^ "Games played by Joe Leesley in 2020/2021". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 28 March 2021.
  19. ^ For FA Cup 2nd and 3rd qualifying rounds: "First team: Joe Leesley: 2021/2022". Boston United F.C. Retrieved 21 October 2022.
  20. ^ For FA Cup 2nd and 3rd qualifying rounds: "First team: Joe Leesley: 2022/2023". Boston United F.C. Retrieved 22 October 2022.
  21. ^ Freeman, Jay (2 August 2020). "Harrogate Town 3–1 Notts County". BBC Sport. Retrieved 2 August 2020.
  22. ^ "Recap: Harriers promoted to National League". Kidderminster Harriers F.C. 16 May 2023. Retrieved 20 August 2023.
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