Ken Leek

Who was Ken Leek?

Kenneth 'Ken' Leek was a Welsh footballer, who played as a centre forward or inside forward for several different clubs and for the Wales national side in a professional career which spanned from 1952 until 1968. He scored 145 goals in the Football League from 396 appearances with five clubs. Internationally he won 13 caps and scored five goals, and was a member of the Welsh squad for the 1958 FIFA World Cup in Sweden although he did not play during the tournament.

Leek started his career with Northampton Town aged 17 despite only playing football for three years. After six years, he earned a move to First Division Leicester City. He had three seasons at Leicester, and scored in every round of the FA Cup en route to the 1961 final. He was dropped from the final and soon moved on to Newcastle United. His stay with Newcastle was brief and he signed for Birmingham City before the end of the year, having had a loan spell in Canada with Montreal Concordia. He played more than 100 games with Birmingham, scoring nearly a goal every other game including two in the 1963 League Cup triumph against rivals Aston Villa.