Leon King
{{short description|Scottish footballer}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=May 2021}}
{{Infobox football biography
| name = Leon King
| image = Leon King 2022.jpg
| image_size =
| alt =
| caption = Leon King in action for Rangers 2022
| full_name = Leon Thomson King
| birth_date = {{Birth date and age|2004|January|14|df=y}}
| birth_place = Barrhead, Scotland
| height = 1.88 m
| position = Defender
| currentclub = Rangers
| clubnumber = 38
| youthyears1 =
| youthclubs1 = Rangers
| years1 = 2020–
| clubs1 = Rangers
| caps1 = 27
| goals1 = 0
| years2 = 2025
| clubs2 = → Queen's Park (loan)
| caps2 = 8
| goals2 = 0
| totalcaps =
| totalgoals =
| nationalyears1 = 2018
| nationalteam1 = Scotland U16
| nationalcaps1 = 2
| nationalgoals1 = 0
| nationalyears2 = 2019
| nationalteam2 = Scotland U17
| nationalcaps2 = 4
| nationalgoals2 = 0
| nationalyears3 = 2022–
| nationalteam3 = Scotland U21
| nationalcaps3 = 12
| nationalgoals3 = 0
| medaltemplates =
| club-update = 1 June 2025
| nationalteam-update = 25 May 2025
}}
Leon Thomson King (born 14 January 2004) is a Scottish professional footballer who plays as a defender for Scottish Premiership club Rangers.{{Soccerway|id=leon-thomson-king/602515|accessdate=}}
Club career
King joined Rangers in his early years,{{Cite web|date=10 March 2020|title=Introducing... Leon King|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W6G7IBkYd7M|access-date=3 May 2021|website=Rangers F.C.|publisher=Youtube}} soon appearing to be one of the club's brightest prospects.{{Cite web|last=Campbell|first=Jordan|date=Nov 9, 2019|title=Chelsea and Liverpool among those looking at Rangers' 15-year-old defender King|url=https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/1285129/2019/11/09/chelsea-and-liverpool-among-those-looking-rangers-15-year-old-defender-king/|access-date=2021-05-23|website=The Athletic}}{{Cite web|last=Wright|first=Angus|date=9 November 2019|title=Rangers face fight to keep hold of 15-year-old defender as English and European giants circle|url=https://www.scotsman.com/sport/football/rangers/latest-rangers-news/rangers-face-fight-keep-hold-15-year-old-defender-english-and-european-giants-circle-1402839|access-date=2021-05-23|website=The Scotsman|language=en}} He made his Rangers Under-20s debut aged only 14 under the management of Graeme Murty in November 2018.{{Cite web|date=2018-11-26|title=Rangers Academy continues to go from strength to strength|url=https://www.rangersnews.uk/news/rangers-academy-continues-to-go-from-strength-to-strength/|access-date=2021-05-23|website=Rangers News|language=en-GB}}{{Cite web|date=27 November 2018|title=Rangers U20s 6-1 Partick Thistle U20s|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7ekWg_ah-Mg|access-date=3 May 2021|website=Rangers F.C.|publisher=Youtube}} At the end of the 2018–19 season, he was also part of the squad that won the Scottish Youth Cup against Celtic.{{cite web|date=25 April 2019|title=Rangers crowned Scottish Youth Cup winners|url=https://www.scottishfa.co.uk/news/rangers-crowned-scottish-youth-cup-winners/?rid=2112|access-date=23 May 2021|publisher=SFA}}
King made his Rangers debut on 29 November 2020 in a League Cup match against Falkirk.{{cite web|title=Falkirk 0–4 Rangers |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/55031996|website=BBC Sport|last=Elgott|first=Jordan |date=29 November 2020}} He made his Scottish Premiership debut for on 12 May 2021, replacing Joe Aribo in the 86th minute of a 3–0 away win against Livingston.{{Cite web|last=McDougall|first=Mark|date=2021-05-12|title=Livingston 0 Rangers 3 as Steven Gerrard's men edge closer to 100 point mark|url=https://www.glasgowlive.co.uk/sport/football/football-news/livingston-v-rangers-live-score-20581889|access-date=2021-05-12|website=Glasgow Live|language=en}}{{Cite news|last=Campbell|first=Andy|date=2021-05-12|title=Rangers win to stay unbeaten in league|language=en-GB|work=BBC Sport|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/56990121|access-date=2021-05-12}}{{Cite web|last=Black|first=James|date=2021-05-13|title=Rangers veteran delighted after landmark appearance for Ibrox prodigy in Livi win|url=https://www.hitc.com/en-gb/2021/05/13/rangers-mclaughlin-leon-king/|access-date=2021-05-23|website=HITC|language=en-GB}}
On 5 January 2022, King signed a contract extension until the summer of 2024 and was subsequently promoted to the first-team squad on a full time basis.{{ Cite news | url=https://www.rangers.co.uk/article/leon-king-signs-new-rangers-contract/61x8l6r15jXye1NvVNPIH5| work=Rangers.co.uk | publisher=Rangers Football Club| date=5 January 2022| title=LEON KING SIGNS NEW RANGERS CONTRACT }}
International career
Career statistics
{{Updated|match played 19 January 2025}}
| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center"
|+ Appearances and goals by club, season and competition | ||||||||||
| rowspan="2"|Club
!rowspan="2"|Season !colspan="3"|League !colspan="2"|National cup !colspan="2"|League cup !colspan="2"|Other !colspan="2"|Total | ||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Division | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals |
| rowspan=6|Rangers
|2020–21{{soccerbase season|135087|2020|accessdate=14 August 2022}} |rowspan=5|Scottish Premiership |1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | |
| 2021–22{{soccerbase season|135087|2021|accessdate=14 August 2022}}
|4 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 6 | 0 | |
| 2022–23{{soccerbase season|135087|2022|accessdate=14 August 2022}}
|15 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 6{{efn|Appearances in UEFA Champions League}} | 0 | 23 | 0 | |
| 2023–24{{soccerbase season|135087|2023|accessdate=14 August 2023}}
|5 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 6 | 0 | |
| 2024–25
|2 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 | |
| colspan=2|Total
!27||0||4||0||3||0||6||0||41||0 | ||||||||||
| Rangers B
|2021–22{{soccerbase season|123419|2021|accessdate=14 August 2021}} |colspan=3|— | colspan=2|— | colspan=2|— | 2{{efn|Appearances in Scottish Challenge Cup}} | 0 | 2 | 0 | ||||
| Rangers B
|2022–23{{soccerbase season|123419|2022|accessdate=14 August 2022}} |colspan=3|— | colspan=2|— | colspan=2|— | 1{{efn|Appearance in Scottish Challenge Cup}} | 0 | 1 | 0 | ||||
| colspan="3"|Career total
!27 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 9 | 0 | 43 | 0 |
{{notelist}}
Honours
Rangers
- Scottish Premiership: 2020–21{{cite news |title=Rangers top-flight champions for first time since 2011 after Celtic drop points |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/56306235|work=BBC Sport|date=7 March 2021|access-date=7 March 2021}}
- Scottish Cup: 2021–22{{cite news |date=21 May 2022 |title=Rangers 2-0 Hearts |work=BBC Sport |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/61447048 |access-date=21 May 2022}}
- Scottish League Cup: 2023–24{{cite news |title=Rangers 1-0 Aberdeen|publisher=BBC | work=BBC Sport |date=17 December 2023| url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/67684521 |first=Nick |last=McPheat}}
- UEFA Europa League runner-up: 2021–22{{cite news |title=Eintracht Frankfurt 1-1 Rangers |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/61446268|work=BBC Sport|date=18 May 2022|access-date=18 May 2022}}
References
{{reflist}}
External links
- {{Soccerway|leon-thomson-king/602515}}
- {{soccerbase|135087|name=Leon King}}
{{Rangers F.C. squad}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:King, Leon}}
Category:Scottish men's footballers
Category:Men's association football defenders
Category:Scotland men's youth international footballers
Category:Scottish Professional Football League players
Category:Footballers from Glasgow
Category:Lowland Football League players
Category:Scotland men's under-21 international footballers
Category:Footballers from Barrhead
Category:21st-century Scottish sportsmen
{{Scotland-footy-defender-2000s-stub}}