Tottenham: Great Night For Ledley King In Testimonial At The Lane

A great night was had by all at Ledley King’s testimonial match at White Hart Lane as his Guest XI defeated Spurs 6 – 3 with King starting off the proceedings with a penalty after 15 minutes.

Ledley King Guest X! [Photo: Jav The_DoC_66]Many former players rolled back the years to show they hadn’t lost all of their skills or forgotten how to play since leaving White Hart Lane with Teddy Sheringham adding two late first half-strikes to give Ledley’s Guest XI a 3 – 1 interval lead. Darren Anderton, Chris Perry, David Ginola, Edgar Davids, Dimitar Berbatov were among a host of players who turned out in the first half in honour of Ledley King. Emmanuel Adebayor equalised from the penalty spot for the current Spurs squad.

Ledley’s Guest XI: Sullivan, Brown, Perry, King, Tarrico, Anderton, Parker, Davids, Ginola, Berbatov, Sheringham

Not everyone could be present but they sent their best wishes and apologies. Gareth Bale remembered his former captain’s special night and tweeted,

Ledley King – the King of Tottenham [Photo: Jav The_DoC_66]In the second half it was all change in both teams but Ledley managed to play for almost an hour before leaving the White Hart Lane pitch to a thoroughly deserved standing ovation. Nathan Oduwa scored for Spurs but Louis Saha scored a second half hat-trick to ensure Ledley’s team ran out victors on a great night enjoyed by everyone present. Etienne Capoue scored Spurs third goal.

Spurs played a second half team mostly of squad players and young players, a great experience for them in front of a packed White Hart Lane. Ledley’s second half team included Paul Robinson, Peter Crouch, Sebastian Bassong and Saha.

Ledley’s Guest XI: Robinson, Young, Chimbonda, King, Stalteri, Fox, Palacios, Tainio, Davies, Crouch, Saha

Ledley’s words [Photo: Jav The_DoC_66]Everyone joined in the celebration with referee, Howard Webb, as Ben Pearce tweeted:

The fans welcomed Lewis Holtby back to the Lane by singing,

"Lewis Holtby, we want you to stay."

Holtby responded by applauding them as he ran along.

At the end of the evening Ledley King thanked everyone and spoke on the pitch,

"Words can’t express how I feel now, it’s an emotional night. Whenever I was struggling, it was always the fans who gave me the motivation to get myself fit and back on the pitch."

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