Tottenham Hotspur’s best centre back from the last decade

Tottenham have seen a number of elite centre backs marshal their rearguard, but nobody as naturally gifted and important to the side as Ledley King. 

King lived up to the lofty significance of his surname.

Making 268 appearances between 1999-2012, all of which for Tottenham, King elevated the level of players around him. Domineering and boisterous, he truly embodied the perfect prototype of a centre back. He was quick, agile, quietly aggressive.

And, maybe most importantly, King had the perfect temperament to thrive at the top level. Calm, mature and poised off the pitch, King was anything but when he took to the field. He counteracted perfectly that consummate off-the-pitch professionalism by his aggressive, brave and lion-like on-the-field nature.

He captained his club and made 21 appearances for the Three Lions, but the number’s don’t tell an accurate tale. King’s career was gravely stunted by a rash of serious knee injuries. Harry Redknapp, who managed King during his time at Tottenham, said this about King’s injury:

"“There’s no cure. There’s no cartilage, nothing to operate on. It’s just bone on bone. So it’s just a question of managing it. It swells up after games and it normally takes seven days to recover but having played on Monday night he’s had less time than usual. He rarely trains, he mostly just goes to the gym to keep himself ticking over. But not running or anything like that. But even if he only plays 20 games a season, he’s worth having because he’s so good we have a much better chance of winning.”"

Telling words from the former Tottenham gaffer.

Toward the latter stage of his career, King’s name wouldn’t appear often on Spurs’ team sheet. But when it did, you felt an immediate surge of confidence, knowing his presence, even if not fully fit, would provide Tottenham with an immeasurably better chance of winning.

King was so influential to his side that he would play matches without training. This became so common an occurrence, you’d rather he avoided training to salvage whatever thrust remained in his deteriorating body.

Had he not been plagued by the injury demons, King surely would have gone down as one of England’s best. In 2009 he was named by The Times as Tottenham’s 25th best player of all time.

And many who watched him believed he only scratched the surface of his limitless potential. Ledley captained the side last time Spurs tasted trophy glory, a 2-1 win against Chelsea on Feb. 24, 2008. And for that Spurs supporters will forever be grateful.

Venerated and admired in north London for the narrative he created, King is indelibly etched into Spurs folklore.