Ledley King. A superman with a knee made of kryptonite.

Ledley King has been in a perpetual state of retirement for years. The piece below is poignant, something I wrote for 2Hal/ves, a one-shot fanzine released on the day of the North London derby in October, 2009.

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Ledley will always be our King

Henry Percy (otherwise known as ‘Harry Hotspur’) acquired a reputation as a warrior supreme. Unfortunately he was cut down in his prime – struck by a fatal arrow in the midst of battle. The greatest Hotspur warrior of the modern age, Ledley King, is proving rather more difficult to best - no fatal arrow to the face, just plenty of kicks to the knee.

Ledley remains a colossus in defence, always unnerved and influential. He is strong, fast and wonderfully talented. More than all these things, he is loyal - to the bone.

Thankfully, there’s no chance of him befalling the same fate as the esteemed Percy. On the field of play the only thing he might get struck by is an opposition elbow or a water bottle. In spite of the relative safety of the football pitch, a disconcerting nod from the club doctor has become an unavoidable hazard in recent years.

He might now be a one game per week player, but such is the quality he possesses it remains worth retaining his services on a full time basis. Pound-for-pound, he is arguably one of the very best England has to offer. Some of the more cynical amongst you might even argue that if he didn’t have his knee troubles he’d probably be a Man Utd player. But injury is not the only reason why we have yet to be graced by a Daniel Levy announcement justifying a £30m transfer of King to Old Trafford (along with a generous donation to the Tottenham Foundation). Ledley has remained unquestionably loyal to the core throughout his time at the Lane.

Ledley is a loyal committed servant who gets wrapped up in cotton wool more often than not. A servant who (out of necessity) doesn’t spend much time training, and yet displays effortless class on the pitch with athleticism befitting someone who does train all week long. He’s a millionaire and yet persists in having injections in his knee so he can continue to play the game he so obviously loves. For all we know he could be exacerbating the damage and running the risk of serious problems in later life. And yet his commitment remains unparalleled.

He wears his heart on his sleeve and he positively runs it out for us every time he starts, home or away. He brings stability at the back and although he’s not a shouter, his mere presence inspires his team mates to excel, mainly by virtue of the air of confidence he oozes rubbing off on others around him.

King is deserving of Champions League football and yet has never turned his back on us and looked for it elsewhere – unlike another centre-back who falsely professed loyalty. King has so much quality that if he had asked his agent to go looking he would not have been short of suitors.

If Fergie is happy to take a risk on Owen, there is no doubting that he’d gamble on Ledley. And yet here we are: one contract with Spurs followed by another. He’s never even considered another club’s colours. Now before you all accuse me of sentimentality and exaggeration and suggest this article is nothing more than a press release for a forthcoming Spurs Shop DVD, understand this: In this day and age, there are few players a football fan can genuinely respect and admire. And Ledley is someone who is respected and admired by all, regardless of the colour of the scarf. He’s a class act. Plain and simple. Every fan would want a player like King in their team.

Ledley King is not just a warrior. He’s not just a loyal Spurs fan that remains committed to the club and its fans as player and captain. He’s one of us. Tottenham through-and-through. Lilywhite blood. The tenacity of a Mackay or Roberts without the need for bullish growling. Ledley the gentle giant quietly sticks forwards into his back pocket and goes about his business patrolling the backline making sure nobody knocks over the ‘You shall not pass’ sign.

We are stronger when he pulls on the shirt. His composure brings calm to the backbone of the side. He’s no pretender. He’s the real deal. All this with one knee. Ledley King IS Mr Tottenham Hotspur. The spirit of Harry Hotspur lives on. And long may he dodge that final concluding arrow.

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A graceful footballer, a gentleman on and off the pitch (excluding any excursions to Faces nightclub) and the one magnificent constant when surrounded by so many inconsistencies. The finest defender I've ever seen. Easily the best of his (and my) generation in Lilywhite. Inspirational. Calm and composed. He could read the game with supreme intelligence with no necessity to tackle half as often as others might do, prefering to throw themselves at an opposing player. When forwards pelted towards the ball, he'd breeze past them, comfortably jogging before nicking the ball tidy as you like. With one knee he ruled Tottenham, with two he'd have conquered the world twice over. Overboard with the sentimentality and plaudits? Probably, but then what's the likelihood of us doing this for another Spurs player in the next twenty years?

I have been here since I was a boy, I have always considered it my Club and have always found it hard to imagine wearing the shirt of another team

Thank you Ledley for seventeen years service (fourteen years in the first team). Over three hundred appearances, scored more goals than yellow cards received, no red cards and countless strikers sat firmly in your back pocket. You played football with one knee and yet you were still comfortably better than most. You didn't even have to train, that's how easy you made it look. The travesty is when you spend a little time considering what you might have achieved with no injury plight to fragment and puncture every season. Yet you have still imprinted yourself on our club, iconic forever. You could have quit the game years ago, didn't, but it's the right decision for you to now abdicate your throne. The time for a new hero is now upon us.

Onwards Ledley King, club ambassador.

Testimonial confirmed.

Time for the King to abdicate his throne

We won't know Ledley King's decision until pre-season when he decides whether to finally hang up his boots and take one of the options Spurs have offered him, hopefully a coaching role. You don't have to do much reading between the lines here. It's obvious the club and the player believe it's time to hang up the boots. However, the last sentence from the official club update is the one that manages to help retain a smile on my face.

"Tottenham has been the only Club for me and if I can’t play here then I shall look to be involved in another capacity."

Ledley might not reappear in a Lilywhite shirt on the pitch (aside from a testimonial please) but his heart will always be Tottenham off it. Keeping him on at Spurs is imperative. The man lives for the club and we love him for it so it's a pretty obvious way to continue the affair. Quite simply the best defender of his (England) generation. The most obvious thing to echo here would be the what ifs. You know, what if he had two working knees. I was looking back at the archives of this blog and found an article from 2009. An article that could have been written for any one of the past five years.

Ledley will always be our King

Tuesday, March 10, 2009 at 12:03PM

I'm a bit bored at the moment. There's a slight lull in stories worthy of commentary. Other than maybe the news that Ledley King could play in the remaining 10 fixtures for Spurs. According to our oracle of football, Harry Redknapp. This following on from the recent lack of contract talks that won't be taking place just yet between club and player.

King (with Spurs no longer having midweek games to concern themselves with) can now look forward to Ledders being available once per week with plenty of recovery time in-between. As long as the old knee doesn't give way. Is he prolonging the inevitable? Is he sustaining long term permanent damage to his knees every time he plays for us? How long will he persist with this? Equally important to ask whether Spurs will have to make a decision on King's future based on his availability. You can't build a defence around a part-time player. But when the player is this good, do you allow for a concession? Heart says yes. So does the head, but more so the heart.

As for the potential of a new contract, that really depends on whether this is it for the rest of his career. This being 'play when injected with magic' but only half the time and never twice in a week. It's sad. A fully fit Ledley King would be a fully fledged England international. And probably a Man Utd player. But there's no doubt he'd be a defender at the top of his game with countless clubs courting him - in a world with no knee trouble. He's still capable of exceptional performances for us - but still in a part-time capacity. Which is why we are probably not reading a Daniel Levy club announcement justifying a £25M transfer of King to Old Trafford.

What we have instead is a loyal committed servant who gets wrapped up in cotton wool more often than running out in Lilywhite. As long as he is not aggravating his knee problems with the injections and continuing to play professional football then I'm happy to have him at the club and the club should make sure he remains there till he hangs his boots up. I hope there is not a single ounce of truth that doctors advised him to quit or risk serious damage.

Also, I'm not suggesting Ledley is still with us only because of his injury plight. The bloke is no Sol Campbell. Ledley is honest and loves the club. He wants to be at White Hart Lane and in the past possibly could have flirted with a Champions League club if he wanted to. But if he was 110%, he'd be tested, along with the chairman. That's a sure thing. But he'd never walk the way Judas did. Personally hope he does start the big big away games we have at Villa, Everton, Man Utd and Liverpool. Dawson is a fine understudy to have on current form. I'm still staggered by the fact that King never trains.

Machine, right?

It dawned on me that it almost feels like his entire career has been dominated by his plight. I can't remember when he didn't have a dodgy knee. Every season it's the same struggles and yet aside from the difficulties experienced this past year, he has been majestic and graceful with the sublime ability to read the game seconds faster than those around him. He went beyond the usual blood-and-thunder-feet-in grunting of the more obvious centre-halves. Didn't need to tackle as much as others either, he just got to the ball before the attacker did. His back pocket rarely empty. His pace was like lightning dancing on a sea of electricity. You know what I'm referring to. Stuff like the Robben tackle. A piece of defending as great as any goal scored. That was King all over. The impossible made easy. You'd run, he'd jog right past you.

When he didn't play well, you couldn't quite believe it, such was the rarity of such a performance. Listen to me, talking about him like he's no longer with us. Still, we knew this moment was coming. He's got to do the right thing for himself. He's a club legend. So it's good to see the club actively seeking to retain his services. They failed to do the same with Stevie Perryman (get well soon).

I don't think it really matters, the what ifs. Fact is, he could have so easily given up years ago, lost focus or allowed his fitness to fade away due to lack of game time. There he was though, never having to train and yet playing like he hasn't stopped training. Every single season he's pulled on the shirt and he's been a colossus at the back. Such an influence, a true club captain. For the good of his own well being and Spurs going forward, it's time for new blood. Kaboul, Caluker, perhaps even Vertonghen could probably do with having someone of King's stature at the club as a nod towards what you can achieve as a player in the most purist form. That's unequivocal commitment to the Cockerel. If they get within 50% of what Ledley has given through sheer guts and heart then both will be very successful at Spurs.

Onwards.