Leroy Lita
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30%Born
1984 (39 years old)
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Forward
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1.75
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73.47
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Free
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5112273
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2nd Team
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Leroy Halirou Bohari Lita (born 28 December 1984) is a professional footballer who plays as a striker for Sisaket in the Thai League. Lita was a product of the Chelsea youth system. He failed to play for Chelsea, and moved to Bristol City and Reading, where his form helped him earn a place with the England under-21 side, he has since played for Swansea City, Barnsley and in Greece for AO Chania. He has also played on loan with Charlton Athletic, Norwich City, Birmingham City, Sheffield Wednesday, Brighton & Hove Albion and Notts County.
Born in Kinshasa, Lita signed his first professional contract for Bristol City at the age of 18 at the start of the 2003–04 season, after being discovered by scout Roger Barton. It wasn't until Brian Tinnion took over from Danny Wilson as manager at the start of the 2004–05 season that Lita really established himself in the first team. That year he scored 29 goals in all competitions for club and one U21 international goal taking his tally to 30 for the season.
Lita moved to Reading (then in the Football League Championship) on 13 July 2005 for a then club record fee of £1 million.
Lita scored on his debut at home to Plymouth Argyle with a fine header to equalise, but Reading lost 2–1, however they only lost one more league game during the entire season. Lita made it three goals in his first three games as he scored two well taken goals in Reading's 3–0 win away at Preston. He scored in home wins against Swansea City in the League Cup and Burnley in the league, before scoring an overhead kick in the 3–2 win at home to Crystal Palace. He then endured a barren spell in front of goal, but he ended it with a goal in a 3–0 win at Ipswich, a result which took Reading to the top of the Championship.
He then suffered an injury that kept him out for 6 weeks, but on his return against West Bromwich Albion in the third round of the FA Cup, he produced a high quality display, netting a superb hat trick that included a spectacular second goal with a dipping shot from 25 yards, after a series of one touch passes from the Royals. He found the net in a 4–0 win at home to Norwich City, and followed it up in the next game with two excellent finishes in a 4–3 away win at Crewe Alexandra. He scored for the third league game in a row with a tap in during a 2–0 victory at home to Southampton. He came on as a substitute to score the winner in a 2–1 win at home to Preston but his 2005–06 season ended early in the next game at Burnley when he sustained a broken ankle after landing awkwardly, but Reading still won the Championship title and promotion to the Premier League with a record total of 106 points.
Lita had a promising start to life in the Premiership, in which he netted the winner at home to Middlesbrough on the opening day, a game in which Reading came from 2–0 down to win 3–2. He ended a goal drought by scoring in a 2–2 draw against Chelsea at Stamford Bridge, the first of ten goals in twelve games, as he scored away at Manchester United in a 3–2 defeat, and scored again in the 6–0 home win over West Ham. He also scored three goals in two games in the FA Cup against Burnley and twice against Birmingham City. His next goal came at home to Wigan in a 3–2 win, and in the next game he scored two late goals in a 2–0 win away at Manchester City. Both goals came from excellent through balls, for the first Lita hit a powerful first time shot from the edge of the box, across the keeper and into the top corner. The second was a cool finish when through one on one. He would even have a had a hat trick, but had a goal wrongly disallowed in the first half. Leroy scored again against Manchester United, as he pulled one back in a 3–2 home defeat in the FA Cup.
Lita had suffered some niggling injuries and found himself behind in form Kevin Doyle and Dave Kitson for parts of the season. On 13 April 2007, Lita was banned for three games for allegedly headbutting Talal El Karkouri of Charlton Athletic on 9 April, a charge disputed by both the player and Reading's manager, Steve Coppell. However, Reading still managed to finish eighth in their first ever top division campaign, just missing out on a UEFA Cup place. Following the end of that season speculation surrounding the future of Lita increased as he continued to be linked with several premier league clubs. However the striker said in July that he wanted to stay at Reading ""I'm happy here. This is an important year for me and the club and I just want to play and be successful." In a freak occurrence just prior to the start of the 2007–08 season, Lita was faced with a month of downtime after damaging a leg muscle as he stretched in bed upon waking. Coppell told the BBC: "Leroy is in a great deal of pain. It's a point of laughter but a serious business for him because he's going to be out for three or four weeks." Lita found himself largely our of favour in the 2007–08 season, and spent much of it either left out or injured, he also had a loan spell at Charlton Athletic. He only scored one goal in the Premier League that season, it came on the final day against already relegated Derby County with a diving header in a 4–0 away win. But Reading found themselves joining Derby, as they were relegated on goal difference.
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