| Few professionals will remember their debut
quite as much as Simon probably will in the years to come. Aged just 16,
he started for Leeds in their pre-season game with Valencia at Elland Road
and scored from the penalty spot but within minutes was sent off for his
second bookable offence!
It was in that game though that most Leeds fans saw a potential star
of the future for the first time. A few weeks later they saw him make
his league debut as he started the 2004/05 season in midfield. A month
later he signed his first professional contract at the club, tying him
to Leeds until the end of the 2006/07 season at least.
Although he began life in the Academy as a centre-half, his conversion
to midfield has been a success and at a time when Kevin Blackwell's midfield
was lacking in both options and quality, his emergence was a godsend.
Tough tackling, fearing nobody, Simon looks set to be a fixture in Leeds
United's teams for years to come.
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