Tom Lees

Thomas James Lees (born 28 November 1990) is an English professional footballer who plays as a centre-back for Huddersfield Town.

He progressed through the youth ranks and was involved in the England U16 set up in the summer of 2005.

His development was later hindered during his years as a scholar with the club when a knee injury required an operation when he was 17.

Lees began his career in the youth teams at Leeds before turning professional with the Yorkshire club in early 2009.

He made his professional debut whilst on a season-long loan at Accrington Stanley in their Football League Trophy first round victory over Oldham Athletic in September of the same year.

After he completed his rehabilitation, Lees turned professional in January 2009 when he signed a two-and-a-half-year contract with the club.

He studied at Boston Spa Academy during his time in the Leeds United Academy.

He later experienced his first taste of senior football with Leeds when he was included in Simon Grayson's squad for the pre-season friendly tour of the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland and featured in the matches against Shelbourne and Glentoran.

With senior centre-backs Rui Marques, Patrick Kisnorbo, Richard Naylor, Ľubomír Michalík, Leigh Bromby and Paul Huntington also in the first-team squad, Lees found his opportunities limited for the 2009–10 season with the club looking to sending him out on loan to gain experience.

He joined League Two club Accrington Stanley on loan on 1 September 2009, of which Leeds manager Simon Grayson commented on saying; "The move to Accrington will give him the opportunity to spend time in a first-team environment and we will be keeping an eye on him".

He made his debut on the same day for Accrington in their 2–1 away win over Oldham Athletic in the Football League Trophy.

With Lees impressing in his first few games for Accrington, Simon Grayson revealed that he was keen for Lees to stay out on loan at Accrington to continue to get first-team matches.

In late December, Lees' loan at Accrington was extended until the end of the 2009–10 season.

At the end of the 2009–10 season Lees returned to Leeds' after playing 39 league games for Accrington Stanley, and 45 games in all competitions.

The following season, he featured in both of Leeds United's pre-season games in Slovakia against MFK Ružomberok and MFK Košice as part of a 20-man squad that travelled.

Lees also played for Leeds in Norway against SK Brann.

In Leeds' final pre-season fixture, Lees was an unused substitute against Wolverhampton Wanderers in the 3–1 victory at Elland Road.

On 23 February 2010, Lees signed a two-year contract extension with Leeds United until July 2012.

During his loan spell at Accrington, Lees was mainly played as a right-back.

He impressed in the 46 appearances he played in all competitions, and Accrington Stanley manager John Coleman revealed he wanted to re-sign Lees again for the following season.

On 3 August 2010, Lees joined League Two club Bury on a six-month loan in order to gain more first-team experience.

Lees played against Bury two weeks prior to signing, when he came on as a substitute for Leeds in the 4–0 loss.

On 14 August, he scored his first goal of the season at the Kassam Stadium versus the newly promoted Oxford United collecting his second man of the match award for Bury.

Lees scored his second goal of the season for Bury against Exeter City in the FA Cup.

With Lees impressing in his loan spell he was linked with a new contract at Leeds.

On 10 December he signed a new two and a half-year contract with Leeds, and it was announced on 30 December, that he had extended his loan at Bury until the end of the season.

Lees scored the winner for Bury in a 1–0 win against Lincoln on 22 April.

Lees also scored the winner in a 1–0 victory over Burton Albion.

On 25 April he scored his fifth goal of the season in his club's 3–2 win over league leaders Chesterfield, a game which confirmed Bury's promotion to League One.

After an impressive season at Bury, Leeds manager Simon Grayson stated that he thought Lees had a big future at Leeds United.

During his loan spell he played 50 times for the club, and appeared in all but one of Bury's league matches.

Lees won the Players' Player of the Year Award at Bury's annual player of the season awards ceremony.

Bury manager Richie Barker said he believed that Lees was the best young centre-backs in League Two and heavily praised Lees in an interview in the Yorkshire Evening Post.

After returning to Leeds, he played a part in all Leeds' 2011–12 pre-season fixtures either as a substitute or in the starting line-up.

Lees made his debut against Bradford City as a second-half substitute in their 3–2 victory, making an instant impact by gaining an assist by setting up the opening goal for Ross McCormack.

He joined Bury on a similar deal the following season and was voted the Players' Player of the Year in the Shakers' promotion-winning campaign before returning to Leeds in the summer of 2012 where he established himself as a first-team regular.

In September 2012, Lees was called up to the England U21 squad by manager Stuart Pearce.

Lees was born in Birmingham, West Midlands, but moved to Knaresborough, North Yorkshire, when he was four years old.

Lees began his football career at Leeds United when he joined as an eight-year-old.

As part of the club, he watched the side from a young age and developed an admiration for United's legendary defender Lucas Radebe.