Lenny Pidgeley
From TheChels.info - The Chelsea Football Club Wiki
| Lenny Pidgeley | |
| |
| Full Name | Leonard John Pidgeley |
| Date of Birth | 7 February 1984 |
| Place of Birth | Twickenham, London |
| Position | Goalkeeper |
| Chelsea career | 2003-2006 |
| Debut | 7 May 2005 |
| Games (goals) | 2 (0) |
| Other clubs | Watford (loan) Millwall Woking (loan) Carlisle United Bradford City Exeter City Newport County |
Leonard John "Lenny" Pidgeley (born 7 February 1984 in Twickenham, London) is a goalkeeper who played for Chelsea from 2003-2006, having worked is way up through the youth ranks. He made two first team appearances, and won a League Cup winners medal in 2005 as an unused substitute.
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Chelsea career
A Chelsea supporter from childhood, while a ballboy at the club Pidgeley was once told off for entering the field of play while celebrating a Chelsea goal. Initially signed by Chelsea at the beginning of the 2002-03 season, he was loaned out to Watford between September 2003 and May 2004, a deal initially intended to last for two months, but extending to the end of the season. His debut Watford match was against Crewe Alexandra, which they won 1-0 - in which he participated as a substitute for the dismissed Alec Chamberlain. During his time on loan at the Hornets he faced his parent club in an FA Cup tie in the 2003-04 season, with Chelsea winning a replay at Stamford Bridge 4-0.
Save for a short, three-match spell at Millwall, Pidgeley spent the whole of the 2005-06 season at Chelsea. He spent the season 3rd choice behind Petr Čech and Carlo Cudicini in the pecking order. He was given the number 40 shirt by Chelsea, in reference to the 4-0 defeat he suffered against the Blues while at Watford. He made his first starting appearance for the club in the last match of the season against Newcastle at St James' Park, after Cudicini had suffered an injury in pre-match training. Pidgeley had previously made his debut for Chelsea in the final home game of the previous season, coming on as a substitute for Cudicini against Charlton Athletic.
After Chelsea
Pidgeley signed for Millwall in 2006, and went on to make 55 league appearances. In August 2008, he signed a one month loan with Woking. On his last home league game for Woking before returning to Millwall he saved a penalty from Steve Morison against Woking's bitter rivals Stevenage Borough. In May 2009 Pidgeley was one of nine players released by Millwall and he signed for Carlisle United on 8 July. Following the expiry of his one-year deal he returned to Woking in the summer of 2010. In October 2010, he was given a trial with Bradford City, appearing for Bradford's reserves against Sheffield United before signing a two-month contract. He made his debut on 30 October in a 5-0 win against Oxford United. After appearing regularly for Bradford he signed for Exeter City on a free transfer prior to the 2011-12 season. He was released after one season before joining Conference Premier side Newport County, initially on a short term contract. However with regular 'keeper Alan Julian suffering from a long term injury Pidgeley became a fixture of the side and played in the 2012-13 play-off final at Wembley Stadium as County won promotion to the Football League for the first time in 25 years.
International
Pidgeley represented England at U16 level on 13 occasions, and won one cap apiece at U18, U19 and U20 levels.
Statistics
| Season | Prem | FA Cup | League Cup | Europe | Other | Total | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | |
| 2004-05 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| 2005-06 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| Total | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 |
