Leon Bailey
Bailey with Bayer Leverkusen in 2018
Personal information
Full name Leon Patrick Bailey[1]
Date of birth (1997-08-09) 9 August 1997[2]
Place of birth Kingston, Jamaica
Height 1.78 m (5 ft 10 in)[2]
Position(s) Right winger
Team information
Current team
 Aston Villa
Number 31
Youth career
2009–2011 Phoenix All Stars Academy
2011 Anif Jugend
2011–2013 Liefering
2013–2015 AS Trenčín
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2015–2017 Genk 56 (8)
2017–2021 Bayer Leverkusen 119 (28)
2021– Aston Villa 69 (11)
International career‡
2015 Jamaica U23 1 (1)
2019– Jamaica 27 (5)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 23:43, 30 December 2023 (UTC)
‡ National team caps and goals, correct as of 16 October 2023

Leon Patrick Bailey (born 9 August 1997) is a Jamaican professional footballer who plays as a right winger for Premier League club Aston Villa and the Jamaica national team.

Bailey arrived in Europe at the age of 13 and played for a number of clubs at youth level before being signed by Belgian side Genk in 2015, where he was named Belgian Young Footballer of the Year. His success in Belgium earned him a move to Bundesliga side Bayer Leverkusen in 2017. After four years at the club, he was signed by Aston Villa in 2021 for a fee of around £30 million.[3]

Club career

Early career

Bailey started his career playing for the Phoenix All-Star Academy operated by his adoptive father, Craig Butler.[4] In 2011, Butler arrived in Europe to find a club for Bailey and Butler's biological son, Kyle. Bailey caught the eye of K.R.C. Genk in Belgium, but because of the very strict regulations on minors by FIFA, they could not offer him a contract.[5] Bailey almost joined Standard Liège,[6] but the transfer was not approved because Butler had no work permit. Aged 13, Bailey signed for Austrian non-league side Anif Jugend,[7] before moving to FC Liefering.

In the beginning of 2013, Bailey signed a professional contract with Slovakian side AS Trenčín.[8] In October 2013, Bailey reached a verbal agreement AFC Ajax, but a transfer did not materialize due to FIFA rules.[9]

Genk

Bailey joined K.R.C. Genk in 2015 from Trenčín. He made his Belgian Pro League debut on 21 August 2015 in a 3–1 away defeat against Sint-Truiden replacing Siebe Schrijvers after 62 minutes.[10] He scored his first professional goal for KRC Genk on 21 November versus OH Leuven. At the end of the 2015–16 season he won the Belgian Young Footballer of the Year award. His goal in the Europa League against Rapid Wien on 15 September 2016 was chosen as the top goal of the competition for the 2016–17 season by UEFA.[11]

Bayer Leverkusen

Bailey joined Bayer Leverkusen in January 2017 for a fee of €20 million, after interest from Manchester United and Chelsea. He made his debut for Leverkusen on 3 February 2017, in a 1–0 defeat against Hamburg. His Champions League debut came on 24 February 2017, in a 2–2 draw against Atlético Madrid. He made ten appearances for Leverkusen in his first half season at the club.[12]

He scored his first goal for the club on 11 August 2017, in the first game of the 2017–18 season in a 3–0 victory in the German Cup against Karlsruher SC. His first league goal for the club came on 29 September against Schalke 04.[13] He finished the season scoring 12 goals in 34 games in all competitions, helping guide Bayer Leverkusen to a fifth-place finish in the Bundesliga.[14] On 30 November 2019, he scored twice in a 2–1 win over champions Bayern Munich, one goal with each foot.[15]

Aston Villa

On 4 August 2021, Bailey signed for Premier League club Aston Villa.[16] On 14 August 2021, he made his Premier League debut as a substitute in a 3–2 loss to Watford.[17] On 18 September 2021, he scored his first goal for Villa in a 3–0 home victory over Everton, in which he also took a corner that led to a Lucas Digne own goal.[18] Bailey's first season with Aston Villa was punctuated with injuries - suffering a hamstring injury in August that ruled him out for a month, a quad injury in the aforementioned game against Everton that ruled him out for another month, another thigh injury in December that ruled him out until February, which was followed by an ankle injury in April which prematurely ended his season - ultimately limiting Bailey to only 7 starts.[19][20]

On 6 November 2022, Bailey scored the first goal under Unai Emery in a 3–1 home victory over Manchester United, and was later named player of that month.[21] On 6 December 2023, he scored the only goal in a 1–0 victory over Manchester City, which was his club's first win against the latter since 2013.[22]

Personal life

Growing up in Jamaica, Bailey wanted to become a footballer or a sprinter - inspired by the success of Usain Bolt.[23] Bailey was one of 23 children adopted by football coach Craig Butler, whose Phoenix Academy team Bailey played for as a child. Butler worked cleaning toilets to save enough money to travel to Europe - where he hoped to find Bailey, and his biological son, Kyle a professional club. Since the age of 13, Bailey has lived in Europe.[7]

International career

Jamaica U23

Bailey played in a friendly match for Jamaica under-23s on 8 March 2015 versus the Cayman Islands under-23 side, where he scored directly from a free kick.[24]

Jamaica

In March 2017 it was reported that Bailey would refuse Jamaica call ups until the standards of Jamaican football improved.[25] In September 2017, Bailey told German football magazine Kicker: "They always want me to play for Jamaica, but I've had personal problems with the association since I was eleven or twelve years old".[26] In January 2018, Winfried Schäfer, the former Jamaica national team coach told a German newspaper Bild "I really wanted to make him a national player. I have invited him several times – among others to the Gold Cup in America and to international matches. I also called at Genk. But his step-father blocked everything."[27] Bailey was thought to have accepted a call-up in October 2018, but reneged after demanding that his brother Kyle Butler, who at the time played for the reserves of FC Juniors OÖ in the Austrian 2. Liga, be called up too.[28]

In May 2019, Bailey was named to the Jamaican provisional squad for the 2019 CONCACAF Gold Cup, with Bailey officially announcing that he would accept the call-up and represent the Reggae Boyz.[29][30] He would earn his first Jamaica international cap on 17 June 2019 against Honduras.[31] Bailey scored his first goal for Jamaica on 6 September 2019 against Antigua and Barbuda, netting the fifth goal in a 6–0 victory in CONCACAF Nations League play.[32]

Bailey was thought to have been eligible to represent England as he has two grandparents who have British citizenship.[33] However, he is not eligible to play for England as none of his grandparents were born in England.[34]

Career statistics

Club

As of match played 14 January 2024[35]
Appearances and goals by club, season and competition
Club Season League National cup[lower-alpha 1] League cup[lower-alpha 2] Europe Total
DivisionAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoals
Genk 2015–16 Belgian Pro League 37651——427
2016–17 19240—12[lower-alpha 3]7359
Total 56891—1277716
Bayer Leverkusen 2016–17 Bundesliga 80——2[lower-alpha 4]0100
2017–18 30943——3412
2018–19 29520—8[lower-alpha 3]0395
2019–20 22531—8[lower-alpha 5]1337
2020–21 30921—8[lower-alpha 3]54015
Total 11928115—26615639
Aston Villa 2021–22 Premier League 1810000—181
2022–23 3341021—365
2023–24 19610107[lower-alpha 6]3289
Total 70112031738215
Career total 2454723731451631570
  1. ↑ Includes Belgian Cup, DFB-Pokal, FA Cup
  2. ↑ Includes EFL Cup
  3. 1 2 3 Appearances in UEFA Europa League
  4. ↑ Appearances in UEFA Champions League
  5. ↑ Three appearances in UEFA Champions League, five appearances and one goal in UEFA Europa League
  6. ↑ Appearance in UEFA Europa Conference League

International

As of match played 21 November 2023[36]
Appearances and goals by national team and year
National teamYearAppsGoals
Jamaica 201961
202020
202140
202262
2023112
Total295
Scores and results list Jamaica's goal tally first, score column indicates score after each Bailey goal.[36]
List of international goals scored by Leon Bailey
No. Date Venue Opponent Score Result Competition
16 September 2019Montego Bay Sports Complex, Montego Bay, Jamaica Antigua and Barbuda5–06–02019–20 CONCACAF Nations League B
230 March 2022Independence Park, Kingston, Jamaica Honduras1–12–12022 FIFA World Cup qualification
314 June 2022 Mexico1–01–12022–23 CONCACAF Nations League A
428 June 2023CityPark, St. Louis, United States Trinidad and Tobago2–04–12023 CONCACAF Gold Cup
515 October 2023Hasely Crawford Stadium, Port of Spain, Trinidad and Tobago Haiti3–13–22023–24 CONCACAF Nations League A

Honours

Individual

References

  1. ↑ "2021/22 Premier League squads confirmed". Premier League. 10 September 2021. Retrieved 11 September 2021.
  2. 1 2 "Leon Bailey". Premier League. Retrieved 9 August 2022.
  3. ↑ "L. Bailey". Soccerway. Retrieved 25 July 2015.
  4. ↑ Kidnap, raids and mayonnaise: how Leon Bailey fought for his giant dream – and made it to the top fourfourtwo.com
  5. ↑ "Genk wint strijd om 'meest gewilde belofte ter wereld". Nieuwsblad.be.
  6. ↑ "Genk en Standard verwikkeld in louche affaire om jonge tester". HLN.be.
  7. 1 2 Preece, Ashley (3 September 2021). "Leon Bailey blazing a trail as Jamaican youngsters beat Aston Villa". BirminghamLive. Retrieved 3 September 2021.
  8. ↑ "AS Trencin expect an arrival of two talented Jamaicans".
  9. ↑ "Sport - Het laatste nieuws uit Nederland leest u op Telegraaf.nl". Telegraaf.
  10. ↑ "Sint-Truiden vs. Genk – 21 August 2015 – Soccerway". soccerway.com. Retrieved 29 August 2015.
  11. ↑ UEFA.tv (26 May 2017), UEFA Europa League 2016/17 – Top ten goals, retrieved 3 August 2017
  12. ↑ "Leon Bailey - Football Stats - Bayer Leverkusen - Season 2016/2017 - Soccer Base". www.soccerbase.com.
  13. ↑ "Leon Bailey - Football Stats - Bayer Leverkusen - Season 2017/2018 - Soccer Base". www.soccerbase.com.
  14. ↑ "German Bundesliga Table - Football - BBC Sport".
  15. ↑ Magee, Will (5 June 2020). "Leon Bailey talks Bayern Munich and Bundesliga behind closed doors – but he won't talk about his manager". i newspaper.
  16. ↑ "Aston Villa is delighted to confirm the signing of Leon Bailey from Bayer Leverkusen". Aston Villa Football Club. 4 August 2021. Retrieved 4 August 2021.
  17. ↑ Thomason, Ellie (14 August 2021). "Watford beat Villa on Premier League return". BBC Sport. Retrieved 15 August 2021.
  18. ↑ Maher, Matt (18 September 2021). "Dean Smith hails 'crowd favourite' Leon Bailey following Aston Villa win". Express & Star. Retrieved 19 September 2021.
  19. ↑ Bayliss, Jake (5 May 2022). "Leon Bailey sends 'very tough' Aston Villa message after latest injury setback". BirminghamLive. Retrieved 23 July 2022.
  20. ↑ Agbonlahor, Gabriel (12 July 2022). "Aston Villa idol issues '100%' Bailey claim after key reveal". Football Insider. Retrieved 23 July 2022.
  21. ↑ "Bailey voted November Player of the Month". Aston Villa FC. 1 December 2022.
  22. ↑ McNulty, Phil (6 December 2023). "Aston Villa 1-0 Manchester City: Unai Emery's side look top-four quality". BBC Sport.
  23. ↑ Abbott, Matthew (22 October 2021). "How Aston Villa's Leon Bailey almost didn't become a footballer". Birmingham Mail. Retrieved 22 October 2021.
  24. ↑ Reid, Paul A (10 March 2015). "Late flourish sets stage for U-23 Boyz win over Cayman". Jamaica Observer. Retrieved 28 July 2016.
  25. ↑ "Bailey won't play until Jamaican football improves". jamaica-star.com. 13 March 2017.
  26. ↑ Germany, kicker online, Nürnberg. "Bailey: Bereit für Bayer - nicht für Jamaika". kicker online (in German). Retrieved 18 February 2018.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  27. ↑ "Jamaikas Ex-Nationaltrainer Winfried Schäfer kennt Bailey ganz genau - "Leon ist einer wie Scholl!"". bild.de (in German). 25 January 2017. Retrieved 18 February 2018.
  28. ↑ "Leon Bailey reneges on Jamaica call-up after unusual conditions aren't met".
  29. ↑ "Ex-Man Utd prospect Morrison joins Jamaica squad". ESPNFC. 20 May 2019. Retrieved 20 May 2019.
  30. ↑ Bailey ✞, Leon (22 May 2019). "I promise to wear the colors black green and gold with honor, pride, and dignity while aiming to be a positive role model for kids with a dream. pic.twitter.com/zegKa7Phi9". @leonbailey. Retrieved 22 May 2019.
  31. ↑ "Reggae Boyz Cap Historic Night With 3-2 Win Over Honduras". Jamaica Gleaner. 17 June 2019. Retrieved 21 June 2019.
  32. ↑ "Reggae Boyz whip Antigua in Concacaf Nations League". 8 September 2019.
  33. ↑ "Bayer Leverkusen's Leon Bailey being monitored by England ahead of World Cup 2018 - bundesliga.com". bundesliga.com - the official Bundesliga website.
  34. ↑ "Leon Bailey reneges on Jamaica call-up after unusual conditions aren't met". joe.co.uk. 14 October 2018.
  35. ↑ "L. Bailey". Soccerway. Retrieved 17 February 2018.
  36. 1 2 "Leon Bailey". National Football Teams. Benjamin Strack-Zimmermann. Retrieved 7 September 2019.
  37. ↑ "CONFIRMED 2017/18 Bundesliga FIFA 18 Team of the Season!". Bundesliga. 30 May 2018. Retrieved 30 May 2018.
  38. ↑ "Bundesliga Goal of the Month". Bundesliga. Retrieved 9 January 2021.
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