Quick Facts
Biography
Leigh Grenville Palin (born 12 September 1965) is an English former footballer who played in the Football League for Bradford City, Burnley, Hull City, Rochdale, Shrewsbury Town and Stoke City. His father, Grenville, was also a professional footballer.
Career
Born in Worcester, he started his career with Aston Villa. He never played a league game for Aston Villa, and following a short loan spell with Shrewsbury Town, he moved to Nottingham Forest, where he also failed to reach the first team. He moved to Bradford City, where his career took off and in three season with the "Bantams" Palin played 94 matches, scoring thirteen goals and also played in the Second Division play-off against Middlesbrough in the 1987–88 season.
He then joined Mick Mills at Stoke City in 1989–90 but Stoke were having a terrible season and were well on their way to relegation and Mills was sacked in November 1989 and in came Alan Ball. Ball made a large number of changes to the squad in an attempt to avoid the drop and in March Palin was allowed to leave for Hull City. He spent three years at Hull and had a brief loan spell with Rochdale followed by a short spell at Burnley, before he moved to Scottish football with Partick Thistle. He dropped into non-league football with Tadcaster Albion.
Career statistics
- Sourced from Leigh Palin profile at the English National Football Archive (subscription required)
| Club | Season | League | FA Cup | League Cup | Other | Total | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Division | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | ||
| Aston Villa | 1983–84 | First Division | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Shrewsbury Town (loan) | 1984–85 | Second Division | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 |
| Nottingham Forest | 1985–86 | First Division | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Bradford City | 1986–87 | Second Division | 21 | 3 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 27 | 3 |
| 1987–88 | Second Division | 20 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 29 | 3 | |
| 1988–89 | Second Division | 30 | 4 | 2 | 0 | 4 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 38 | 7 | |
| Total | 71 | 10 | 6 | 0 | 9 | 1 | 8 | 2 | 94 | 13 | ||
| Stoke City | 1989–90 | Second Division | 19 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 23 | 3 |
| Hull City | 1989–90 | Second Division | 9 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 9 | 1 |
| 1990–91 | Second Division | 35 | 5 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 40 | 5 | |
| 1991–92 | Second Division | 13 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 18 | 2 | |
| Total | 57 | 7 | 3 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 3 | 1 | 67 | 8 | ||
| Rochdale (loan) | 1991–92 | Fourth Division | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 |
| Burnley | 1992–93 | Second Division | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| Career Total | 153 | 20 | 9 | 0 | 15 | 1 | 13 | 3 | 190 | 24 | ||