Leroy Lita

Leroy Halirou Bohari Lita (born 28 December 1984) is an English footballer who plays as a forward for Southern League Premier Division Central club Barwell.

Lita was a product of the Chelsea youth system but never made a first-team appearance for the club; in 2002, he moved to Bristol City and later represented Reading, where his form helped him earn a place with the England under-21 side.

Born in Kinshasa,[2] Lita made his debut for Bristol City at the start of the 2002–03 season, and his first goal followed when he scored a late winner against Port Vale in September 2002.

[3][4] Lita signed his first professional contract for Bristol City at the age of 18 at the start of the 2003–04 season, after being discovered by scout Roger Barton.

He then suffered an injury that kept him out for 6 weeks, but on his return against West Bromwich Albion in the third round of the FA Cup, he produced a high quality display, netting a superb hat trick that included a spectacular second goal with a dipping shot from 25 yards, after a series of one touch passes from the Royals.

He came on as a substitute to score the winner in a 2–1 win at home to Preston but his 2005–06 season ended early in the next game at Burnley when he sustained a broken ankle after landing awkwardly, but Reading still won the Championship title and promotion to the Premier League with a record total of 106 points.

Lita had a promising start to life in the Premiership, in which he netted the winner at home to Middlesbrough on the opening day, a game in which Reading came from 2–0 down to win, 3–2.

Lita had suffered some niggling injuries and found himself behind in form Kevin Doyle and Dave Kitson for parts of the season.

Following the end of that season speculation surrounding the future of Lita increased as he continued to be linked with several premier league clubs.

In a freak occurrence just prior to the start of the 2007–08 season, Lita was faced with a month of downtime after damaging a leg muscle as he stretched in bed upon waking.

Lita found himself largely out of favour in the 2007–08 season, and spent much of it either left out or injured, he also had a loan spell at Charlton Athletic.

He only scored one goal in the Premier League that season, it came on the final day against already relegated Derby County with a diving header in a 4–0 away win.

On 5 March 2008, Lita joined Charlton Athletic on a one-month loan deal, after finding his first team opportunities limited at Reading during the 2007–08 season.

[21] On 27 July 2011, newly promoted Premier League side Swansea City had a fee of £1.75 million accepted by Middlesbrough for Lita's services.

[25] After ten league games in which he scored three goals, Lita's loan was terminated on 12 November to allow him to return to his owning club to complete his recovery from a thigh injury.

[26] Lita made his debut on 26 January 2013, scoring the winning goal against Charlton Athletic after coming on as a substitute for Kieran Lee in the 54th minute.

Lita scored his fourth goal of the season for Sheffield Wednesday from a well placed penalty to add to the 3–2 victory against Blackburn Rovers on 6 April.

[36] He joined Haverhill Rovers as a coach at the end of the month,[37] before signing a short-term deal with Southern League club Salisbury in late September.

[38] On 8 November, Lita signed a short-term deal for National League South club Chelmsford City;[39] he left at the end of the season having made 14 appearances in all competitions.

[40] He then spent 18 months with Southern League club Nuneaton Borough before joining division rivals Stratford Town in January 2022.

[57] Lita turned down the chance to play for DR Congo in favour of pursuing an international career with England, despite having previously stated he wished to represent the country of his birth.

[60] Following excellent goal-scoring form in the Premier League, Lita was awarded with a further cap as a substitute in the 2–2 draw with Spain on 6 February 2007, scoring his second goal in three international appearances.

Lita playing for Middlesbrough in 2010