By Tim Sigsworth
When Boro signed a certain Grant Leadbitter on a free transfer following his release by Ipswich Town in 2012, few could have imagined that he would go on to have the impact he has had during his six-and-a-half-year spell on Teesside.
Boro, fresh off the back of a 7th placed finish under Tony Mowbray, were high-fliers during the first half of the 2012/13 season. Though Mogga’s men would suffer a cataclysmic fall to the bottom half of the table during a dismal second half of the campaign, Leadbitter impressed throughout the season and would eventually win Player of the Year. Not bad for your first campaign.
With the summer of 2013 came signings such as Albert Adomah, Jozsef Varga and Dean Whitehead and newfound optimism that couldn’t have been more misplaced. Seemingly bereft of ideas and intent, Boro slumped from poor result to poor result before Mowbray lost his job in mid-October.
In came Aitor Karanka, a ‘Head Coach’ who would take Leadbitter, and Boro, to new levels. After playing in all 13 games of Mowbray’s final quarter-season in charge of Boro, Grant played in all but 6 of the 32 games played under Karanka. Consistent and dependable, he was a lynchpin of solidity as Boro’s first ever foreign manager remodelled the team in his own image.
Come the start of the 2014/15 season and optimism was, once again, plentiful. Amidst the hype of #FreeJelleVossen, the return of Kenneth Omeruo on loan and the arrival of Kike, Leadbitter would form a ruthlessly effective partnership with Adam Clayton and provide, as ever, consistency in the centre of the park.
That season will remain one of my favourites for a very long time. Boro, as unknown quantities, stormed to the forefront of the promotion race thanks in no small part to Leadbitter’s thumping long-range efforts and lethally accurate penalties. We felt unstoppable and invincible yet were going under the radar of Sky Sports et al. It was brilliant.
Two moments of the campaign in particular act as fitting microcosms of what made Leadbitter such a special player for the club. The first came after he buried a penalty against Derby County to make it 2-0 and send Boro to joint-top of the table. With his veins bulging as he ran towards the corner flag, his passion was evident for all to see.
The second came in a not so jubilant moment, after Boro’s 2-0 defeat to Norwich City in the Play-Off Final. Undoubtedly exhausted after making 49 appearances in a 55-game campaign, Leadbitter stood alone; steely-eyed and emotionally drained as he watched the Canaries celebrate what could, and possibly should, have been his.
Boro’s Play-Off Final heartbreak would serve as motivation for the next season, a campaign in which Leadbitter excelled for different reasons. Having scored ten times during the 14/15 season, Boro’s Mackem midfield metronome’s contribution in goals dropped in the 15/16 season as an assured team spirit replaced the cavalier attitude of the season before.
Granted (pardon the pun), Leadbitter still contributed significantly in terms of goals and assists; scoring crucial penalties away at Wolves and at home to QPR before teeing up Albert Adomah to dink Lee Grant and send Boro top on the 2nd of January. But what made him so crucial to Boro’s promotion bid more than anything was his leadership.
As part of the senior leadership group which also featured the likes of Jonathan Woodgate, George Friend and Stewart Downing, Leadbitter led by example both on, as evidenced above, and off the pitch.
No one outside of the club really knows, and perhaps will ever know, what happened in the week before Boro’s away trip to Charlton Athletic.
The story goes that Aitor walked out on his players in the build up to the game after he questioned their desire to win promotion. With no manager, Steve Agnew took charge of the Charlton game before Karanka returned to the fold the following week. In what was undoubtedly a difficult time for the dressing room, it is almost certain that Leadbitter, as captain, will have played a vital role in getting Boro back on track.
And though the underlying issues may not have been eradicated, Boro achieved promotion to the Premier League. Incredibly, it was revealed after the final day of the season that our Grant had been playing with painkilling injections for the final two months of the season. That’s how much he cared.
That fateful day in May would unfortunately prove to be the start of the decline of Leadbitter’s Boro career as having had post-season surgery on the hernia problem which required the injections, he would only play 1,043 minutes during an ill-fated campaign which would see Gaston Ramirez down tools, Aitor Karanka be sacked and Boro relegated with a whimper.
That didn’t stop Boro’s exemplary captain from sending the away end into ecstasy when he rifled home a Negredo set-up to put Boro 1-0 up at Old Trafford, mind you.
After regaining a more regular first-team role under both Garry Monk and Tony Pulis in the 2017/18 season, Leadbitter has struggled for minutes this season amid competition from Adam Clayton, Jonny Howson, Mo Besic, Lewis Wing, Paddy McNair and George Saville. He’s had a few run outs in the cups but all in all it’s been an unfortunate end to the illustrious Boro career of a deeply passionate figurehead who still had a season and a half on his contract.
He’s been an exemplary captain, the archetypal Boro player. Committed, passionate, determined, unassuming. He represents everything which has become less and less prevalent in the modern game.
Over 244 passion-drenched games he has proven himself as a grafter, a toiler, a modern-day MFC icon, an adopted Teessider without doubt.
We salute you, Grant.
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