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Fullname: Joseph Christopher Ledley
aka: Joe Ledley, Joseph Ledley
Born: 21 January 1987
Birthplace: Cardiff, Wales
Signed: 12 July 2010 (free transfer/out of contract from Cardiff City)
Left: 31 Jan 2014 (to Crystal Palace, est £800-£1m)
Position: Central Midfield, Left Winger
Debut: SC Braga 3-0 Celtic, Champions League, 28 July 2010
Squad No.: 16
Internationals: Wales
International Caps: 77
International Goals: 4
Biog
Pre-Celtic
Ledley joined his hometown team Cardiff City at the age of nine (having been a lifelong fan of the club) and made his way through the youth ranks at the club. During his later days as a trainee he was in charge of cleaning then captain Graham Kavanagh’s boots. However, in time Kavanagh should have been cleaning Ledley’s boots.
Ledley broke into the Cardiff first team in the 2004/05 as a 17 year old and would quickly establish himself as a first team regular, never making less than 25 league appearances in a season since his breakthrough. In season 2006/07 he would feature in every single one of Cardiff’s 46 league games.
Ledley has also played for Wales at U17, U19, U21 and full International level, including captaining the full international team on a stand-in basis.
His performances for Cardiff would soon bring him to the attention of Premiership teams with Cardiff turning down bids of up to £6M from Wolverhampton Wanderers, Everton, Stoke City, West Ham United, Wigan Athletic and Hull City. Cardiff City turned down bids even during the final season of his contract believing that due to his age they would be due compensation from any club who signed him under freedom on contract.
Celtic Career
Celtic would exploit a loophole in this legislation as once a player reaches the age of 24, this compensation is only due from clubs within the same association. Crucially. Celtic were not members of any of the footballing organisations Cardiff City were, and as such were able to sign him without paying compensation to Cardiff City. Celtic even delayed his signing until after the World Cup Final to ensure that Cardiff could have no avenue at all to claim compensation.
Arriving at Celtic, Joe Ledley would hit the ground running. Despite Celtic’s disastrous start to the season in terms of qualification for the Champions League and Europa League (season 2010/11), which saw Ledley play out of position at left back, he was able to quickly establish himself as a key member of the Celtic midfield under manager Neil Lennon with initially a series of low key but highly effective performances on the left side of central midfield.
It wasn’t until the end of 2011 that he truly made his mark, when Ledley played a blinder against Rangers (28 Dec 2011) in an important game that took Celtic to the top of the league. He scored the winner in a 1-0 victory in howling winds, a header from a corner to make himself a hero. His overall play in the game was outstanding and was increasingly a favourite of the support and a mainstay of the first team. A photo of him celebrating after his goal became quite iconic and a favourite of the support. You could tell he was enjoying his time.
He had risen to the challenge playing for Celtic, and was undeniably a wonderful player as we pushed our way to the title. He flitted well between positions in our midfield, moving easily between defensive and attacking midfield roles through a match. This made him valuable and he was developing without being flash. Not that most outspoken he could be easily passed over by others in a match, but that shouldn’t mean he was a lesser player, rather he was an efficient and effective box-to-box type player.
In some ways, he was part of the engine of the side as much as Scott Brown, and this invaluable role of his was a pivotal part of the success enjoyed under Lennon (especially in his first seasons).
The fine form was generally replicated in later seasons although he was rarely the star of the show. Possibly this was due to an easy going attitude, or hubris over his place in the team. Not that he ever played badly or maybe we had now started to take him a little for granted. Statistics showed that he was consistent and provided a good goals to games ratio and played in the bulk of games, as much as you could have asked.
The manager seemed to be very happy with him, and never being dumped out the side and made him a regular first starter. Played most of the games in the Champions League, including the great notable victories over Spartak Moscow & Barcelona in 2012/13. Qualifying to the last sixteen was exceptional and he played in the two leg defeat to Juventus too.
With the liquidation of Rangers, the new Glasgow derby for the moment in 2013/14 was against Partick Thistle and he had the award for having scored the winner in the 1-0 win, so two winners in Glasgow New Years(-ish) derbies.
He also scored in the Scottish Cup final of 2013 in the 3-0 win over Hibernian, another great platform for him to score in.
However, we wanted or needed more. He was developing but nothing necessarily to add of note, and he needed to provide more in terms of creativity. The forwards were misfiring with the first team over-relying on Kris Commons, and the midfield’s supply was partly the problem. Some wits even complained that all he was doing was horizontal passing, but that was nonsense.
In the matches in Europe, he didn’t really leave a mark which was a shame although he never gave less than his all and his goals were the face saving equaliser against Rennes in the UEFA Cup and an important goal against Helsinki in a European Cup qualifier. Not blue ribbon names but useful goals. His domestic form was where he was best. He had a lot of admirers in the support but some critics (minority) too.
One problem was that he seemed to be carrying an injury in his later years which could account for any declining form into his last season or so. He had had a hip operation in the past, and the problems (along with other pains) were now slowly impacting him. His mobility was down and so was his reaction time. So into the long-term this was a potential cause of concern. He had missed runs of matches, but never a long stretch of them as with some of his colleagues. Although Lennon seemed concerned:
“I know what Joe can do. That’s not an issue for me. I just want him to be injury-free and, when he is, he will play.”
One huge cloud hanging over Ledley was the concern that he could step back down south. For the first time ever, both Swansea and Cardiff were in the top tier, and the newly minted clubs were financially strong. A return home was thus a possibility. It depended on whether his ambition was to be with Celtic or if he preferred the drudgery of lower leagues in England (albeit with more money) which is where those clubs were going to end up.
Surprisingly, it wasn’t back to Wales, but to Crystal Palace that he moved. He’d let his contract run down, and Celtic decided to cash in before he left for naught in the summer, accepting a bid in January 2014. Ledley had previous for running down his contract, as he did it with Cardiff, and Celtic picked him up for free. The estimates are that he signed for Crystal Palace giving Celtic a undisclosed transfer fee of an estimate of £800k-1m. One site put it at around £3m, but doesn’t sound right.
He was still of an age that he could provide much for the club, and play in top European competitions and win more. Why he chose Crystal Palace is baffling as they are relegation fodder (at the time of the transfer they were hanging on in the EPL). Financially in the short term it could make sense, but in a footballing sense we offered so much more.
Joe Ledley in papers later stated he was planning to take up the offer of a new contract at Celtic before learning he’d been sold. You can choose whichever side to believe here, but regardless he had gone.
He left having scored in his last game for Celtic, a 4-0 win over Kilmarnock, and he won the man of the match award for the game. So, leaving on a high note with a fine performance. A good professional, and we would miss him.
With Celtic, he had helped Celtic to reach a domestic hegemony and the club into the top European competitions playing against some of the best in the Champions League.
He signed off to the support via twitter: “Best fans ever will miss u all” (link)
He was a good player and never any problems (on or off-field). We wished him the best.
Post-Celtic
He went on to have become a regular at Crystal Palace, Derby County and Charlton Athletic. At Cardiff City, he helped them to the FA Cup final in 2007/08 but they lost in the final.
One of his career highlights was still to come. In 2017, he was a leading player in the Wales side to win a place in the Euros in France, the first Wales side to qualify for a major tournament since 1958. Frighteningly, he broke his leg soon before the championships and it was believed he would not make be able to play. However, an incredible recovery saw him back to fitness and make the squad. The side stunned the big guns, with Wales making it through to the semi-finals only to lose to Portugal.
Best of all was topping their group ahead of England (although England did beat them in their group match) but Wales thumping highly regarded Belgium in the quarter-finals was exceptional. Ledley was one of the stars, and with his big gruff fisherman’s beard, he was a poster boy for the side as the most identifiable face in the squad. As a player he was a rock in the side in those matches. The Celtic support was proud to be able to number him as one of our own.
In the twilight of his playing days, he moved to the burgeoning Australian A-League, playing for the Newcastle Jets, before a final spell back home with Newport County in the fourth tier in England before he finally hung up his playing boots in November 2021.
Post-Playing Career
He never lost his Celtic roots, and played in front of 48,000 supporters for a ‘Celtic Legends‘ select side at Anfield v their Liverpool counterparts in a charity match in March 2023, winning the chance to relive old glories.
[….]
Quotes
“The day he left Celtic, Joe Ledley walked out of Lennoxtown in tears. He didn’t want to leave to move to Crystal Palace, he was almost forced into it.”
Kris Commons (2023)
Playing Career
| APPEARANCES | LEAGUE | SCOTTISH CUP | LEAGUE CUP | EUROPE | TOTAL |
| 2010-11 | 29 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 41 |
| Goals |
2 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 6 |
| 2011-12 |
32 | 4 | 4 | 6 | 46 |
| Goals |
7 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 9 |
| 2012-13 |
25 | 4 | 3 | 9 | 41 |
| Goals | 7 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 10 |
| 2013-14 |
20 | 1 | 0 | 8 | 29 |
| Goals |
4 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 5 |
| Total: | 106 | 13 | 11 | 27 | 157 |
| Goals | 20 | 7 | 1 | 2 | 30 |
Honours with Celtic
Scottish League
Scottish Cup
Pictures
KDS
Articles
Celtic confirm signing of Joe Ledley from Cardiff City
Celtic have confirmed Wales midfielder Joe Ledley has signed a four-year contract with the Scottish Premier League club.
By Tim Hart
Published: 11:52AM BST 12 Jul 2010
Manager Neil Lennon and his squad flew out of Glasgow this morning to London. Ledley met them at Heathrow for their flight to Philadelphia.
It has been widely thought for a week that Ledley would join Celtic since the Wales international turned down the chance to move to the Premier League with Stoke City.
“Celtic is a massive club. I’m looking forward to the season and working with Neil and his coaching staff,” Ledley said.
“I want to come here and win trophies. This is a great club and I’m looking forward to playing in front of a Celtic’s great fans every week.
“This is the right time to leave Cardiff and look at my career.
“Hopefully we can win the league and cups and it gives me the opportunity to play in Europe too.”
Cardiff insist they are due compensation for the out-of-contract Ledley, however Celtic will not owe the Bluebirds anything.
Cardiff would have expected upwards of £2 million compensation if he had signed for another team in the English leagues but Fifa’s cross-border transfer rules mean he is able to move to Celtic for free.
Cardiff will still try and get some sort of compensation but had Ledley joined Stoke the Bluebirds would have been looking at a seven figure sum.
It is believed Celtic delayed confirmation of his signing until after the World Cup final to ensure the Welsh club were unable to claim so-called training compensation, due if a player aged under 24 leaves a club during the season.
Ledley’s contract ended on June 30, but Celtic chose to wait a couple more weeks just to be safe.
The former Cardiff captain could make his debut for Celtic against Philadelphia on Thursday and should figure heavily in Lennon’s plans for the new season.
“We really are delighted to welcome Joe to Celtic,” Lennon said.
“Clearly, there were a number of clubs very interested in signing him so we are very pleased he has chosen to come to Celtic, somewhere I think he can be a tremendous success.”