Mikele Benjamin Leigertwood (born 12 November 1982 in Enfield) is an English footballer who plays for Queens Park Rangers in the Football League Championship and the Antigua and Barbuda national football team.

He began his career with Wimbledon, but he made his professional debut while on loan to Leyton Orient in November 2001. He got his first game at Wimbledon at the end of the 2001-2002 season, in a 1-0 defeat against Barnsley. While at Wimbledon, he played 65 games, scoring just three times in games against Norwich,^[1] Watford^[2] and Portsmouth in the League Cup.^[3]

He transferred to Crystal Palace for £155,000 in January 2004, becoming the first permanent signing of Iain Dowie, and played in 10 league games for the remainder of the 2003-2004 season, helping to secure Palace's promotion to the FA Premier League. In the 2004-2005 season, he made 23 appearances for Palace, including his first goal for the club against Tottenham Hotspur.^[4]

After the relegation of his club Crystal Palace, he joined Sheffield United on a three year deal after the Blades paid a £600,000 compensation fee. Although Leigertwood was out of contract, a fee was due as he was under 24 years of age at the time. Leigertwood joined Queens Park Rangers for a fee of £900,000 in August 2007.^[5]

Leigertwood is eligible to represent Antigua and Barbuda. Willie Donachie, Antigua and Barbuda's manager, tried to get Leigertwood into the squad for a World Cup Qualifier in June 2008, but Leigertwood had a wedding to attend.^[6]. Leigertwood received a red card and four match ban in a match against Birmingham City on 28 October 2008, for a challenge on Lee Carsley. During this ban, he accepted a call up for the Caribbean Championships to represent Antigua and Barbuda. He made his national debut on 5 November, 2008 in a 3-2 loss against Trinidad and Tobago and scored his first goal in their next match against Guyana.

[edit] International goals

Mikele Leigertwood: International Goals

#	Date	Venue	Opponent	Score	Result	Competition
1	7 November 2008	Marvin Lee Stadium, Macoya, Trinidad and Tobago	Guyana	2-1	Win	Caribbean Championships 2008

[edit] Notes

[edit] External links

• Official profile at SUFC
• Official profile at QPR
• Mikele Leigertwood career stats at Soccerbase
• Mikele Leigertwood Official Website at Icons.com
• International Statistics at CaribbeanFootballDatabase

Also has a nephew named Nathaniel Rivet Leigertwood.