Even though Aaron Lennon had never competed in a legitimate 100-meter competition, he was given the opportunity to train as a sprinter for Great Britain.
The former winger is among the fastest players in Premier League history after developing a reputation for leaving defenders in his wake. He played for Leeds, Tottenham, Everton, and Burnley throughout his incredibly successful career.
Although Lennon played the side most of his career, the 36-year-old disclosed that when growing up in Leeds, he was offered the opportunity to pursue a different job in addition to starting his career in a different position.
Lennon said to talkSPORT Drive, when asked how quickly he could run a hundred meters, “I’ve never done it.” It’s something I have never done.
“We used to race each other around the block or around the street, and in school it would be to the wall and back, but we never did 100m,” the person said. “My school didn’t do that.”I participated in one race, which I believe was for Yorkshire’s quickest. I recall that as the other competitors arrived with their blocks, I was just getting set to race, my trainers at the ready, yet I won with ease!
The fastest students in the class for this age group are to be nominated, according to the schools who organized it. The first section was timed at thirty meters, and the top eight competitors advanced to an untimed 100-meter race, which I easily won.
“I want to play football, it’s not for me,” I said to a coach who asked me whether I wanted to run for West Yorkshire or Great Britain, or whatever the title was at the time.
When asked if playing football was his career choice, Lennon said, “Yeah, nothing else.”
“When I was really young, I used to play down the middle. It wasn’t until I made the first team at Leeds under Peter Reid that I started to push out wide.”
It used to occur frequently. They would push you out wide if you were a quick player, and back then, you usually had two large attackers, so I went wide and it just stuck.
I think I would play left wing now. Now, when do you see a right-footed athlete playing on the right side? That’s why I’d be on the left side. It is no longer the case.
“I actually played a lot of left-sided games, and I felt that you always had more opportunities to score goals on the left, but I didn’t mind it.”
When asked if he had ever signed a boot deal as the youngest player, Lennon said, “Yeah, with adidas.” It was made of peanuts. Really, it wasn’t much money—not at all.
“Boots were becoming so costly; at one point, they were £120! The entire street was full of them, so I could have as many as I desired.
“The only issue was that every pair that arrived had my name on it because that was the period when they wanted to put my name on the tongue.”
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