Lewis Emanuel
Encyclopedia
Lewis Emanuel is an English
-born Irish
professional footballer who most recently played for Luton Town
. He is a left back who can also play left midfield
.
, Emanuel went to the city's Hanson School, and started his career as a trainee with Bradford City
. He made his senior debut for them on 21 August 2001 in a League Cup
victory over Macclesfield Town
. He played five seasons at Bradford, making a total of 139 league games, during which he scored four goals, before turning down the offer of a new contract at the end of the 2005–06 season.
Emanuel subsequently signed for Championship
side Luton Town
on a free transfer on 21 July 2006. He scored his first goal for the club in a 1–0 victory at Sheffield Wednesday in August 2006. On 14 November 2006, he played for the Republic of Ireland B
international squad during a 0–0 friendly tie with Scotland B
.
After relegation to League One
, new Luton manager Kevin Blackwell
preferred his own signings Alan Goodall
and Darren Currie
to Emanuel. Indeed, under Blackwell's regime, he played just two games, neither in the league. On 25 October 2007, he joined Brentford
in a one month loan deal, which was then extended for a second month. During his loan spell he missed a League Two
game on 4 December 2007 against Morecambe
after claiming that he got lost on the M25
.
Later that season it was reported that Emanuel had joined Lincoln City
on loan, but the deal was cancelled as Luton entered administration. This led to the sale of several players, and the resultant lack of playing staff meant that Luton required Emanuel's services.
In July and August 2008, Emanuel played in pre-season friendlies
on trial with Birmingham City
and Southend United
. However, Emanuel remained at Kenilworth Road
in the 2008–09 season, for which Luton had been deducted 30 points. Emanuel helped Luton to reach zero points when he scored in a 2–2 draw with Chester City
in January, although he was substituted in the first half due to injury. The injury was diagnosed as a ruptured medial ligament, which was expected to rule him out for the rest of the season. Emanuel was limited to just 14 games for Luton during the season because of injury problems. However, he returned to training earlier than expected and featured for Luton's reserves in March and back into the first team against Aldershot Town
later the same week. A month after his return, Emanuel was part of Luton's Football League Trophy
-winning team; they defeated Scunthorpe United
3–2 after extra time in the final at Wembley Stadium
.
Out of contract at Luton, who were now relegated from The Football League
after failing to overcome the points deduction, Emanuel began the search for a new club. He had a trial at Oldham Athletic
, and turned down a contract offer from Grimsby Town
– managed by his previous coach at Luton, Mike Newell
. He instead re-signed for Luton on 31 July 2009, stating he had "unfinished business to attend to".
However, a broken toe sustained in the opening day of the season left Emanuel out of action for over three months. His return in December 2009 lasted just one game before his toe injury was once more aggravated, and he did not play again during the season.
Emanuel was given the opportunity to return to pre-season training in for the 2010-11 campaign and prove his fitness. However, he failed to report for the training sessions and was consequently released from Luton in early July 2010. He joined Barrow
on trial shortly after his release, though was not offered a contract due to impending surgery on his toe injury.
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
-born Irish
Republic of Ireland
Ireland , described as the Republic of Ireland , is a sovereign state in Europe occupying approximately five-sixths of the island of the same name. Its capital is Dublin. Ireland, which had a population of 4.58 million in 2011, is a constitutional republic governed as a parliamentary democracy,...
professional footballer who most recently played for Luton Town
Luton Town F.C.
Luton Town Football Club is an English professional football club based since 1905 at Kenilworth Road, Luton, Bedfordshire. The club currently competes in the fifth tier of English football, the Conference National, for the third consecutive season during the 2011–12 season.Formed in 1885, it was...
. He is a left back who can also play left midfield
Midfielder
A midfielder is an association football position. Some midfielders play a more defensive role, while others blur the boundaries between midfielders and forwards. The number of midfielders a team uses during a match may vary, depending on the team's formation and each individual player's role...
.
Career
Born in BradfordBradford
Bradford lies at the heart of the City of Bradford, a metropolitan borough of West Yorkshire, in Northern England. It is situated in the foothills of the Pennines, west of Leeds, and northwest of Wakefield. Bradford became a municipal borough in 1847, and received its charter as a city in 1897...
, Emanuel went to the city's Hanson School, and started his career as a trainee with Bradford City
Bradford City A.F.C.
Bradford City Association Football Club is an English association football club based in Bradford, West Yorkshire, playing in League Two....
. He made his senior debut for them on 21 August 2001 in a League Cup
Football League Cup
The Football League Cup, commonly known as the League Cup or, from current sponsorship, the Carling Cup, is an English association football competition. Like the FA Cup, it is played on a knockout basis...
victory over Macclesfield Town
Macclesfield Town F.C.
Macclesfield Town Football Club is an English football team. The club was formed in 1874 and is based in the town of Macclesfield in Cheshire. The team play its home games at the 6,355 capacity Moss Rose stadium...
. He played five seasons at Bradford, making a total of 139 league games, during which he scored four goals, before turning down the offer of a new contract at the end of the 2005–06 season.
Emanuel subsequently signed for Championship
Football League Championship
The Football League Championship is the highest division of The Football League and second-highest division overall in the English football league system after the Premier League...
side Luton Town
Luton Town F.C.
Luton Town Football Club is an English professional football club based since 1905 at Kenilworth Road, Luton, Bedfordshire. The club currently competes in the fifth tier of English football, the Conference National, for the third consecutive season during the 2011–12 season.Formed in 1885, it was...
on a free transfer on 21 July 2006. He scored his first goal for the club in a 1–0 victory at Sheffield Wednesday in August 2006. On 14 November 2006, he played for the Republic of Ireland B
Republic of Ireland B national football team
Republic of Ireland B is the reserve team of the Republic of Ireland national football team. There are no competitions for B teams. However since 1957 the Football Association of Ireland has arranged occasional friendlies.-Early B internationals:...
international squad during a 0–0 friendly tie with Scotland B
Scotland B national football team
The Scotland B national football team, controlled by the Scottish Football Association, is a secondary football team of Scotland, run occasionally as support for the Scotland national football team as a second string side to the first team....
.
After relegation to League One
Football League One
Football League One is the second-highest division of The Football League and third-highest division overall in the English football league system....
, new Luton manager Kevin Blackwell
Kevin Blackwell
Kevin Patrick Blackwell is an English former professional football goalkeeper who since retiring as a player has worked as a coach and a manager. He has an identical twin, Noel.-Early career:...
preferred his own signings Alan Goodall
Alan Goodall
Alan Goodall is an English football full back who plays for Fleetwood Town.-Bangor City:Goodall joined League of Wales club Bangor City in the summer of 2001...
and Darren Currie
Darren Currie
Darren Paul Currie is an English footballer who plays for Hendon in the Ryman League Premier Division...
to Emanuel. Indeed, under Blackwell's regime, he played just two games, neither in the league. On 25 October 2007, he joined Brentford
Brentford F.C.
Brentford Football Club are a professional English football club based in Brentford in the London Borough of Hounslow. They are currently playing in Football League One....
in a one month loan deal, which was then extended for a second month. During his loan spell he missed a League Two
Football League Two
Football League Two is the third-highest division of The Football League and fourth-highest division overall in the English football league system....
game on 4 December 2007 against Morecambe
Morecambe F.C.
Morecambe Football Club is an English football club based in Morecambe, Lancashire. It plays its football in League Two, the fourth division of English football, having been promoted in 2007 for the first time in their history to the Football League. They played their home matches at Christie Park...
after claiming that he got lost on the M25
M25 motorway
The M25 motorway, or London Orbital, is a orbital motorway that almost encircles Greater London, England, in the United Kingdom. The motorway was first mooted early in the 20th century. A few sections, based on the now abandoned London Ringways plan, were constructed in the early 1970s and it ...
.
Later that season it was reported that Emanuel had joined Lincoln City
Lincoln City F.C.
Lincoln City Football Club is an English professional association football club based in Lincoln, Lincolnshire. The club are currently members of the Conference National in 2011–12 following relegation from the Football League....
on loan, but the deal was cancelled as Luton entered administration. This led to the sale of several players, and the resultant lack of playing staff meant that Luton required Emanuel's services.
In July and August 2008, Emanuel played in pre-season friendlies
Exhibition game
An exhibition game is a sporting event in which there is no competitive value of any significant kind to any competitor regardless of the outcome of the competition...
on trial with Birmingham City
Birmingham City F.C.
Birmingham City Football Club is a professional association football club based in the city of Birmingham, England. Formed in 1875 as Small Heath Alliance, they became Small Heath in 1888, then Birmingham in 1905, finally becoming Birmingham City in 1943.They were relegated at the end of the...
and Southend United
Southend United F.C.
Southend United Football Club is an English football club based at Roots Hall Stadium, Prittlewell, Southend-on-Sea, Essex, who play in Football League Two. Their home ground is Roots Hall, and the club plan to move into a new 22,000-seater stadium located at Fossetts Farm.-Stadium:The club has had...
. However, Emanuel remained at Kenilworth Road
Kenilworth Road
Kenilworth Road Stadium is a football stadium in Luton, Bedfordshire, England. It has been home to Luton Town Football Club since 1905, when financial complications forced the club to leave its previous location at Dunstable Road...
in the 2008–09 season, for which Luton had been deducted 30 points. Emanuel helped Luton to reach zero points when he scored in a 2–2 draw with Chester City
Chester City F.C.
Chester City Football Club was an English football team from Chester. The club was founded as Chester F.C., and joined the Football League in 1931, spending most of their time in the lower divisions. They changed their name to Chester City in 1983. Chester won their first league title in 2004, the...
in January, although he was substituted in the first half due to injury. The injury was diagnosed as a ruptured medial ligament, which was expected to rule him out for the rest of the season. Emanuel was limited to just 14 games for Luton during the season because of injury problems. However, he returned to training earlier than expected and featured for Luton's reserves in March and back into the first team against Aldershot Town
Aldershot Town F.C.
Aldershot Town Football Club is an association football club based in Aldershot, Hampshire, England, founded in the spring of 1992 just after the closure of debt-ridden Fourth Division club Aldershot Football Club...
later the same week. A month after his return, Emanuel was part of Luton's Football League Trophy
Football League Trophy
The Football League Trophy, currently known as the Johnstone's Paint Trophy for sponsorship reasons, is an annual English association football knock-out competition open to the 48 clubs in Football League One and Football League Two, the bottom two divisions in the four fully professional top...
-winning team; they defeated Scunthorpe United
Scunthorpe United F.C.
Scunthorpe United Football Club is an English association football team based in the town of Scunthorpe, North Lincolnshire, who play in the Football League One....
3–2 after extra time in the final at Wembley Stadium
Wembley Stadium
The original Wembley Stadium, officially known as the Empire Stadium, was a football stadium in Wembley, a suburb of north-west London, standing on the site now occupied by the new Wembley Stadium that opened in 2007...
.
Out of contract at Luton, who were now relegated from The Football League
The Football League
The Football League, also known as the npower Football League for sponsorship reasons, is a league competition featuring professional association football clubs from England and Wales. Founded in 1888, it is the oldest such competition in world football...
after failing to overcome the points deduction, Emanuel began the search for a new club. He had a trial at Oldham Athletic
Oldham Athletic A.F.C.
Oldham Athletic Association Football Club is an English association football club based at Boundary Park, on Sheepfoot Lane in Oldham, Greater Manchester. The club currently competes in the Football League One, the third tier of the English league...
, and turned down a contract offer from Grimsby Town
Grimsby Town F.C.
Grimsby Town Football Club is an English football club based in the seaside town of Cleethorpes, in North East Lincolnshire, England, who compete in the Conference National. They were formed in 1878 as Grimsby Pelham and later became Grimsby Town...
– managed by his previous coach at Luton, Mike Newell
Mike Newell (footballer)
Michael Colin "Mike" Newell is an English football manager and former professional footballer. As a player he notably was a member of the Blackburn Rovers team which won the Premier League in 1995, as well also playing for Crewe Alexandra, Wigan Athletic, Luton Town, Leicester City, Everton,...
. He instead re-signed for Luton on 31 July 2009, stating he had "unfinished business to attend to".
However, a broken toe sustained in the opening day of the season left Emanuel out of action for over three months. His return in December 2009 lasted just one game before his toe injury was once more aggravated, and he did not play again during the season.
Emanuel was given the opportunity to return to pre-season training in for the 2010-11 campaign and prove his fitness. However, he failed to report for the training sessions and was consequently released from Luton in early July 2010. He joined Barrow
Barrow A.F.C.
Barrow A.F.C. are an English football club founded in 1901 based in the town of Barrow-in-Furness in Cumbria. Following promotion at the end of the 2007–08 season, they currently play in the Conference National. The club spent over fifty years in the Football League between 1921 and 1972, and have...
on trial shortly after his release, though was not offered a contract due to impending surgery on his toe injury.
Honours
Luton Town- Football League TrophyFootball League TrophyThe Football League Trophy, currently known as the Johnstone's Paint Trophy for sponsorship reasons, is an annual English association football knock-out competition open to the 48 clubs in Football League One and Football League Two, the bottom two divisions in the four fully professional top...
winner: 2008–092008–09 in English footballThe 2008–09 season was the 129th season of competitive football in England.-Overview:* West Bromwich Albion, Stoke City and Hull City were all playing in the Premier League after winning promotion from the Championship last season. Stoke returned to the top flight after a 23-year absence, while...