Len Badger

Leonard 'Len' Badger (born 8 June 1945) is a former English football player who played as a right-back. Born in Tinsley Park, Sheffield he spent the majority of his career at Sheffield United before moving on to a shorter spell at Chesterfield where he finished his career.

Career

Sheffield United

Badger was born and brought up in the Tinsley Park area of Sheffield. He was an England schoolboy international who served his apprenticeship at Bramall Lane, and progressed through the junior ranks at Sheffield United and Sheffield Boys, before making his league debut for the Blades against Leyton Orient at Bramall Lane on 26 April 1963.

By the end of the 1963–64 season he established himself as first choice at right back, replacing club stalwart Cec Coldwell and remained a regular there until 1975. His stylish full-back displays, meant it was not long before he took over as captain and, at the time, he was one of the youngest skippers in the league. Badger’s left-back colleagues of the early and mid-sixties included Graham Shaw and Bernard Shaw, but it was the arrival of Ted Hemsley in 1968 that provided him with his most fruitful partnership which continued through one of United’s most successful post war periods from 1969-1972.