‘I love the football club’ – Millwall defender Ryan Leonard on triggering contract extension
BY RICHARD CAWLEY
richard@slpmedia.co.uk
Ryan Leonard has thanked Millwall’s hierarchy for including a contract extension clause after triggering another 12 months on the Den payroll.
The 32-year-old, currently sidelined with two tears in his calf muscle, had been due to be a free agent at the end of June but went past the appearance threshold needed to activate fresh terms.
We broke the story exclusively on our website earlier this week.
“It was after 25 starts that I think I triggered it,” Leonard, right, told the South London Press.
“It was nice to get it over the line and be here for another year, which I’m thrilled about. I love the football club. I’ve been here for a number of years now and understand the fanbase.”
Leonard, signed from Sheffield United in August 2018, was rewarded with an improved deal last summer after a strong season which had seen him win the club’s Player of the Year award.
He said: “It is thanks to Jimmy (Berylson, owner) and the football club, really, for putting that (the trigger) in the contract.
“I’m very happy it isn’t still on the backburner and it is over the line.
“No (he hadn’t been thinking about closing in on the trigger), you’re just in a good routine of playing games. The last couple of years has been like that for me, which I’ve not had for a long time. This year I got myself in the team and was just really enjoying playing and not worrying about how many games I’d played or how my body was feeling.
“I was able to turn up every day and game and know my body could churn out the games.”
Leonard has not played since suffering his injury in the 2-2 draw against Cardiff on January 21.
“It is progressing really well,” Leonard told the South London Press. “When I first did it, it didn’t feel great. It felt like quite a big injury in the moment I did it. I think you can tell in your own body whether it is going to be a good one or a bad one. When I first did it I wasn’t thinking I’d be back out there this season.
“But we’ve had some good news from a few different specialists and I’ve worked really hard with the physios. I’m hoping to be back just after the international break.
“I’m hoping that I’ll be back for the last month or six weeks of the season, all going well, which is really positive compared to the news I thought it was probably going to be when I first got injured.
“I got two separate tears in my calf, quite significant ones. It was in the Cardiff game, just after half-time, and I stepped back then went to push off, like you do it a thousand times in training and games, just as I pushed off I kind of felt like I had got shot in the back of my leg. It was a weird sensation and weird pain.
“You see with footballers that if you go down with no-one around you then it is never a good sign. There was no-one near me and I knew straight away it wasn’t good. I’ve worked hard and got on top of it quite early. It has become quite a positive outlook when it could’ve been quite a negative one.
“It came at an annoying time. I hadn’t missed a game up to that stage. I was enjoying my football and not worrying about anything to do with that. Injuries happen, it is part and parcel of the game because everybody is putting their bodies to the limit. You are never ready for it or happy when it happens.
“It will be nice to get a few games in before the end of the season to tick over into the summer.”