Ben Gordon would have probably thought that his career was on the verge of greatness when he swapped Leeds United for Chelsea in 2007.
Fleetwood Town’s David Ball and Leeds United’s Charlie Taylor in action
This summer, Leeds are facing the real possibility of watching star left-back Charlie Taylor leave the club when his contract expires. While Taylor is an established first-team player, a departure this year may evoke memories for some Whites fans of another academy starlet who left Elland Road 10 years ago.
In 2007, Ben Gordon would have probably thought that his career was destined for great things when he departed Leeds’ academy – having made no appearances for the first-team – for Chelsea who had won the Premier League twice since 2005.
Despite staying on the Blues’ books until 2013, Gordon never made an appearance for Chelsea. So what happened to the defender following his move from Leeds?
Gordon spent much of his time on the books at Stamford Bridge out on loan, playing for Tranmere, Scunthorpe, Peterborough and Birmingham while also enjoying two spells at Kilmarnock.
He was released by Chelsea in 2013 and signed for Yeovil Town, for whom he made three league appearances before heading back to Scotland to play for Ross County.
The 28 league appearances he made for Ross remains the most he has made for one club in the league, and he has since played for the likes of Colchester, Chester, Bradford Park Avenue and Woking.
He is now playing in the National League North with Boston United, and has been a regular for the Pilgrims, making 20 league appearances for the side.
Unfortunately for Gordon however, it is difficult to imagine that he would have expected his career to take him on a journey which would end up with him playing in the sixth level of English football at an age when he should be enjoying the best years of his career.
And while Taylor is in no danger of following a similar path whatever he decides this summer, he may want to consider Gordon’s decline as a warning for how a wrong move can have a drastic impact on a career.
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