The teenage dream of Fijian forward Leroy Jennings

Leroy Jennings has a quite interesting story as a footballer. Born in Australia in 1998, the forward had the opportunity to join Los Angeles Galaxy from United States when he was just 13 years old after impressing former England National Team player David Bechkam.

His moment of glory happened when he tackled David Beckham’s son Brooklyn – ”I tackled him [Brooklyn Beckham], I got the ball and had to play on […] It was two seconds of glory. After the game, the director of the youth academy asked David Beckham who were the stand-outs and he replied with me,” told Leroy to Port News. After a successful trial he moved to Los Angeles and spent one year in Galaxy’s academy.

He returned to Australia in 2013 and spent some time playing for Bonnyrigg White Eagles youth teams before having another opportunity abroad. Jennings joined Wrexham United from Wales and spent two years in Europe – “It was not easy living in a new country, playing a different style of football with new teammates […] Even though I became a regular starter for the team in my second year it was still a constant expectation to perform at your very best and then try to break into the first-team,” he revealed to FTBL.

Older and more experienced, Jennings went back to Australia in 2016 to play for Newcastle Jets youth team. In the same year he was called-up to represent Fiji in OFC U-20 Championship. He scored one goal in three matches and since then he has never again represented Fiji internationally.

Jennings grew up and became a regular starter in National Premier League (NPL) teams in Australia at senior level. He played for Sutherland Sharks in 2018 and now he is currently playing for Blacktown City FC. Both teams play the first tier of New South Wales league in NPL.

Leroy has never played for Fiji National Team at senior level. It is not known if it is because he did not want to or if Fiji Football Association did not contact him anymore. The 22-year-old forward surely has the goods to be part of the National Team if he wants to.