Football Career
McKenzie began his career with his local club Crystal Palace, making his debut during the 1995–96 season. In 1997 he was loaned to Fulham and in 1998 to Peterborough United, where he scored 9 goals in 15 games.
In 2000 McKenzie joined Peterborough on a permanent basis for a fee of £25,000. In three years at London Road he scored 49 goals in 103 games.
He joined Norwich from Peterborough in December 2003 for a fee of £325,000, and instantly won over the Canaries supporters by scoring twice on his debut to help beat local rivals Ipswich Town at Portman Road and go top of the First Division. His goals made a significant contribution to Norwich's promotion to the Premier League as First Division champions at the end of the 2003-04 season.
Within a year, he had turned from a Second Division to a Premiership player. McKenzie took time to find his feet in the Premiership but he established a strike partnership with Dean Ashton which would become one of the most potent in the division during the closing stages of the 2004–05 season. His goals helped Norwich to haul themselves into contention to avoid the drop, although they were relegated on the last day of the season.
He came third in the Norwich City Supporters Player of The Season vote for the 2004–05, beaten by Darren Huckerby and Damien Francis.
The 2005–06 season for McKenzie was interrupted by injuries and personal difficulties surrounding the break-up of his marriage. At the start of the 2006–07 campaign, he handed in a transfer request to manager Nigel Worthington. Although Worthington rejected McKenzie's request, he subsequently confirmed that McKenzie would be sold if they received an offer that matched the club's valuation of the player.
McKenzie was signed by Coventry City on transfer deadline day in August 2006 for an initial £600,000 that, depending on appearances and promotion, could rise to £1m. Ironically, Coventry's first match after signing McKenzie was against Norwich – however, McKenzie was unable to play due to a condition of the transfer that prevented him from playing in either of the two fixtures between Coventry and Norwich in the 2006–07 season. He made his debut for Coventry on 12 September 2006 as a substitute against Ipswich Town at Portman Road.
He started the 2007–08 season well, scoring against Barnsley on the opening day of the season and against Hull, before a knee injury put him out of action for several weeks.
He scored in Coventry's opening game of the 2008–09 season against his old club, Norwich City. This marked McKenzie's 100th professional career goal and he celebrated by revealing a vest with "100" on it. He was subsequently booked for his celebration.
On 1 September 2009 it was confirmed that he had signed for Charlton Athletic. He scored his first and only goal for Charlton against Southampton in the Football League Trophy on 11 November 2009. He was one of six players to be released by Charlton Athletic following the end of the 2009–10 league season. On 8 September 2010 it was confirmed he had signed a contract with Northampton Town until the end of 2010–11 season.
McKenzie featured in a friendly for Conference club Luton Town against Bedford Town prior to the 2011-12 season.
On 15 December 2011 Mckenzie announced his retirement from professional football. He played his final game on December 17, 2011, after which he planned to move on to his music career ambitions.
In July 2012, however, McKenzie came out of retirement to sign for Conference North side Corby Town.
Read more about this topic: Leon McKenzie
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