Leighton John Baines, commonly known as Leighton Baines, is a professional football player who was born on December 11, 1984 in Liverpool, Merseyside, a metropolitan county in North West England. Leighton Baines studied at the All Saints RC High School from 1996-2001.
Leighton Baines represented England internationally by playing with the country’s Under-21 team and has made 16 international appearances that included one that saw a goal from him. His first international appearance came against Austria whereas his lone goal came against Germany in the first leg of the Union of European Football Association (UEFA) European U21 Championship play-off and helped his team register a 1-0 victory. Leighton Baines went on to play in all four of England’s matches in the finals of the 2007 UEFA European Under-21 Football Championship.
Leighton Baines started his professional football career with Wigan Athletic and made his debut for the club in October 2002 in a 3-1 League Cup win against West Bromwich Albion Football Club. He became a regular member of the first team in the 2003-2004 season and was named the club’s Young Player of the Year. When the club was promoted to the Premiership in 2004-2005 season, Leighton Baines featured in the first team consistently and netted his first goal for the club during this season in a match against Ipswich Town. Wigan Athletic offered him a new contract in February 2005 after his impressive performance in the first season of the Premiership that extended his stay there. During his stint at this club, Leighton Baines appeared in 145 games and had scored a goal on four occasions.
On August 6, 2007, Leighton Baines and Wigan confirmed that Everton Football Club had signed him for an initial £5 million and was offered another £1m in add-ons, depending on his performances for the club. As of 2008, he has played twenty four games for Everton and has been wearing the jersey number 3.
