Leon Charles Jeanne (born 17 November 1980) is a
Welsh former footballer. In 2015 he was imprisoned for conspiracy to carry-out drug dealing.
A talented winger Jeanne began his career at
Queens Park Rangers, making his debut on February 1999 against
Watford, but problems began to arise nearly as soon as he became a professional when he disappeared for over a week when he was meant to be reporting for
Wales under-21 duty. However manager
Gerry Francis revealed that it was not the first time the youngster had gone missing and that Jeanne was on his last chance at the club after being arrested for drink-driving the previous year.
[1]
He left QPR in 2001 to sign for his hometown club
Cardiff City who hoped to curb his disciplinary problems only for them to spiral out of control during his time there. Just a few weeks after joining Cardiff he tested positive for a class A drug and was handed a two-year suspended sentence by the
Football Association of Wales.
[2] He started to show his quality with two appearances for the first team after the ruling but at the end of the season yet another situation arose. In May 2002 Jeanne was selected for random drugs testing and sent his sample away but the results came back only to show that the sample he had submitted was not
urine. He refused to provide a second sample which led to Cardiff terminating his contract and he left the club.
[3]
After his release from Cardiff he attempted a comeback with
Havant & Waterlooville in a pre-season friendly against
League of Wales side
Barry Town but was withdrawn from playing after officials at Barry questioned if he was allowed to play at which point it was revealed that he was currently banned from playing football.
[4] He was allowed to resume playing a short while later and enjoyed a prosperous spell at
Port Talbot Town but yet again he was involved in a scandal. In September 2002 he was arrested, along with two other men, on suspicion of dealing class A drugs. During the court case he revealed that he used to be addicted to
cocaine. Eventually he and the other two men were cleared of all charges.
[5]
After the case ended he returned to football with
Newport County followed by spells at
Dinas Powys and
Barry Town.
[6] After a spell playing for
Maesteg Park, Jeanne joined amateur side Carpenters Arms.
[7] On 7 July 2009, Jeanne was arrested on suspicion of money-laundering after a police raid on his home.
[8]
Jeanne featured in two pre-season friendlies for Conference South side
Weston-super-Mare on 9 and 11 July before signing on non-contract terms, making his debut on the opening day of the season in a defeat to
Staines Town.
[9] However he was released the following month due to a lack of fitness.
[10]
In November 2010, Jeanne left Welsh League side
Cardiff Corinthians, and signed for
Conference National side
Bath City. Jeanne also signed on for
Cinderford Town of the
Southern League South & West Division on dual registration and spent the majority of the 2010–11 season with Cinderford.
In June 2011, Jeanne joined
Championship side
Brighton & Hove Albion for pre-season training in a bid to earn a contract and play football at a high level once more. He started the 2011–12 season playing for
Welsh Premier League side
Afan Lido but left before the start of the 2012–13 season to join
Carmarthen Town.
[11]
