Lewis Emanuel

Lewis Emanuel

Yorkshire born Lewis Emanuel was signed to trainee terms by his local side Bradford City after completing his GCSEs at Hanson’s School in 1999. He made his professional debut for Bradford City in a League Cup victory over Macclesfield Town, after which he became a permanent fixture in the Bradford team playing anywhere on the left wing, with his short but stout physique making it difficult to dispossess him. After 5 seasons and 139 appearances for Bradford, he turned down the offer of a new contract bringing his time in Yorkshire to a close at the end of the 2005/06 season. 

Prior to the 2006/07 season, Lewis signed for Luton Town, who were competing in the Championship, making his debut in a 2-0 victory at Kenilworth Road against Leicester City, and continuing to be a mainstay at left back, until relegation from the Championship and the arrival of Kevin Blackwell, who prioritised his own signings Alan Goodall and Darren Currie up and down the left wing, which meant Lewis was sent out on loan to League 2 Brentford for the first half of the 2007/08 season. Upon his return to Luton, a variety of transfers failed to materialise for Lewis, which resulted in him being one of the few contracted players who kicked off the 2008/09 season, in which the club started with a 30 point deduction. Lewis scored the goal that secured a point in the 2-2 draw to Chester City on the 13th January 2009, which brought Luton to zero points for the season, although he suffered a ruptured medial ligament, which kept him out of action until the 14th March, whereby he returned to the lineup for a 2-1 loss to Aldershot Town. He played the remainder of the season, including in the 3-2 Johnstone Paint Trophy Final victory over Scunthorpe United at Wembley. 

Although out of contract with Luton’s relegation to the Conference, Lewis turned odeon down a contract offer from Grimsby, who were managed by former Luton manager Mike Newell, instead opting to re-join Luton Town stating he “had unfinished business to attend to” ahead of the 2009/10 season. Unfortunately Lewis was unable to impact the team, suffering a broken toe in the August season opener against AFC Wimbledon, which limited him to just 2 further appearances in December, in the league against Kettering and the FA Trophy against Cambridge United. Lewis failed to prove his fitness in pre season training ahead of the 2010/11 season and was subsequently released by the club. 

On the 1st June 2013 Lewis was arrested on suspicion of armed robbery in West Yorkshire, and would serve 8 years in prison.