point, but he soon took his chance when John Oster was sacked for bad behaviour, becoming a regular starter from then on. His pace and skills on the wing excited Leeds fans, and he was one of the star performers in Leeds' first season in the Championship under the management of Kevin Blackwell with his performances earning rave reviews. His last involvement at Leeds was playing and scoring in Lucas Radebe's testimonial. With Leeds' financial problems, Lennon was sold to Spurs for a heavily reduced fee, with a sell-on clause inserted into the deal. Tottenham Hotspur With Leeds suffering financial difficulties, Lennon made a £1 million move to Tottenham Hotspur on 15 June 2005. His Spurs debut came a couple of months later in a 2–0 home defeat against Chelsea on 27 August 2005. On 18 March 2006, Lennon scored his first Premier League goal in Tottenham's 2–0 victory over Birmingham City at St Andrew's. He was nominated by fellow players for the PFA Young Player of the Year for both the 2005–06 and 2006–07 seasons, but lost out to Wayne Rooney and Cristiano Ronaldo, respectively. Lennon signed a new five-and-a-half-year deal with Tottenham on 8 January 2007. On 24 February 2008, Lennon won his first major career honour as Tottenham came from a goal down to defeat Chelsea 2–1 after extra time at Wembley Stadium in the 2008 League Cup Final. An improved deal was signed in March 2009 which contracted him to Spurs until 2014. Lennon finished the 2008–09 season as the Tottenham Fans' Player of the Season, the club's Player of the Season and Young Player of the Season, and was nominated for a third successive year for PFA Young Player of the Year, this time losing out to Ashley Young. He played in 47 matches in all competitions and scored five goals, including a late equaliser in a memorable North London derby which ended 4–4 and was manager Harry Redknapp's first match in charge. Spurs finished eighth in the league and reached the 2009 League Cup Final, which they lost on penalties to Manchester United after a goalless draw at Wembley Stadium. His goals early in the 2009–10 season – against West Ham United at the Boleyn Ground, and Birmingham City – kept Tottenham at the top of the league table with four successive wins, their best start to a league season since the 1960–61 season.