Beckford bolstered Leicester's attacking options in August 2011 when he signed for £2.5 million from Everton, a club who were keen to reduce their wage bill and gladly accepted City's bid for their striker.
Then-manager Sven-Goran Eriksson had been desperate to add new striking options to his squad after missing out on Shane Long and Nicky Maynard and chose Beckford to fill the gap before the close of the transfer window.
He started off plying his trade in the non-league, with Wealdstone, before Leeds United took a chance on his services in 2006. He made his name with Leeds, most notably scoring the winner for them in their 1-0 FA Cup triumph at bitter rivals Manchester United in January 2010. This was after he'd handed in a transfer request, but Leeds didn't want to sell him until he'd helped them to promotion to the Championship. At the end of that campaign, he signed a four-year deal with Everton on a free transfer.
He was never a first-team regular at Goodison Park, but did score the odd spectacular goal. In total he netted eight league goals in 34 league appearances for the club before they let him leave for the King Power Stadium. He went on to score his first goal in a 2-0 win over Watford on October 19, but his often lacklustre performances didn't really endear him to the City faithful early on.