chicky..even if you don't have a perfect lawn, it's always best to clear leaves away and give it a good raking to get all the dead bits from the summer off the surface. Stick a fork in all over and in the spring maybe some fertiliser sprinkled over.
and perleeeease don't talk to me about leaf hoovers..I bought one and can't lift it up when it's got leaves in it! As usual on the front of the leaflet it has some woman titting about flicking it around like it weighs no more than a vib...portable massaging machine...pah!