David Lee (footballer, born 1969)

David John Lee (born 26 November 1969 in Kingswood, South Gloucestershire) is an English former professional footballer who played as a defender from 1988 until 2004.

For other uses, see David Lee (disambiguation).

David Lee
Personal information
Full name David John Lee
Date of birth (1969-11-26) 26 November 1969
Place of birth Kingswood, England
Height 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m)
Position(s) Central Defender
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
1988–1998 Chelsea 151 (11)
1992 → Reading (loan) 5 (5)
1992 → Plymouth Argyle (loan) 9 (1)
1994 → Portsmouth (loan) 5 (0)
1997 → Sheffield United (loan) 5 (0)
1998–1999 Bristol Rovers 11 (1)
1999 Crystal Palace 0 (0)
1999–2000 Colchester United 0 (0)
2000 Exeter City 4 (0)
2000–2001 Parramatta Power 11 (2)
2001–2002 Havant & Waterlooville ? (?)
2002 Forest Green Rovers 6 (1)
2002–2003 Weston-super-Mare 2 (1)
2003 Yate Town ? (?)
2003–2004 Mangotsfield United 14 (0)
Total 223 (22)
National team
England U21 10 (0)
Teams managed
2011 Northampton Town (caretaker)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only

He notably played in the Premier League for Chelsea and in the Australian top flight for Parramatta Power. He also played in the Football League for Reading, Plymouth Argyle, Portsmouth, Sheffield United, Bristol Rovers, Crystal Palace, Colchester United and Exeter City. He then went on to play in Non-league for Havant & Waterlooville, Forest Green Rovers, Weston-super-Mare, Yate Town and Mangotsfield United. He was capped 10 times by England U21 and after retiring became a scout and later assistant manager of Northampton Town where he briefly managed in a caretaker role.

Playing career

Lee spent most of his career at Chelsea, whom he joined as a junior in 1983.[1] He made his club debut on 1 October 1988 against Leicester City, scoring in a 2–1 win.[2] In ten years with Chelsea, Lee made 196 appearances, but struggled to cement a regular place in the starting line-up. As a result, his time with Chelsea was punctuated by brief loan spells with Reading, Plymouth Argyle, Portsmouth and Sheffield United. He only made one league appearance in his final full season with Chelsea (1997/98), playing the full 90 minutes of a 3–1 defeat at Leeds United on 8 April 1998.[3] This was his first league game since playing against Tottenham Hotspur on 26 October 1996. The Tottenham match was an emotional and incident packed game for Lee and his teammates. It was the first match since the death of Chelsea chairman Matthew Harding. Lee scored a penalty to put Chelsea in the lead, but was later stretchered off with a broken leg as a result of a challenge from Sol Campbell.[4]

Seeking regular football, Lee joined Bristol Rovers on a free transfer in 1998 and later had spells at Crystal Palace, Exeter City, Parramatta Power, Havant & Waterlooville and Forest Green Rovers.

Coaching career

Lee was chief scout with Bristol City from June 2010 until he resigned on 16 May 2011 citing a wish for a new challenge. In June 2011 Lee was appointed as assistant manager to Gary Johnson at Northampton Town.[5] After Johnson left Northampton by mutual consent in November 2011, Lee was placed in temporary charge of the first team, assisted by player-coach Andy Holt.[6] Lee lasted only one game in charge of Northampton; a 7–2 defeat to Shrewsbury Town, before being replaced on 22 November by Tim Flowers.[7]

References
  1. "David Lee". www.chelseafc.com. Archived from the original on 22 February 2011. Retrieved 15 November 2011.
  2. "David Lee". www.sporting-heroes.net. Retrieved 15 November 2011.
  3. Shaw, Phil (8 April 1998). "Hasselbaink double keeps Leeds in frame". The Independent. London. Retrieved 17 January 2010.
  4. "Gullit's fitting tribute". The Independent. 27 October 1996. Retrieved 11 March 2012.
  5. Wootton, Matt (29 June 2011). "Cobblers bring in David Lee as Assistant Manager". BBC.
  6. "Gary Johnson leaves as Northampton Town boss". BBC Sport. Retrieved 14 November 2011.
  7. "Tim Flowers replaces David Lee as Northampton Town caretaker". BBC Sport. Retrieved 22 November 2011.
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