Don Lees

William Lees (1873 – after 1905), also known as Don,[2] Donald,[3] or Walter Lees,[4] was a Scottish professional footballer who scored 74 goals from 260 appearances in the Football League playing for Lincoln City, Darwen and Barnsley.[2] He also played in the Scottish League for Celtic.[4] He played either as a forward or as a centre half.[2]

Not to be confused with Don Lee.

Don Lees
Personal information
Full name William Lees
Date of birth 1873
Place of birth Cronberry, Scotland
Date of death Not known
Position(s) Centre half / Forward
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
– Cronberry Eglington
1892–1893 Celtic 1 (0)
1893–1894 Lincoln City 28 (17)
1894 Celtic 3 (3)
1894–1895 Lincoln City 24 (7)
– Barnsley St Peter's
1895–1896 Darwen 20 (8)
1897–1904 Barnsley[A] 187 (42)
1904–1905 Watford 6 (2[1])
1905 Barnsley 1 (0)
1905– Denaby United
– South Kirkby
– Monk Bretton
– South Kirkby
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only

Football career

Lees was born in Cronberry, then in Ayrshire, in 1873.[2] He joined Celtic in 1892, and made his debut on 1 October 1892 against Clyde in the Scottish League.[4][5] Lees moved to England to play for Lincoln City, and was ever-present and the club's leading scorer with 17 goals in the 1893–94 Football League season,[3] a total which includes a hat-trick against Rotherham Town in an 8–2 win which remains (as of 2010) the club's record Football League away win.[6] He rejoined Celtic in May 1894, but accusations that the club had offered illegal inducements to attract him back resulted in the Football Association preventing Celtic from playing friendly matches in England. The consequent financial loss meant Celtic allowed Lees to return to Lincoln in October 1894,[4] by which time he had scored three goals from the first three Scottish League games of the 1894–95 season.[7]

He remained with Lincoln for the rest of the season,[3] then went on to play in the Football League for Darwen,[2] a club in financial difficulties with low morale, where he missed a month of the season when suspended by the club for misconduct.[8] He then moved on to Barnsley, playing nearly 200 Football League games for the club over six seasons, and also played for Southern League club Watford, before moving into non-League football in the Barnsley area.[2]

Notes
A. ^ : Barnsley appearances are for Football League matches only, not Midland or Yorkshire Leagues.

References
  1. Jones, Trefor (1996). Watford Football Club Illustrated Who's Who. p. 144. ISBN 0-9527458-0-1.
  2. Joyce, Michael (2004). Football League Players' Records 1888 to 1939. Nottingham: SoccerData (Tony Brown). p. 155. ISBN 978-1-899468-67-6.
  3. "Donald Lees". The Lincoln City FC Archive. Lincoln City F.C. Archived from the original on 11 March 2012. Retrieved 6 April 2010. Access individual season statistics via Season Stats dropdown menu.
  4. "Lees, Walter". TheCelticWiki. Retrieved 6 April 2010.
  5. "Celtic v Clyde 01/10/1892". Celtic F.C. Retrieved 6 April 2010.
  6. "We've Met (Rotherham) Before". Lincoln City F.C. 11 February 2010. Archived from the original on 17 February 2010. Retrieved 6 April 2010.
  7. "First Team Fixtures 1894–1895". Celtic F.C. Retrieved 6 April 2010.
  8. Calvy, D. "1896/97 Season". Memories of the Salmoners: Darwen Football Club 1975–1939. Darwen F.C. Retrieved 6 April 2010.
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