Lee Novak
| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Lee Paul Novak[1] | ||
| Date of birth | 28 September 1988 | ||
| Place of birth | Newcastle upon Tyne, England | ||
| Height | 6 ft 0 in (1.83 m) | ||
| Playing position | Striker | ||
| Club information | |||
| Current club | Huddersfield Town | ||
| Number | 21 | ||
| Youth career | |||
| Wallsend Boys Club | |||
| Gretna | |||
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps† | (Gls)† |
| 2006–2007 | Gretna | 0 | (0) |
| 2007–2008 | Newcastle Blue Star | 47 | (29) |
| 2008–2009 | Gateshead | 18 | (16) |
| 2009– | Huddersfield Town | 97 | (25) |
| 2009 | → Gateshead (loan) | 14 | (10) |
| * Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of March 3, 2012. † Appearances (Goals). |
|||
Lee Paul Novak (born 28 September 1988) is an English footballer who plays for Huddersfield Town in Football League One as a striker.
Contents |
[edit] Career
[edit] Early career
Born in Newcastle upon Tyne, Novak grew up as a supporter of Newcastle United.[citation needed] He started playing for local teams such as Wallsend Boys Club and Whitley Bay Boys Club.[citation needed] Novak started his senior career with Scottish side Gretna before returning to Newcastle to play for Newcastle Blue Star. He was eventually signed by Conference North side Gateshead.
[edit] Gateshead
Novak joined then Conference North side Gateshead in 2008 from Newcastle Blue Star. Getting off to a good start a number of league sides began to take notice of his goal scoring form for Gateshead, he notably scored four first-half goals in Gateshead's 5–2 win at Hyde United, which included a record breaking three minute hat-trick.[2] Both Huddersfield Town and Scunthorpe United tried to sign the striker in the January transfer window.[3] Huddersfield Town manager Lee Clark signed Novak from Gateshead during January 2009 after Novak had scored 16 goals in 14 games for Gateshead in the first part of the 2008–09 season, the deal was worth £150,000.[4]
As part of the deal, he returned to Gateshead on loan until the end of the season. Novak made a further 21 appearances scoring 13 times for Gateshead in helping them to the Conference North playoff final, scoring in the semi-final against Southport. Novak played in the final as winger Wayne Phillips scored the only goal in the 1–0 win over AFC Telford United to promote Gateshead to the Conference National. Novak finished the 2008–09 season as top scorer in the Conference North with 26 league goals.
[edit] Huddersfield Town
[edit] 2009–10 Season
Before he even made his first-team debut for Huddersfield, he gained media attention when he was involved in a pre-season friendly punch-up against Newcastle United with Fabricio Coloccini.[5]
He made his debut for Huddersfield as a substitute in the 2–2 draw against Southend United at Roots Hall on 8 August 2009, where he set up the equalizer.[6] He made his first competitive start three days later in the 3–1 win over Stockport County in the League Cup. On 18 August, he scored his first goal (a penalty) for Huddersfield, in a 7–1 win over Brighton & Hove Albion.[7]
He secured a regular place in the starting 11 alongside Jordan Rhodes. When he scored in the 2–1 defeat at Swindon Town with a 25-yard strike,[citation needed] he began a run of scoring in three consecutive league games as, following the Swindon strike, he scored in a 3–3 draw against Tranmere Rovers and a 2–2 draw at local rivals Leeds United.[8]
Novak suffered a knee injury during a game against Norwich City on the 13 March 2010, forcing him to miss Huddersfield's next five games. He made his return against Walsall on the 13 April, coming on as a 75th minute substitute and scoring a stoppage time winner to make the score 4–3 to Town. Novak then scored three stoppage time goals in four appearances off the bench including the winner over Walsall, a penalty during stoppage time in a 6–0 away win over Stockport County on 24 April and a last minute winner over Colchester United in a 2–1 win on 1 May, the last home game of the season.
Novak finished the season with 12 league goals in 38 league games during his first season at the club as Huddersfield reached a Play-off semi-final before exiting to Millwall in the second leg as they lost 2–0. Novak was the clubs third top goal scorer with 14 goals in all competitions behind Jordan Rhodes with 23 and Theo Robinson with 16.
[edit] 2011–12 Season
Unlike the previous campaign Novak had a full pre-season with no injury problems going into the 2011–12 season. He made his first appearance of the season in a 1–1 home draw with newly promoted Bury, he then made his first start of the season in the League Cup first round away at Port Vale in a 4–2 win on 9 August 2011 with Novak scoring twice to help the Terriers progress the next round.[9] His first league start of the season came on the second game of the league campaign when Novak opened the scoring in a 2-2 away draw at Rochdale.[10]
[edit] Club statistics
- As of 5 November 2010
| Season | Club | League[A] | FA Cup | League Cup | Other[B] | Total | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | ||
| 2008–09 | Gateshead[11] | 18 | 16 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 1 | 21 | 17 |
| Huddersfield Town | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| Gateshead (loan)[11] | 14 | 10 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 1 | 17 | 11 | |
| 2009–10 | Huddersfield Town[12] | 37 | 12 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 45 | 14 |
| 2010–11[13] | 33 | 5 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 39 | 5 | |
| 2011–12 | 28 | 8 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 33 | 12 | |
| Career totals | 92 | 45 | 3 | 2 | 5 | 2 | 12 | 3 | 116 | 52 | |
- A. ^ The "League" column constitutes appearances and goals (including those as a substitute) in the Football League and Football Conference.
- B. ^ The "Other" column constitutes appearances and goals (including those as a substitute) in the Football League Trophy, Conference League Cup, FA Trophy and play-offs.
[edit] References
- ^ "Search 1984 to 2006 – Birth, Marriage and Death indexes". Findmypast.com. http://www.findmypast.com/post84BMDSearchStart.action?redef=0&searchType=B. Retrieved 27 May 2010.
- ^ "Hyde United 2–5 Gateshead". http://www.gateshead-fc.com/2077/hyde-united-2-5-gateshead.
- ^ "Gateshead consider Novak transfer". BBC News. 22 January 2009. http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/eng_conf/7844642.stm.
- ^ "Media Watch – Gateshead receive Terriers transfer boost". Gateshead F.C.. 4 February 2010. http://www.gateshead-fc.com/2615/media-watch-gateshead-receive-terriers-transfer-boost. Retrieved 22 March 2010.
- ^ "FA to look into brawl at friendly". BBC Sport. 23 July 2009. http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/teams/n/newcastle_united/8166125.stm. Retrieved 8 December 2009.
- ^ "Southend 2–2 Huddersfield". BBC Sport. 8 August 2009. http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/eng_div_2/8186291.stm. Retrieved 8 August 2009.
- ^ "Huddersfield 7–1 Brighton". BBC Sport. 18 August 2009. http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/eng_div_2/8205231.stm. Retrieved 21 August 2009.
- ^ Swanson, Will (5 December 2009). "Leeds United 2 Huddersfield Town 2: match report". The Daily Telegraph (London). http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/football/leagues/leagueone/leeds/6736854/Leeds-United-2-Huddersfield-Town-2-match-report.html.
- ^ http://www.htafc.com/page/MatchReport/0,,10312~59921,00.html?
- ^ "Rochdale 2-2 Huddersfield". BBC News. 13 August 2011. http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/eng_div_2/14429706.stm.
- ^ a b "Gateshead FC 2008/09". Unofficial Gateshead Football Club Statistics Database. http://www.freewebs.com/gfcstats/0809.htm. Retrieved 5 November 2010.
- ^ "Huddersfield 2009/2010 player appearances". Soccerbase. http://www.soccerbase.com/squad_season.sd?seasonid=139&teamid=1309. Retrieved 5 November 2010.
- ^ "Huddersfield 2010/2011 player appearances". Soccerbase. http://www.soccerbase.com/squad_season.sd?seasonid=140&teamid=1309. Retrieved 5 November 2010.
[edit] External links
- Lee Novak profile at htafc.com
- Lee Novak career stats at Soccerbase
|
|||||
