Rob Lee
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| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Robert Martin Lee | ||
| Date of birth | 1 February 1966 | ||
| Place of birth | Plaistow, London, England | ||
| Height | 1.78 m (5 ft 10 in) | ||
| Playing position | Midfielder | ||
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps† | (Gls)† |
| 1983–1992 | Charlton Athletic | 298 | (59) |
| 1992–2002 | Newcastle United | 303 | (44) |
| 2002–2003 | Derby County | 48 | (2) |
| 2003–2004 | West Ham United | 16 | (0) |
| 2004 | Oldham Athletic | 0 | (0) |
| 2005–2006 | Wycombe Wanderers | 38 | (0) |
| Total | 703 | (105) | |
| National team | |||
| 1986 | England U21 | 2 | (0) |
| 1994 | England B | 1 | (0) |
| 1994–1998 | England | 21 | (2) |
| * Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only. † Appearances (Goals). |
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Robert Martin "Rob" Lee (born 1 February 1966 in West Ham, London) is a retired English footballer who played the majority of his career for Charlton Athletic and Newcastle United.
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[edit] Club career
[edit] Charlton Athletic
Lee came through the academy of Charlton Athletic and established himself in the first team by the 1984–85 season. He rapidly became the Addicks' star player playing as a winger and helping Charlton to promotion to the First Division at the end of the 1985–86 season. He remained a regular in the top-flight over the next four years until Charlton were relegated back to Division Two at the end of the 1989–90 season.
Lee remained with Charlton for over two years, but he was sold after the beginning of 1992–93 season as the club needed money to finance the return to The Valley. At the time, Charlton were second in the table, and Lee moved to the team above them, Newcastle United, for a fee of £700,000. He moved to Newcastle after their manager, Kevin Keegan, told him that Newcastle upon Tyne was closer to London than Middlesbrough, the other club interested in signing Lee,[1][2] and who were in the Premier League - though ultimately Newcastle were promoted that season and Middlesbrough were relegated.
[edit] Newcastle United
In his first season, Lee helped Newcastle gain promotion to the Premier League for the 1993–94 season. The following few years, Lee was a key component of Keegan's team which challenged for several Premier League titles, achieving runners-up position in the 1996–97 season, earning the reputation as "the Entertainers". Such was Lee's form, Keegan gave him the title of 'Best Midfielder in Britain'. After Keegan was replaced by Kenny Dalglish in early 1997, Lee was named captain of Newcastle, but Dalglish's reign failed to bring success and he was fired shortly after the start of the 1998–99 season. He played in both the 1998 and 1999 FA Cup Finals, both of which ended in defeat for Lee and Newcastle.
Lee failed to get on with new manager Ruud Gullit, and had his captaincy taken away from him, and didn't even receive a squad number. Gullit resigned shortly after the start of the following season, and under Sir Bobby Robson Lee reclaimed his place in the side, given the number 37 shirt, and played a part as a free scoring Newcastle side which reached the FA Cup semi finals once again. Lee's old squad number 7, taken away by Gullit, had previously been given to Kieron Dyer. Dyer gave Lee the number 7 shirt back and Dyer played with the number 8 shirt, previously worn by Franck Dumas. With Robson as manager, Lee turned into a more of a defending midfielder that held up the play and allowed others to get forward rather than the attacking midfielder that he had been in the mid 1990s.
In the 2001–02 season, Lee wanted to extend his contract with the club, but Newcastle insisted that they waited until January 2002 before negotiating. Lee was unhappy with the way the contract talks were being handled, so he handed in a transfer request. The supporters and the players were surprised at his decision, and manager Robson was sorry about the situation but respected Lee's decision. By February 2002, Lee had been sold to Derby County for £250,000. However, his 10 years at the club meant he became a hero at Newcastle, despite his decision to leave.
[edit] Later career
After a short, unsuccessful spell with Derby, which saw them relegated from the Premier League, Lee was sold to West Ham United in 2003, after scoring twice in games against Reading[3] and Ipswich Town.[4] However, he played only a handful of games for the Hammers during the 2003–04 season. Following this, he was released on a free transfer, and had trials with Oldham Athletic and Wycombe Wanderers, and was later signed full time by the latter. He played two seasons in League Two with the Chairboys, before leaving in June 2006, following the dismissal of John Gorman as the club's manager.
[edit] International career
Lee played for England between 1994 and 1998, scoring twice in twenty one appearances. He was called up for the first time for a friendly against the USA in September 1994,[5] and scored on his debut the following month against Romania.[6] He was in the squad for the 1998 World Cup under Glenn Hoddle,[7] and came on once as a substitute against Colombia.[8]
[edit] Post-playing career
In October 2006, Lee was interviewed for the manager position at Bournemouth,[9] but the job went to Kevin Bond. Lee was arrested in July 2007, alongside former team-mate Warren Barton, for taking a limousine[10] but was not charged.[11] He also appeared for Newcastle on the charity television show Premier League All Stars in September 2007.
In May 2008, he captained Legal & General to victory in a charity five-a-side tournament in St Albans, helping to raise £15,000 for the leukemia charity the Anthony Nolan Trust.[12]
Currently,[when?] he works as a regular pundit for Singapore's Football Channel.[13] He is also backup commentator alongside John Burridge for TEN Sports' UEFA Champions League fixtures.[14]
[edit] Family
Lee's sons, Oliver & Elliot, are footballers with West Ham United.[15][16]
[edit] Honours
[edit] Club
- Charlton Athletic
- Full Members Cup
- Runner-up: 1987
- Newcastle United
- Premier League
- FA Cup
- FA Charity Shield
- Runner-up: 1996
- Football League First Division
- Winner: 1992-93
- West Ham United
- Football League First Division
- Play-off Runner-up: 2004
[edit] International
- England
- Tournoi de France 1997: Winner
- 1998 King Hassan II International Cup Tournament: Runner-up
[edit] Individual
- PFA Team of the Year (Premier League): 1996
- Premier League Player of the Month: November 1995
[edit] References
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Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Rob Lee |
- ^ King Kev reigns supreme, Newcastle 1992-93 promotion campaign Mirror Football, April 2010
- ^ Downing has tough boots to fill if he moves - we look at some of those other north-east stars that starred in the smoke Mail Online, 6 January 2009
- ^ "Derby 3–0 Reading". BBC Sport. 10 August 2002. http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/eng_div_1/2181087.stm. Retrieved 6 November 2009.
- ^ "Derby 1–4 Ipswich". BBC Sport. 4 May 2003. http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/eng_div_1/2967949.stm. Retrieved 6 November 2009.
- ^ Lee at the centre of Newcastle's intentions: For one player this week's England call-up marked the end of a long wait for recognition The Independent, 10 September 1994
- ^ New boy Lee gets England: Tottenham's Dumitrescu shows how to breach Venables' defence The Independent, 13 October 1994
- ^ 1998 FIFA World Cup France ™ - England FIFA.com
- ^ Match Report: Colombia - England 0:2 (0:2) FIFA.com, 26 June 1998
- ^ Shepherd denies he wants to sell stake in Newcastle, The Guardian, 3 October 2006
- ^ "Footballers in limo theft arrest". BBC News. 25 July 2007. http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/6915778.stm. Retrieved 23 November 2007.
- ^ "No limo theft charges for players". BBC News. 21 September 2007. http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/london/7006115.stm. Retrieved 23 November 2007.
- ^ "Soccer stars help raise £15K". St Albans Observer. 9 July 2008. http://www.stalbansobserver.co.uk/news/localnews/display.var.2260463.0.soccer_stars_help_raise_15k.php. Retrieved 12 May 2008.
- ^ Where are they now? Wycombe Wanderers FC, 7 May 2008
- ^ WHAT HAPPENED TO THE CLASS OF 1993? The Journal, 7 April 2010 (Archived)
- ^ "Player profiles - Olly Lee". West Ham United FC. http://www.whufc.com/articles/oliver-lee-west-ham_2228487_48816. Retrieved 20 November 2011.
- ^ "On the road: Lee set to follow in his father's footsteps as West Ham youngster shines=http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/football/article-2031187/Elliot-Lee-set-follow-fathers-footsteps.html". Daily Mail Online.
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- 1966 births
- Living people
- People from Plaistow, Newham
- English footballers
- England international footballers
- England B international footballers
- England under-21 international footballers
- Premier League players
- Charlton Athletic F.C. players
- Newcastle United F.C. players
- Derby County F.C. players
- West Ham United F.C. players
- Oldham Athletic A.F.C. players
- Wycombe Wanderers F.C. players
- 1998 FIFA World Cup players
- The Football League players
- Sportspeople from London
