Lee Bullen
Personal information | |||
---|---|---|---|
Full name | Lee Bullen | ||
Date of birth | 29 March 1971 | ||
Place of birth | Edinburgh, Scotland | ||
Height | 1.85 m (6 ft 1 in) | ||
Position(s) |
Centre back Striker | ||
Senior career* | |||
Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
1988-1989 | Dunfermline Athletic | 0 | (0) |
1989-1990 | Penicuik Athletic | 17 | (12) |
1990 | Meadowbank Thistle | 12 | (0) |
1990-1991 | Stenhousemuir | 22 | (4) |
1991-1993 | Whitburn | 36 | (25) |
1993 | CYC Stanmore | 8 | (2) |
1993-1994 | Wollongong Wolves | ? | (?) |
1994-1995 | Kui Tan | ? | (?) |
1995-1997 | Golden | ? | (30) |
1997-1998 | South China | ? | (0) |
1998-2000 | Kalamata | 50 | (11) |
2000-2004 | Dunfermline Athletic | 130 | (22) |
2004-2008 | Sheffield Wednesday | 134 | (8) |
2008-2011 | Falkirk | 41 | (1) |
*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 16:56, 25 January 2010 (UTC) |
Lee Bullen (Chinese: 李 布倫, born 29 March 1971 in Edinburgh) is a Scottish football player and coach. In a career that has spanned more than 20 years, Bullen has played football professionally in Scotland, England, Australia, Greece and Hong Kong. Having started his career as a striker, Bullen converted to defence midway through his career, and has also been used in various other positions. Lee was named as Sheffield Wednesday's greatest ever captain on a prostatecanceruk.org poll. [1]
Career
Bullen started his career in Scotland with Dunfermline Athletic, but failed to make an appearance before moving to Penicuik Athletic, a Junior Football team. Bullen then spent time at Meadowbank Thistle, Stenhousemuir and Whitburn. After failing to become an established player at a professional club in Scotland, Bullen moved to Australia to pursue his footballing career, playing for CYC Stanmore and Wollongong Wolves.
During his time in Australia, Bullen was scouted by a Hong Kong football club, Kui Tan, and he made the switch to Hong Kong. He played in the Hong Kong Football League for 4 seasons in total, moving from Kui Tan to Golden then on to South China. On 26 May 1996, Bullen played for a Hong Kong XI side in an unofficial friendly against England in their build up to Euro 96.[2]
In 1998 Bullen moved to Greece and spent 2 years at Kalamata in the Greek Football League.
In 2000 at the age of 29, Bullen returned to Scotland, signing for Dunfermline Athletic. Bullen spent five years at the Scottish club.
After leading Dunfermline to the Scottish Cup Final, Bullen moved to English club Sheffield Wednesday on a free transfer in the summer of 2004. He immediately became an integral part of their Play-Off push after making his debut on 7 August in a 3–0 defeat on the opening day of the season at Hillsborough against Colchester United and scoring his first goal the next game on 10 August, away at Blackpool to lead the team to a 2–1 victory. In November 2005 the Captain's armband was passed onto him by Chris Marsden who was forced into retirement by injury. Bullen finished his first season in Sheffield with seven league goals.
During his time at Sheffield Wednesday he played in all eleven positions for the Owls,[3] including memorably in goal away at Millwall,[4] and received The Wash & Go good sport award for his efforts.[5]
In January 2008 Bullen was informed by Sheffield Wednesday manager Brian Laws that he would not have his contract renewed upon its expiry at the end of the 2007–08 season.[6]
Bullen's final appearance for Sheffield Wednesday came in a crucial relegation battle against Leicester City on the penultimate game of the season which the Owls won 3–1, an injury sustained in this game denied him an appearance for the last match of the season versus Norwich City on 4 May 2008 and a chance to play at Hillsborough for the last time. He did however appear in the end of season lap-of-honour and received a spectacular reception from the fans. Bullen was given a Guard of honour by his Wednesday team mates as he left the pitch for the final time.
In May 2008, Bullen joined Scottish Premier League side Falkirk on a two-year deal.[7] Bullen later became an assistant coach at Falkirk. He scored his only goal for Falkirk in a 2-0 win over Hamilton Academical in November 2009.[8] He left Falkirk in October 2011 to move to Sheffield, where his wife runs an estate agency business.[9] In the same year Bullen signed a deal to become a youth coach at his former club Sheffield Wednesday and was given the post of Development Squad Head Coach. In October 2015 he was promoted to the position of Assistant Manager at the club, working on First Team coaching and organisation alongside Head Coach Carlos Carvalhal.
Career statistics
- (Correct as of 22 November 2009)
Club | Season | League | Cup | Europe | Other | Total | |||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | ||
Dunfermline | 1999–00 | 13 | 7 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 13 | 7 |
2000–01 | 24 | 4 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 28 | 4 | |
2001–02 | 27 | 4 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 30 | 4 | |
2002–03 | 35 | 5 | 6 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 41 | 6 | |
2003–04 | 27 | 2 | 8 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 35 | 3 | |
Total | 126 | 22 | 21 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 147 | 24 | |
Sheffield Wednesday | 2004–05 | 46 | 7 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 52 | 7 |
2005–06 | 28 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 30 | 0 | |
2006–07 | 38 | 0 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 41 | 1 | |
2007–08 | 22 | 1 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 23 | 1 | |
Total | 134 | 8 | 10 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 148 | 9 | |
Falkirk | 2008–09 | 32 | 0 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
2009-10 | 9 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
Total | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
Recent career totals | 260 | 30 | 31 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 295 | 33 |
Honours
- Instant-Dict
- 1997-98 Hong Kong Football League Champions
- Sheffield Wednesday
- 2004–05 League One Play Off Final Winner
- Individual
- 2006 Good Sport Award Winner
References
- ^ http://prostatecanceruk.org/get-involved/do-an-event/football-league/greatest-captain/59-lee-bullen-sheffield-wednesday
- ^ "International Matches 1996: April–June". www.rsssf.com. Retrieved 14 October 2010.
- ^ "Lee Bullen Profile". SWFC.co.uk. Retrieved 28 February 2008.
- ^ "Millwall 0–1 Sheff Wed". bbc.co.uk. 4 February 2006. Retrieved 28 February 2008.
- ^ "Jagielka A Winner At Football League Awards". 4thegame.com. 7 March 2006. Retrieved 14 February 2008.
- ^ "Bullen: Total Respect For Laws". SWFC.co.uk. 27 February 2008. Retrieved 28 February 2008.
- ^ "McCann and Bullen to join Bairns". BBC News. 14 May 2008. Retrieved 14 May 2008.
- ^ "Falkirk 2 - 0 Hamilton". BBC. 21 November 2009. Retrieved 12 October 2012.
- ^ Parks, Gordon (27 October 2011). "Departing Falkirk coach Lee Bullen: Who's gonna guard our lucky quid now that I've had to quit?". Daily Record. Trinity Mirror. Retrieved 28 October 2011.
External links
- Lee Bullen at Soccerbase
- Lee Bullen at ESPN FC
- Use dmy dates from April 2011
- 1971 births
- Sportspeople from Edinburgh
- Living people
- Association football defenders
- Association football utility players
- Scottish footballers
- Scottish expatriate footballers
- Expatriate footballers in Greece
- British expatriates in Hong Kong
- Expatriate footballers in Hong Kong
- Stenhousemuir F.C. players
- South China AA footballers
- Dunfermline Athletic F.C. players
- Sheffield Wednesday F.C. players
- Falkirk F.C. players
- British expatriates in China
- Kalamata F.C. players
- Scottish Football League players
- Hong Kong First Division League players
- Scottish Premier League players
- English Football League players
- Superleague Greece players
- Football League (Greece) players
- Penicuik Athletic F.C. players
- Falkirk F.C. non-playing staff
- Whitburn Junior F.C. players
- Sheffield Wednesday F.C. non-playing staff