Rob Lee

For other people named Rob Lee, see Robert Lee (disambiguation).
Rob Lee
Personal information
Full name Robert Martin Lee
Date of birth (1966-02-01) 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.


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.

Club career

Charlton Athletic

Lee came through the academy of Charlton Athletic and established himself in the first team by the 1984–85 season, when he scored 10 goals in the Second Division. 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 and gained international recognition at under-21 level. He remained a regular in the top flight over the next four years until Charlton were relegated back to the Second Division at the end of the 1989–90 season.

Lee remained with Charlton for more than two years after relegation, but he was sold shortly after the start of 1992–93 season as the club needed money to finance its return to The Valley. At the time, Charlton were second in the table, and Lee moved to the league leaders, 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 already in the Premier League.

Newcastle United

Lee made his Newcastle début as a substitute in a 1–0 win over Peterborough United. Newcastle were promoted to the Premier League at the end of the season, with Lee scoring 10 goals from 36 matches. Newcastle's first season back in the top division for four years ended well, as they finished third and qualified for the UEFA Cup, although it was top scorer Andy Cole rather than Lee who made the most headlines at the club during this campaign. In the first round against Royal Antwerp Lee scored a hat-trick as Newcastle won 5–0 in Belgium. Lee finished the 1994–95 season with nine goals from 35 matches as Newcastle finished sixth in the table, although they had topped the league early in the season after winning their first six games.

Manager Kevin Keegan refreshed the side over the summer of 1995, signing stars such as David Ginola and Les Ferdinand and allowing Lee a more attacking role. He won the Premier League player of the month for November 1995 as Newcastle built up a wide lead at the top of the league and looked increasingly capable of winning their first top division title since 1927. Newcastle finished the season in second place, after being 10 points ahead of Christmas and remaining top until March, but Lee was named in the PFA Team Of The Year for the 1995–96 season.

After Keegan's shock resignation the following season, Kenny Dalglish was named manager, and he made Lee captain as Newcastle again finished runners-up to Manchester United in the Premier League. After Dalglish's sacking early in the 1998–99 season, Ruud Gullit was named Newcastle manager. After a good start, Gullit tried to quickly discard Lee, as well as Stuart Pearce and John Barnes, forcing them to train with the reserves.. For the start of the 1999–2000 season, Lee was not given a squad number by Gullit, and after Gullit had dropped Alan Shearer for the Tyne-Wear derby defeat against Sunderland, he resigned and was succeeded by the former England manager Bobby Robson.

Robson put Lee and fellow midfielder Gary Speed (signed 18 months earlier for more than £5million) back in the heart of Newcastle's midfield. Lee scored in the FA Cup semi-final against Chelsea, but Newcastle lost 2–1. Lee was awarded a testimonial in 2001, nine years after joining the club, and a crowd of 18,189 turned out as Spanish side Athletic Bilbao won 1–0 at St. James' Park. Lee's last goal for Newcastle came in a 4–3 win over Manchester United in 2001.

On 7 February 2002, after almost 10 years on Tyneside, Lee moved to Derby County for a transfer fee of £250,000, signing for the club just eight days after John Gregory was appointed.

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 was signed by former Arsenal and England captain Tony Adams, to help Wycombe Wanderers climb out of the newly named League Two (previously Division Three. 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. This took him past his 40th birthday, and he was among the oldest players still playing professional football in England by the time of his last game.

International career

Lee played for England between 1994 and 1998, scoring twice in 21 appearances. He was called up for the first time for a friendly against the USA in September 1994,[5] and scored on his début 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]

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 leukaemia charity the Anthony Nolan Trust.[12]

Currently, 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]

Family

Lee's sons, Olly and Elliot, also became footballers.[15][16]

Career Statistics

Club

Club Season League FA Cup League Cup Europe Total
DivisionAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoals
Charlton Athletic
1983–84 Second Division 1140000—114
1984–85 39100000—3910
1985–86 3580000—358
1986–87 First Division 3330000—333
1987–88 2320000—232
1988–89 3150000—315
1989–90 3710000—371
1990–91 Second Division 43130000—4313
1991–92 39120000—3912
1992–93 First Division 710000—71
Total 2985900000029859
Newcastle United
1992–93[17] First Division 36104231—4313
1993–94[18] Premier League 4173031—478
1994–95[19] 3594120344414
1995–96[20] 3681031—409
1996–97[21] 335211080456
1997–98[22] 284602060424
1998–99[23] 260300010300
1999–2000[24] 300411060411
2000–01[25] 2200040—260
2001–02[26] 161003030221
Total 3034427522327437956
Derby County 2001–02[27] Premier League 130000000130
2002–03[28] First Division 3520020—372
Total 482002000482
West Ham United 2003–04[29] First Division 1601020—190
Total 160102000190
Wycombe Wanderers 2004–05[30] League Two 700000—70
2005–06[31] 3301010—350
Total 400101000420
Career total 705105295273274786117

Honours

Club

Charlton Athletic
Newcastle United
West Ham United

International

England

Individual

References

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Rob Lee.
  1. ↑ King Kev reigns supreme, Newcastle 1992–93 promotion campaign Mirror Football, April 2010
  2. ↑ 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
  3. ↑ "Derby 3–0 Reading". BBC Sport. 10 August 2002. Retrieved 6 November 2009.
  4. ↑ "Derby 1–4 Ipswich". BBC Sport. 4 May 2003. Retrieved 6 November 2009.
  5. ↑ 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
  6. ↑ New boy Lee gets England: Tottenham's Dumitrescu shows how to breach Venables' defence The Independent, 13 October 1994
  7. ↑ 1998 FIFA World Cup France ™ – England FIFA.com
  8. ↑ Match Report: Colombia – England 0:2 (0:2) FIFA.com, 26 June 1998
  9. ↑ Shepherd denies he wants to sell stake in Newcastle, The Guardian, 3 October 2006
  10. ↑ "Footballers in limo theft arrest". BBC News. 25 July 2007. Retrieved 23 November 2007.
  11. ↑ "No limo theft charges for players". BBC News. 21 September 2007. Retrieved 23 November 2007.
  12. ↑ "Soccer stars help raise £15K". St Albans Observer. 9 July 2008. Retrieved 12 May 2008.
  13. ↑ Where are they now? Wycombe Wanderers FC, 7 May 2008
  14. ↑ WHAT HAPPENED TO THE CLASS OF 1993? The Journal, 7 April 2010 (Archived)
  15. ↑ "Player profiles – Olly Lee". West Ham United FC. Retrieved 20 November 2011.
  16. ↑ Walker, Michael (28 August 2011). "On the road: Lee set to follow in his father's footsteps as West Ham youngster shines". Mail Online. Retrieved 27 November 2016.
  17. ↑ "Season Details: Appearances: Season 1992–93". Toon1892. Kenneth H. Scott. Retrieved 2 March 2014.
  18. ↑ "Season Details: Appearances: Season 1993–94". Toon1892. Kenneth H. Scott. Retrieved 2 March 2014.
  19. ↑ "Season Details: Appearances: Season 1994–95". Toon1892. Kenneth H. Scott. Retrieved 2 March 2014.
  20. ↑ "Season Details: Appearances: Season 1995–96". Toon1892. Kenneth H. Scott. Retrieved 2 March 2014.
  21. ↑ "Season Details: Appearances: Season 1996–97". Toon1892. Kenneth H. Scott. Retrieved 2 March 2014.
  22. ↑ "Season Details: Appearances: Season 1997–98". Toon1892. Kenneth H. Scott. Retrieved 2 March 2014.
  23. ↑ "Season Details: Appearances: Season 1998–99". Toon1892. Kenneth H. Scott. Retrieved 2 March 2014.
  24. ↑ "Season Details: Appearances: Season 1999–00". Toon1892. Kenneth H. Scott. Retrieved 2 March 2014.
  25. ↑ "Season Details: Appearances: Season 2000–01". Toon1892. Kenneth H. Scott. Retrieved 2 March 2014.
  26. ↑ "Season Details: Appearances: Season 2001–02". Toon1892. Kenneth H. Scott. Retrieved 2 March 2014.
  27. ↑ "Games played by Rob Lee in 2001/2002". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 3 March 2014.
  28. ↑ "Games played by Rob Lee in 2002/2003". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 3 March 2014.
  29. ↑ "Games played by Rob Lee in 2003/2004". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 3 March 2014.
  30. ↑ "Games played by Rob Lee in 2004/2005". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 3 March 2014.
  31. ↑ "Games played by Rob Lee in 2005/2006". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 3 March 2014.
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