Billy Rodney Kee (born 1 December 1990) is a
footballer
A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby le ...
who plays as a
forward
Forward is a relative direction, the opposite of backward.
Forward may also refer to:
People
* Forward (surname)
Sports
* Forward (association football)
* Forward (basketball), including:
** Point forward
** Power forward (basketball)
** Sm ...
for side
Coalville Town. Born in England, he represented
Northern Ireland at under-19 and
under-21 youth levels.
Early life
Kee was born in
Loughborough
Loughborough ( ) is a market town in the Charnwood borough of Leicestershire, England, the seat of Charnwood Borough Council and Loughborough University. At the 2011 census the town's built-up area had a population of 59,932 , the second larg ...
, Leicestershire and was raised in
Mountsorrel
Mountsorrel is a village in Leicestershire on the River Soar, just south of Loughborough with a population in 2001 of 6,662 inhabitants, increasing to 8,223 at the 2011 census.
Geography
The village is in the borough of Charnwood, surrounding ...
.
He went to school in
Quorn
Quorn is a brand of meat substitute products, or the company that makes them. Quorn originated in the UK and is sold primarily in Europe, but is available in 14 countries. The brand is owned by parent company Monde Nissin.
Quorn is sold as bo ...
.
[
]
Club career
Leicester City
Kee joined Leicester City
Leicester ( ) is a city, unitary authority and the county town of Leicestershire in the East Midlands of England. It is the largest settlement in the East Midlands.
The city lies on the River Soar and close to the eastern end of the National ...
in 2007 after the club spotted him, playing for Allexton & New Parks Juniors. He started the 2008 Academy League by scoring 14 goals in five games for the club. Kee's biggest game in a Leicester shirt was against Crystal Palace Under 19s in the FA Youth Cup
The Football Association Youth Challenge Cup is an English football competition run by The Football Association for under-18 sides. Only those players between the age of 15 and 18 on 31 August of the current season are eligible to take part. It ...
where he was on the score sheet and was Man of the Match, beating Swedish Under-19s goalkeeper Robin Mattsson with a strike.
On 17 July 2009, it was announced that Kee had agreed his first professional contract at Leicester after considering leaving the club. On the same day, a six-month loan deal at Accrington Stanley
Accrington Stanley Football Club is a professional association football club based in Accrington, Lancashire, England. The club competes in League One, the third tier of the English football league system. They have spent their complete history ...
was also announced. Kee made his League debut for Accrington, playing 84 minutes before being replaced by Michael Symes
Michael Symes (born 31 October 1983) is an English former professional association football, footballer who played as a Forward (association football), striker.
He started his career as a trainee with Everton F.C., Everton, playing in attack ...
as Stanley lost 1–0 to Rotherham United
Rotherham United Football Club, nicknamed The Millers, is a professional football club based in Rotherham, South Yorkshire, England, which compete in the . The club's colours were initially yellow and black, but changed to red and white around 1 ...
. On 11 September 2010, Kee scored his first Accrington Stanley goal, scoring a winning goal in the 84th minute, a 2–1 win over Darlington
Darlington is a market town in the Borough of Darlington, County Durham, England. The River Skerne flows through the town; it is a tributary of the River Tees. The Tees itself flows south of the town.
In the 19th century, Darlington underwen ...
. His three goals and nineteen appearances led Accrington Stanley extending Kee's loan spell with the club until the end of the season. Kee went on to make eighteen more appearances and scoring six more goals for the club, including a brace, in a 2–0 win over Chesterfield
Chesterfield may refer to:
Places Canada
* Rural Municipality of Chesterfield No. 261, Saskatchewan
* Chesterfield Inlet, Nunavut United Kingdom
* Chesterfield, Derbyshire, a market town in England
** Chesterfield (UK Parliament constitue ...
on 1 May 2010.
On 17 May 2010, Kee was released by Leicester along with Stephen Clemence
Stephen Neal Clemence (born 31 March 1978) is an English football coach and former player, who made nearly 250 appearances in the Premier League and Football League playing as a midfielder.
Clemence began his career with Tottenham Hotspur, wher ...
, Levi Porter
Levi Roger Porter (born 6 April 1987) is an English footballer who most recently played for Melton Town F.C.
Playing career
Porter signed a one-year contract extension with Leicester on 8 February 2006. He made his debut in a 3–1 win over Ips ...
, Robbie Burns
Robert Burns (25 January 175921 July 1796), also known familiarly as Rabbie Burns, was a Scottish poet and lyricist. He is widely regarded as the national poet of Scotland and is celebrated worldwide. He is the best known of the poets who hav ...
, Carl Pentney
Carl Benjamin Pentney (born 29 October 1989) is an English former professional footballer who played as a goalkeeper. He is currently the head of academy goalkeeping at Ipswich Town.
Club career
Leicester City
Born in Colchester, Essex, Pentne ...
, Astrit Ajdarević
)
, birth_date =
, birth_place = Pristina, SR Serbia, SFR Yugoslavia
, height = 1.90 m
, position = Midfielder
, currentclub =
, clubnumber =
, youthyears1 = 1996–2000 , youthclubs1 = Rinia IF
, youthye ...
and Alex Cisak
Aleksander Cisak (born 19 May 1989) is a retired footballer who played as a goalkeeper. Born in Poland, he represented Australia at under-20 level.
Early life
Cisak was born in Kraków, Lesser Poland Voivodeship, Poland and moved to Hobart, Tas ...
. Following this, Kee expressed his disappointment to be released by the club.
Torquay United
On 3 June 2010, it was announced Kee had signed a two-year contract with League Two club Torquay United
Torquay United Football Club is a professional football club based in Torquay, Devon, England. The team currently compete in the , the fifth tier of English football. They have played their home matches at Plainmoor since 1921 and are nicknamed ...
. Kee was linked with a move to Accrington Stanley and Exeter City
Exeter City Football Club is a professional association football club based in Exeter, Devon, England. The team play in , the third tier of the English football league system. Known as "the Grecians", the origin of their nickname is subject to ...
.
Kee started the season by scoring eight goals in six pre-season fixtures including four against Tiverton Town
Tiverton Town Football Club are an English football club based in Tiverton, Devon. The club are currently members of the and play at Ladysmead.
History
The club was established in 1913 as Tiverton Athletic, and initially played at the Athle ...
in an 8–0 win and a hat-trick against Weymouth in a 5–1 win. At the start of the season Kee was given the no. 8 shirt formerly worn by the departing Tim Sills
Timothy Sills (born 10 September 1979) is an English former professional footballer who played as a striker. He is currently manager of Wimborne Town.
Sills was a product of Millwall's youth system and was a regular in the club's youth team ...
.
Kee made his debut in the first game of the 2010–11 season in a 3–0 win over Northampton
Northampton () is a market town and civil parish in the East Midlands of England, on the River Nene, north-west of London and south-east of Birmingham. The county town of Northamptonshire, Northampton is one of the largest towns in England; ...
, coming on as a 63rd-minute substitute replacing another new signing of that summer, Martin Gritton
Martin Francis Gritton (born 1 June 1978) is a Scottish former professional footballer and sports co-commentator primarily for BBC Radio Devon.
As a player he was a striker from 1998 to 2012. He was a journeyman player and has previously playe ...
. Despite being in great goal-scoring form in pre-season, Kee did not get his first competitive Gulls' goal until 2 November 2010, scoring the second goal in a 2–0 victory against newly promoted Oxford United
Oxford United Football Club is a professional football club in the city of Oxford, England. The team plays in League One, the third tier of the English football league system. The chairman is Grant Ferguson, the manager is Karl Robinson and t ...
. He then scored his only goal outside the last twenty minutes of any game with a forty-first-minute goal from the penalty spot in the second round of the FA Cup against League One Walsall
Walsall (, or ; locally ) is a market town and administrative centre in the West Midlands (county), West Midlands County, England. Historic counties of England, Historically part of Staffordshire, it is located north-west of Birmingham, east ...
.
Kee had to wait another five weeks before his next goal. He scored against Oxford United for the second time in the season. He scored just 12 days later in 2–1 defeat to Morecambe
Morecambe ( ) is a seaside town and civil parish in the City of Lancaster district in Lancashire, England. It is in Morecambe Bay on the Irish Sea.
Name
The first use of the name was by John Whitaker in his ''History of Manchester'' (1771), w ...
. After this, the goals began to flow due to the departure of United's main Striker Elliot Benyon
Elliot Paul Benyon (born 29 August 1987) is an English footballer who plays for Slough Town as a striker.
Career
Benyon began his career as a trainee at Bristol City after being spotted playing local football in High Wycombe. Despite making no ...
. His comments came after the club's manager Paul Buckle
Paul John Buckle (born 16 December 1970) is an English football manager. He is currently a technical advisor at Hartford Athletic of the USL and technical advisor to Landon Donovan at San Diego Loyal. Prior to this, he coached the U23s for South ...
believed Kee could be a replacement for Benyon as a key player. Kee scored in a win over Stockport
Stockport is a town and borough in Greater Manchester, England, south-east of Manchester, south-west of Ashton-under-Lyne and north of Macclesfield. The River Goyt and Tame merge to create the River Mersey here.
Most of the town is within ...
on 5 February 2011, followed up with another win against Barnet
Barnet may refer to:
People
*Barnet (surname)
* Barnet (given name)
Places United Kingdom
*Chipping Barnet or High Barnet, commonly known as Barnet, one of three focal towns of the borough below.
*East Barnet, a district of the borough below; an ...
on 12 February 2011. Seven days later on 19 February 2011, Kee scored, in a 1–1 draw against Southend United
Southend United Football Club is a professional association football club based in Southend-on-Sea, Essex, England. As of the 2022–23 season, the team competes in the National League, the fifth tier of English football. Southend are known as ...
. Kee then scored two more goals of the season against Northampton Town
Northampton Town Football Club is a professional association football club based in the town of Northampton, England. The team plays in , the fourth tier of the English football league system.
Founded in 1897, the club competed in the Midland ...
and Bradford City
Bradford City Association Football Club is an English professional football club in Bradford, West Yorkshire. The team competes in League Two, the fourth tier of the English football league system and are currently managed by Mark Hughes.
Th ...
between 25 March and 9 April 2011. On 25 April 2011, Kee scored in a 3–3 draw with Burton Albion
Burton Albion Football Club is a professional association football club in the town of Burton upon Trent, Staffordshire, England. The team compete in League One, the third tier of the English football league system. The club moved its home groun ...
, side-footing the ball in from 20 yards out. Kee went on to make forty appearances and scoring nine goals, having missed six games due to ankle injury.
At the beginning of the 2011–12 season, Kee found himself out of favour at Torquay, new manager Martin Ling
Martin Ling (born 15 July 1966) is an English football manager and former player currently director of football for Leyton Orient. He played in over 100 Football League matches for each of Exeter City, Southend United, Swindon Town and Leyto ...
preferring to use new signings Taiwo Atieno
Taiwo (variant forms: Taiye, Taye, Taiyewo) is a name of Yoruba origin meaning "the first twin to taste the world" or the one who comes before Kehinde. Although Taiwo is the firstborn twin, in Yoruba belief Taiwo is considered the younger twin, h ...
and Rene Howe as his first-choice pairing, often leaving Kee on the bench. Kee expressed leaving the club was over closer to be his home at Leicester Ironically, Ling was impressed with Kee's display when he scored a hat-trick for Northern Ireland U21, in a 4–0 win over Faroe Islands U21.
Burton Albion
Kee joined Burton Albion on 26 August 2011, for a fee believed to be £20,000.[
Throughout the first half of the season, Kee scored his first goal in a 2–0 victory over ]Swindon Town
Swindon Town Football Club is a professional Association football, football club based in Swindon, Wiltshire, England. The team currently competes in , the fourth tier of the English football league system. The club has played home matches at ...
on 17 September 2011, which followed up by scoring the next two goals against Gillingham and Bradford City. On 29 October 2011, Kee scored his first hat-trick against Barnet
Barnet may refer to:
People
*Barnet (surname)
* Barnet (given name)
Places United Kingdom
*Chipping Barnet or High Barnet, commonly known as Barnet, one of three focal towns of the borough below.
*East Barnet, a district of the borough below; an ...
in a 6–3 victory for Burton. Due to his goalscoring form for Burton Albion, Kee was named League Two Player of the Month
The EFL League Two Player of the Month is an association football award that recognises the player adjudged the best for each month of the season in EFL League Two, the English football league system, fourth tier of English football. Originally na ...
for November. Despite rejecting a move to Crawley Town
Crawley Town Football Club is a professional association football club based in the town of Crawley, West Sussex, England. The club was founded as Crawley Football Club in 1896, changed its name to Crawley Town Football Club in 1958. The team co ...
in the winter transfer window, Kee continued to score goals with twelve until he suffered a groin problems three times season, which the last one saw him miss out the entire season. Kee, nevertheless, became the joint the club's top-scorer, along with Calvin Zola
Calvin Zola-Makongo (born 31 December 1984), often known simply as Calvin Zola, is a Congolese former professional footballer who played as a forward. Born in Kinshasa, Zaire, he began his career as a youth player at Newcastle United. Zola ...
in the league.
After scoring once in the first third match to the start of the season, which saw him make a return, Kee signed a three-year contract with the club on 30 August 2012. Kee would later score two braces of the season against Rotherham United and another against Morecambe. Kee would score thirteen league goals in forty appearances, missing out six games due to ankle injury.
In 2013–14 season, Kee made a good start to the season when he scored his first goal of the season, in a 2–2 draw against Cheltenham Town
Cheltenham Town Football Club is a professional association football club based in the town of Cheltenham, Gloucestershire, England. From the 2021–22 season, the club compete in League One, the third tier of the English football league syst ...
before suffering a thigh injury that kept him out for weeks. Kee made his return to training to maintain his fitness and then scored the first two games from his return against Scunthorpe United and a brace against Wycombe Wanderers
Wycombe Wanderers Football Club is an English professional association football club based in the town of High Wycombe, Buckinghamshire. The team compete in League One, the third tier of the English football league system. They play their home ...
. Kee would later add ten more goals to the season, including a brace against Accrington Stanley, in thirty-seven league appearances.
In 2014–15 season, Kee played for the first two matches, including a brace, in a 2–1 win over Dagenham & Redbridge
Dagenham & Redbridge Football Club is a professional association football club based in Dagenham, Greater London, England. The team competes in the National League, the fifth tier of the English football league system. Often known simply as Dag ...
on 16 August 2014. Those brace came when he came on as a substitute during the match.
Scunthorpe United
After three years at Burton Albion, Kee joined Scunthorpe United
Scunthorpe United Football Club is a professional association football club based in the town of Scunthorpe, Lincolnshire, England. The side currently competes in the National League, the fifth tier of the English football league system. The tea ...
on a two-year contract for an undisclosed fee, having one-year contract left at The Brewers. Upon joining the club, Kee stated he was motivated for new challenges at the club. Kee made his Scunthorpe United, coming on as a substitute for Paddy Madden
Patrick Stephen Madden (born 4 March 1990) is an Irish professional footballer who plays as a striker for club Stockport County.
Club career Bohemians
Madden signed league forms with Bohemians on 8 July 2008, and scored several times for the ...
in the 75th minute, in a 2–0 loss against Fleetwood Town
Fleetwood Town Football Club is an English professional association football club based in the town of Fleetwood, Lancashire. Established in 1997, the current Fleetwood Town F.C. is the fourth incarnation of the club; it was originally formed in ...
on 19 August 2014.
On 5 January 2015, it announced that Kee was loaned out to Mansfield Town
Mansfield Town Football Club is a professional football club based in the town of Mansfield, Nottinghamshire, England. The team competes in , the fourth tier of the English football league system. Nicknamed 'The Stags', they play in a blue and ...
on a three-month deal. Kee made his Mansfield Town debut against his former club, Burton Albion, in a 2–1 loss on 10 January 2015. Kee scored his first Mansfield Town goal in the next game, in a 3–2 loss against Exeter City. Kee's second goal for Mansfield Town soon came on 7 March 2015, in a 1–1 draw against Cheltenham Town. On 7 April 2015, Kee returned to the club after a three-month spell there.
After making twelve appearances for the club and failing to score a goal, it announced on 1 May 2015 that Kee was released by the club.
Accrington Stanley
After being released by Scunthorpe United, Kee re-joined Accrington Stanley on an initial one-year contract, having already been on loan at the club in the 2009–10 season.
In April 2018 he was nominated for the EFL League Two Player of the Season award and he finished the 2017/18 regular season as League Two's top scorer with 25 league goals (plus eight assists).
In July 2019 he missed Accrington's pre-season for personal reasons. In September 2019 it was revealed that Kee was seeking treatment for depression, anxiety, and bulimia. As a result of this, the club and Kee agreed to terminate his contract by mutual consent on 13 January 2020, with Kee subsequently announcing his retirement from professional football on 29 January due to personal reasons. In honour of the forward, the club retired Kee's shirt number 29.
Coalville Town
After retiring from professional football Kee signed for Southern League Premier Division Central side Coalville Town on 9 February 2020. He made his league debut for Coalville Town in a 1–0 loss against Needham Market
Needham Market is a town in Suffolk, England. The town of Needham, Massachusetts, was named after Needham Market.
History
It initially grew around the wool combing industry, until the onset of the plague, which swept the town from 1663 to 1665. ...
on 11 February 2020.
On 27 July 2022, Coalville Town announced in a statement that Kee would be taking a break from football at his own request in order to spend more time with his family.
International career
Kee was called up by Northern Ireland U19 in 2008 and scored three goals in three appearances in the final of Milk Cup, including a 2–0 win over against Denmark U19.
On 6 September 2009, Kee, whilst on loan to League Two side Accrington Stanley, was called up to the senior Northern Ireland squad for the first time, replacing the injured Kyle Lafferty
Kyle Joseph George Lafferty (born 16 September 1987) is a Northern Irish professional footballer who currently plays for NIFL Premiership club Linfield and the Northern Ireland national team.
Lafferty began his professional career with Engl ...
.
Following this, Kee was called up by Northern Ireland U21 in November 2009.
Personal life
In May 2014, Kee became a father when his wife gave birth to a baby boy. Kee has spoken publicly about his struggles with anxiety and depression, which led him to considering giving up football. In September 2019 it was revealed that Kee was seeking treatment for depression, anxiety, and bulimia.
Kee combines his non-league football with work as a bricklayer.
Career statistics
Honours
Accrington Stanley
*EFL League Two
The English Football League Two (often referred to as League Two for short or Sky Bet League Two for sponsorship purposes, and known as the Football League Two from 2004 until 2016) is the third and lowest division of the English Football Lea ...
: 2017–18
Individual
* EFL Team of the Season: 2017–18
*PFA Team of the Year
The Professional Footballers' Association Team of the Year (often called the PFA Team of the Year, or simply the Team of the Year) is an annual award given to a set of 55 footballers across the top four tiers of men's English football; the Premie ...
: 2017–18 League Two
References
External links
Billy Kee
at Accrington Stanley website
*
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Kee, Billy
1990 births
Living people
Sportspeople from Loughborough
Footballers from Leicestershire
English footballers
Association footballers from Northern Ireland
Northern Ireland youth international footballers
Northern Ireland under-21 international footballers
Association football forwards
Leicester City F.C. players
Accrington Stanley F.C. players
Torquay United F.C. players
Burton Albion F.C. players
Scunthorpe United F.C. players
Mansfield Town F.C. players
Coalville Town F.C. players
English Football League players