David John Lee (born 26 November 1969) is an English

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly c ...

coach and former professional player. Lee played as a defender from 1988 until 2004, notably played in the

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for Chelsea and in the Australian top flight for

Parramatta Power Parramatta Power Soccer Club were a professional association football club who were based in the Western Sydney city of Parramatta. They played in the National Soccer League from season 1999-00 until the league folded in 2004. The Power were ...

. He also played in the

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for

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Plymouth Argyle Plymouth Argyle Football Club is a professional football club based in the city of Plymouth, Devon, England. As of the 2021–22 season, the team are competing in League One, the third tier of English football. They have played at Home Park, ...

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, Sheffield United, Bristol Rovers, Crystal Palace, Colchester United and Exeter City. He then went on to play in Non-league for

Havant & Waterlooville Havant & Waterlooville Football Club is a professional football club based in Havant, Hampshire, England. The club participates in the National League South, the sixth tier of English football, after relegation from the National League in the 20 ...

, Forest Green Rovers, Weston-super-Mare, Yate Town and Mangotsfield United. He was capped ten times by

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. After retiring became a scout for

Bristol City Bristol City Football Club is a professional football club based in Bristol, England, which compete in the , the second tier of English football. They have played their home games at Ashton Gate since moving from St John's Lane in 1904. The ...

and later assistant manager of Northampton Town where he briefly managed in a caretaker role.

Playing career

Lee spent most of his career at Chelsea, whom he joined as a junior in 1983. He made his club debut on 1 October 1988 against Leicester City, scoring in a 2–1 win. In ten years with Chelsea, Lee made 196 appearances, but struggled to cement a regular place in the starting line-up. As a result, his time with Chelsea was punctuated by brief

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spells with

and Sheffield United. He only made one league appearance in his final full season with Chelsea (1997/98), playing the full 90 minutes of a 3–1 defeat at Leeds United on 8 April 1998. This was his first league game since playing against Tottenham Hotspur on 26 October 1996. The Tottenham match was an emotional and incident packed game for Lee and his teammates. It was the first match since the death of Chelsea chairman Matthew Harding. Lee scored a penalty to put Chelsea in the lead, but was later stretchered off with a broken leg as a result of a challenge from

Sol Campbell Sulzeer Jeremiah Campbell (born 18 September 1974) is an English professional football manager and former player who was most recently the manager of club Southend United. He previously managed Macclesfield Town from November 2018 to August 20 ...

. Seeking regular football, Lee joined Bristol Rovers on a free transfer in 1998 and later had spells at Crystal Palace, Exeter City,

and Forest Green Rovers.

Coaching career

Lee was chief scout with

from June 2010 until he resigned on 16 May 2011 citing a wish for a new challenge. In June 2011 Lee was appointed as assistant manager to Gary Johnson at Northampton Town. After Johnson left Northampton by mutual consent in November 2011, Lee was placed in temporary charge of the first team, assisted by player-coach Andy Holt. Lee lasted only one game in charge of Northampton; a 7–2 defeat to Shrewsbury Town, before being replaced on 22 November by Tim Flowers.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Lee, David 1969 births Living people English footballers England under-21 international footballers People from Kingswood, South Gloucestershire Sportspeople from Gloucestershire Bristol Rovers F.C. players Chelsea F.C. players Colchester United F.C. players Crystal Palace F.C. players Exeter City F.C. players Forest Green Rovers F.C. players Havant & Waterlooville F.C. players Mangotsfield United F.C. players Parramatta Power SC players Premier League players Plymouth Argyle F.C. players Portsmouth F.C. players Reading F.C. players Sheffield United F.C. players English Football League players Weston-super-Mare A.F.C. players Yate Town F.C. players English expatriate sportspeople in Australia Northampton Town F.C. managers Bristol City F.C. non-playing staff Association football central defenders English football managers