Elliot Robert Lee (born 16 December 1994) is an English professional

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 ...

who plays as a midfielder for

Wrexham Wrexham ( ; cy, Wrecsam; ) is a city and the administrative centre of Wrexham County Borough in Wales. It is located between the Welsh mountains and the lower Dee Valley, near the border with Cheshire in England. Historically in the count ...

. Lee started his career at

West Ham United West Ham United Football Club is an English professional football club that plays its home matches in Stratford, East London. The club competes in the Premier League, the top tier of English football. The club plays at the London Stadium, hav ...

, where he was loaned to

Colchester United Colchester United Football Club is a professional association football club based in the city of Colchester, Essex, England. The team competes in , the fourth tier of the English football league system. Founded in 1937, the club spent its earl ...

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 ...

, Blackpool and current club Luton Town, before joining Barnsley in 2016 for an undisclosed fee. Lee left Barnsley after a year to sign for Luton. He is the son of former footballer

Rob Lee Robert Martin Lee (born 1 February 1966) is an English former professional footballer and sports co-commentator. As a player, he was a midfielder who notably played in the Premier League for Newcastle United and West Ham United. His time at ...

and the brother of footballer Olly Lee.

Career

West Ham United

Born in

Durham Durham most commonly refers to: *Durham, England, a cathedral city and the county town of County Durham *County Durham, an English county * Durham County, North Carolina, a county in North Carolina, United States *Durham, North Carolina, a city in N ...

, Lee was a youth team player with

, making his debut for the

reserve team In sports, a reserve team is a team composed of players under contract to a club but who do not normally play in matches for the first team. Reserve teams often include back-up players from the first team, young players who need playing time to i ...

in 2011 before signing his first professional contract in August 2012. His first appearance in a first-team squad was on 1 January 2013 when he was an unused substitute in a

Premier League The Premier League (legal name: The Football Association Premier League Limited) is the highest level of the men's English football league system. Contested by 20 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation with the English Fo ...

match against

Norwich City Norwich City Football Club (also known as The Canaries or The Yellows) is an English professional football club based in Norwich, Norfolk. The club competes in the EFL Championship following their relegation from the Premier League in the 20 ...

. Lee then made his professional debut for West Ham, as a 78th-minute substitute for

Ricardo Vaz Tê Ricardo Jorge Vaz Tê (born 1 October 1986) is a Portuguese professional footballer who plays as a forward. Vaz Tê has previously played for English clubs Bolton Wanderers, Hull City, Barnsley and West Ham United, Greek club Panionios, Scottis ...

, on 16 January 2013 in a 1–0 defeat in the

FA Cup The Football Association Challenge Cup, more commonly known as the FA Cup, is an annual knockout football competition in men's domestic English football. First played during the 1871–72 season, it is the oldest national football competi ...

third round replay at Old Trafford against Manchester United. On 12 August 2013, Lee scored two first half goals for the West Ham development squad against Aston Villa Under-21s. On 31 August he made his Premier League debut for West Ham, coming on as an 88th-minute substitute for Mohammed Diamé in a 1–0 home defeat by Stoke City. Three weeks later, Lee scored a hat-trick against Newcastle Reserves in a 5–4 away win. He went on to score 11 matches that season for the development squad.

Loan to Colchester United

On 22 October 2013 he signed for

on a one-month youth

loan In finance, a loan is the lending of money by one or more individuals, organizations, or other entities to other individuals, organizations, etc. The recipient (i.e., the borrower) incurs a debt and is usually liable to pay interest on that ...

. His only Colchester goal was scored on 2 November in an away draw against

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 ...

: in stoppage time in the second half, with Rotherham winning 2–1, Lee scored with a header which hit the bar and bounced over the line to make the final score 2–2. He returned to West Ham on 21 November after four appearances and one goal for Colchester United.

Loan to Southend United

On 31 October 2014 Lee joined

on a three-month loan. Within hours of signing for Southend, Lee suffered a

hamstring In human anatomy, a hamstring () is any one of the three posterior thigh muscles in between the hip and the knee (from medial to lateral: semimembranosus, semitendinosus and biceps femoris). The hamstrings are susceptible to injury. In quadrupe ...

injury and returned to West Ham for treatment. On 5 November Lee was ruled out of playing for at least two months. His loan was cancelled on 6 November and he returned to West Ham United, his parent club.

Loan to Luton Town

On 19 February 2015, Lee joined

Luton Town Luton Town Football Club () is a professional association football club based in the town of Luton, Bedfordshire, England, that competes in the Championship, the second tier of the English football league system. Founded in 1885, it is nicknam ...

on loan for one month. Lee chose to wear the number 38 shirt in memory of his former teammate at West Ham,

Dylan Tombides Dylan James Tombides (8 March 1994 – 18 April 2014) was an Australian professional footballer who played as a striker for West Ham United and the Australian under-17 and under-23 teams. He partially grew up in Macau and played in Hon ...

who also wore number 38. He scored on his debut for Luton two days later, four minutes after coming on as a substitute for

Andy Drury Andrew Mark Drury (born 28 November 1983) is an English footballer and football manager, who currently plays for Isthmian League South East Division club Chatham Town. He started his career in non-League football for Sittingbourne in 2001, mo ...

in a 3–2 defeat away to AFC Wimbledon. On 24 March 2015, Lee scored twice in a 2–3 home defeat by

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 ho ...

. On scoring he revealed a T-shirt showing a picture of Tombides, to whom he dedicated his goals. The following day his loan contract with Luton was extended until the end of the 2014–15 season. Luton manager

John Still John Still (c. 1543 – 26 February 1607/1608) was Master of two Cambridge colleges and then, from 1593, Bishop of Bath and Wells. He enjoyed considerable fame as an English preacher and disputant. He was formerly reputed to be the author of an ...

said of Lee "Elliot's been fantastic for us and we're thrilled to have him for the rest of this season."

Return to West Ham

Lee scored another hat-trick for the development squad when they faced

Conference Premier The National League, known as the Vanarama National League for sponsorship reasons, is the highest level of the National League System and fifth-highest of the overall English football league system. It is the highest league that is semi-professi ...

club Woking in a pre-season friendly on 5 August 2014. Lee was an unused substitute in the

League Cup In several sports, most prominently association football, a league cup or secondary cup generally signifies a cup competition for which entry is restricted only to teams in a particular league. The first national association football tournament t ...

penalty shoot-out The penalty shootout is a method of determining a winner in sports matches that would have otherwise been drawn or tied. The rules for penalty shootouts vary between sports and even different competitions; however, the usual form is similar to pe ...

defeat by

Sheffield United Sheffield United Football Club is a professional football club in Sheffield, South Yorkshire, England, which compete in the . They are nicknamed "the Blades" due to Sheffield's history of cutlery production. The team have played home games at ...

in the second round on 26 August 2014. He was given the number 36 for the first team the same day. On his first start for West Ham, on 9 July 2015, Lee scored his first goal for the club. In a

Europa League The UEFA Europa League (abbreviated as UEL, or sometimes, UEFA EL), formerly the UEFA Cup, is an annual football club competition organised since 1971 by the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) for eligible European football clubs. It ...

first qualifying round match away against

FC Lusitanos FC Lusitanos, also known as Lusitans, was an Andorran football club from Andorra la Vella which was founded in 1999 and currently play in Segona Divisió. Lusitanos won their first Primera Divisió title in 2011–12 and its second national c ...

of Andorra, he scored the only goal from a cross from

Matt Jarvis Matthew Thomas Jarvis (born 22 May 1986) is an English former professional footballer who played as a winger. After an unsuccessful spell as a youth-team player for Millwall, Jarvis began his professional career with Gillingham, making his ...

Loan to Blackpool

On 26 November 2015, Lee was loaned to

League One The English Football League One (often referred to as League One for short or Sky Bet League One for sponsorship purposes, and known as the Football League One from 2004 until 2016) is the second-highest division of the English Football Leag ...

club Blackpool until 3 January 2016. He made his debut two days later, as a half-time substitute for Bright Osayi-Samuel in a 1–0 win over local rivals Fleetwood Town at

Bloomfield Road Bloomfield Road is a single-tier football stadium in Blackpool, Lancashire, England, which has been the home of Blackpool F.C. since 1901. It is the third stadium in the club's existence, the previous two being Raikes Hall Gardens and the At ...

. In January 2016, having picked up an injury, Lee refused the offer of an extension to his loan and returned to West Ham. His refusal angered Blackpool manager, Neil McDonald, who was quoted as saying that Lee "would rather be at home with his mum and dad" than playing for Blackpool.

Second loan to Colchester United

On 18 January 2016, Lee signed on loan for Colchester United until the end of the 2015–16 season. He scored his first goal of his second spell on 12 March in a 3–3 draw with

Wigan Athletic Wigan Athletic Football Club () is an English professional association football club based in Wigan, Greater Manchester, England. The team competes in the Championship, the second tier of the English football league system. Founded in 1932, ...

. He scored once more, making 15 appearances in total.

Barnsley

On 24 June 2016, Lee signed for

Championship In sport, a championship is a competition in which the aim is to decide which individual or team is the champion. Championship systems Various forms of competition can be referred to by the term championship. Title match system In this system ...

club Barnsley for an undisclosed fee. He made six appearances during the 2016–17 season, all as a substitute, but left the club by mutual consent on 4 July 2017.

Luton Town

Following his release from Barnsley on 4 July 2017, Lee signed for his former loan club Luton Town on a two-year contract. He scored in an 8–2 win over

Yeovil Town Yeovil Town may refer to: * Yeovil Town F.C., an English football team based in Yeovil, Somerset * Yeovil Town L.F.C. Bridgwater United Women's Football Club are an English women's association football club based in Bridgwater, Somerset who wer ...

on the opening day of the 2017–18 season on 5 August 2017. His contract was extended by a further year at the end of the 2017–18 season after a promotion clause was triggered as a result of Luton's

promotion Promotion may refer to: Marketing * Promotion (marketing), one of the four marketing mix elements, comprising any type of marketing communication used to inform or persuade target audiences of the relative merits of a product, service, brand or i ...

to League One. On 20 May 2022, it was announced that Lee would leave the club following the end of the 2021–22 season.

Loan to Oxford United

He joined

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 ...

on loan until the end of the season on 1 February 2021. He scored six goals in eighteen appearances, all in League One.

Loan to Charlton Athletic

On 26 August 2021, Lee joined

Charlton Athletic Charlton Athletic Football Club is an English professional football club based in Charlton, south-east London, which compete in . Their home ground is The Valley, where the club have played since 1919. They have also played at The Mount in ...

on a season-long loan for the 2021–22 campaign. He scored his first goal for Charlton in an EFL Trophy tie against

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 com ...

on 31 August 2021.

Wrexham

On 8 July 2022, Lee signed a three-year deal with

. On 6 August 2022, Lee scored twice on his debut to help Wrexham come from behind to beat

Eastleigh Eastleigh is a town in Hampshire, England, between Southampton and Winchester. It is the largest town and the administrative seat of the Borough of Eastleigh, with a population of 24,011 at the 2011 census. The town lies on the River Itchen, ...

2-1

Personal life

He is the son of former Charlton Athletic, Newcastle United and

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

midfielder

. His older brother,

Olly Olly, like the similarly spelt Ollie, is a variant of the given names Olivia and Oliver. Notable people and characters with this form of the name include: People * Olly Alexander (born 1990), British musician, actor, television presenter and LG ...

, is also a professional footballer. He attended Brentwood School in Essex.

Career statistics

Honours

Luton Town * EFL League Two runner-up: 2017–18 * EFL League One: 2018–19

References

External links

Elliot Lee profile
at the Luton Town F.C. website * {{DEFAULTSORT:Lee, Elliot 1994 births Living people Sportspeople from Durham, England Footballers from County Durham English footballers People educated at Brentwood School, Essex Association football forwards West Ham United F.C. players Colchester United F.C. players Southend United F.C. players Luton Town F.C. players Blackpool F.C. players Barnsley F.C. players Oxford United F.C. players Charlton Athletic F.C. players Wrexham A.F.C. players Premier League players English Football League players National League (English football) players