Joseph William D. Lees (q1 1892 – 26 July 1933) was an English

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 scored 31 goals from 92 appearances in

the Football League The English Football League (EFL) is a league of professional football clubs from England and Wales. Founded in 1888 as the Football League, the league is the oldest such competition in the world. It was the top-level football league in Engla ...

playing for

Barnsley Barnsley () is a market town in South Yorkshire, England. As the main settlement of the Metropolitan Borough of Barnsley and the fourth largest settlement in South Yorkshire. In Barnsley, the population was 96,888 while the wider Borough has ...

Rotherham County Rotherham County F.C. was an English football club based in Rotherham, South Yorkshire. They spent a number of years in the English Football League before merging with rivals Rotherham Town in 1925 to form Rotherham United. History The club w ...

, Lincoln City and

Halifax Town FC Halifax Town is a professional association football club based in Halifax, West Yorkshire, England. They currently compete in and play at the Shay. They replaced Halifax Town A.F.C., which went into administration in the 2007–08 season. ...

. He was a member of Rotherham County's team in their first Football League match, a 2–0 home win against

Nottingham Forest Nottingham Forest Football Club is an association football club based in West Bridgford, Nottinghamshire, England. Nottingham Forest was founded in 1865 and have been playing their home games at the City Ground, on the banks of the River Tren ...

on 30 August 1919. He played

non-league football Non-League football describes football leagues played outside the top leagues of a country. Usually, it describes leagues which are not fully professional. The term is primarily used for football in England, where it is specifically used to de ...

for several teams, and was on the books of Newport County without representing them in the league. He played as an

inside forward Forwards (also known as attackers) are outfield positions in an association football team who play the furthest up the pitch and are therefore most responsible for scoring goals as well as assisting them. As with any attacking player, the role ...

. Lees served in World War One, winning the Military Medal. His son Geoff was also a footballer; both played for Barnsley.

References

1892 births 1933 deaths Military personnel from Leicestershire British military personnel of World War I Recipients of the Military Medal People from Coalville Footballers from Leicestershire English men's footballers Men's association football inside forwards Whitwick Imperial F.C. players Barnsley F.C. players Rotherham County F.C. players Lincoln City F.C. players Guildford City F.C. players Halifax Town A.F.C. players Scunthorpe United F.C. players Newport County A.F.C. players Wombwell F.C. players Shirebrook Miners Welfare F.C. players English Football League players {{England-footy-forward-1890s-stub