Lee Cartwright (born 19 September 1972) is a retired footballer who made over 400 league appearances for

Preston North End Preston North End Football Club, commonly referred to as Preston, North End or PNE, is a professional football club in Preston, Lancashire, England, who currently play in the EFL Championship, the second tier of the English football league syste ...

Early years

Born in

Rawtenstall, Rossendale, Lancashire Rawtenstall () is a town in the borough of Borough of Rossendale, Rossendale, Lancashire, England. The town lies 15 miles/24 km north of Manchester, 22 miles/35 km east of Preston, Lancashire, Preston and 45 miles/70 km south east of the county ...

, Cartwright was signed from school as a trainee in 1989 by North End boss John McGrath. Under McGrath's successor, Les Chapman, he made his first team debut at the age of 18 in a 1–0 home win against Shrewsbury Town in March 1991. Having broken into the first team, Cartwright remained a regular for the rest of the season. In the following season, 1991–92, he missed only a handful of matches as he picked up the club's player of the year award as reward for a string of consistently good displays. In

1992-93 Year 199 ( CXCIX) was a common year starting on Monday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar. At the time, it was sometimes known as year 952 ''Ab urbe condita''. The denomination 199 for this year has been used since the ...

, Preston were relegated from the Football League Second Division, although Cartwright's performances attracted interest from both Oldham Athletic and

Blackpool Blackpool is a seaside resort in Lancashire, England. Located on the North West England, northwest coast of England, it is the main settlement within the Borough of Blackpool, borough also called Blackpool. The town is by the Irish Sea, betw ...

. Persuaded to stay by new manager John Beck, Cartwright would remain at Deepdale for the next eleven years.

A Preston legend

In his thirteen years at the club, Cartwright became a North End legend making a total of 472 appearances for the club, scoring 30 goals. He was an important member of the Preston teams that won the 1995–96 Third Division title and 1999–2000 Second Division title. Cartwright also played in the 1993–94 Third Division and 2000–01 First Division play-off final defeats.

After Preston

In January 2004, Cartwright moved to Stockport County on a free transfer, where his 18-month stay was disrupted by injury, and then to Rochdale, where injuries limited him to 29 appearances before he was released. Cartwright joined Conference North side Scarborough for the 2006–07 season, where he won the club's last Player of the Year award before their

liquidation Liquidation is the process in accounting by which a company is brought to an end in Canada, United Kingdom, United States, Ireland, Australia, New Zealand, Italy, and many other countries. The assets and property of the company are redistrib ...

. Cartwright signed for Hyde United for the 2007-08 Conference North season, before retiring from football.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Cartwright, Lee 1972 births Living people People from Rawtenstall English men's footballers Preston North End F.C. players Stockport County F.C. players Rochdale A.F.C. players Scarborough F.C. players Hyde United F.C. players Men's association football midfielders Footballers from Lancashire