Lee Charles Philip Harper (born 30 October 1971) is an English former

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 ...

, and manager who played as a

goalkeeper In many team sports which involve scoring goals, the goalkeeper (sometimes termed goaltender, netminder, GK, goalie or keeper) is a designated player charged with directly preventing the opposing team from scoring by blocking or intercepting o ...

. He notably played for Queens Park Rangers. Although he spent 3 years at Arsenal, he failed miserably and only played 1 game. After beginning his career with Eltham Town he went on to play 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 ...

for

Queens Park Rangers Queens Park Rangers Football Club, commonly abbreviated to QPR, is a professional football club based in Shepherd's Bush, West London, England, which compete in the . After a nomadic early existence, they have played home matches at Loftus Ro ...

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 ...

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

Milton Keynes Dons Milton Keynes Dons Football Club (), usually abbreviated to MK Dons, is a professional association football club based in Milton Keynes, Buckinghamshire, England. The team competes in , the third tier of the English football league system. The ...

. He finished his career as a

player-manager A player-coach (also playing coach, captain-coach, or player-manager) is a member of a sports team who simultaneously holds both playing and coaching duties. A player-coach may be a head coach or an assistant coach. They may make changes to the sq ...

at Conference National side

Kettering Town Kettering Town Football Club is a football club based in Burton Latimer, Northamptonshire, England. They are currently members of and play at Latimer Park in Burton Latimer. Kettering were the first club to wear sponsorship on their shirts in ...

Playing career

Born in

Chelsea, London Chelsea is an affluent area in west London, England, due south-west of Charing Cross by approximately 2.5 miles. It lies on the north bank of the River Thames and for postal purposes is part of the south-western postal area. Chelsea histori ...

, Harper started his career at

non-League 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 ...

club Eltham Town, signing for

Sittingbourne Sittingbourne is an industrial town in Kent, south-east England, from Canterbury and from London, beside the Roman Watling Street, an ancient British trackway used by the Romans and the Anglo-Saxons and next to the Swale, a strip of sea separa ...

after featuring against them, before being signed by

Arsenal An arsenal is a place where arms and ammunition are made, maintained and repaired, stored, or issued, in any combination, whether privately or publicly owned. Arsenal and armoury (British English) or armory (American English) are mostly ...

in June 1994. He cost Arsenal £150,000 – one of the biggest fees paid for a non-league player at the time. He was third-choice goalkeeper at the club, behind

Vince Bartram Vincent Lee Bartram (born 7 August 1968) is an English football coach and former professional footballer. As a player he was a goalkeeper. As a player, he notably played in the Premier League for Arsenal, where he was understudy to David Seaman ...

and

David Seaman David Andrew Seaman (born 19 September 1963) is an English former footballer who played as a goalkeeper. In a career lasting from 1981 to 2004, he is best known for his time playing for Arsenal. He won 75 caps for England, and is the country's ...

, and only made one

first team First team may refer to: Sports * First team (association football), the colloquial name given to the most senior team fielded by a football club * The First Team, the first players known to have played the sport of basketball * First Team All-A ...

appearance for the Highbury side, in a 2–0

FA 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 Foo ...

win over

Southampton Southampton () is a port city in the ceremonial county of Hampshire in southern England. It is located approximately south-west of London and west of Portsmouth. The city forms part of the South Hampshire built-up area, which also covers Po ...

on 15 March 1997. In the summer of 1997 he moved to

(QPR), and in four seasons made 118 league appearances. He moved to

in 2001 after QPR were relegated to the

Second Division In sport, the Second Division, also called Division 2 or Division II is usually the second highest division of a league, and will often have promotion and relegation with divisions above and below. Following the rise of Premier League style compet ...

, but made only three appearances in his single season there. He moved to

in 2002 and became first-choice goalkeeper there, recording over 150 league appearances. He moved to

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 ...

team

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 d ...

in October 2006, where he helped to repair the team's poor defending record, with a significant reduction in goals conceded. This successful loan spell resulted in Harper signing a permanent deal in January 2007. He was released at the end of the 2006–07 season in May. He signed for

Conference North The National League North, formerly Conference North, is a division of the National League in England, immediately below the National League division. Along with the National League South, it is at the second level of the National League Sy ...

team

in August 2007. He made 40 appearances in all competitions in the 2007–08 season as Kettering won the Conference North title. He made 54 appearances in all competitions in the 2008–09 season and he signed a new contract with the club in July 2009.

Managerial career

He was appointed as

of Kettering Town on 16 November 2009 on a contract until the end of the 2009–10 season following the departure of Mark Cooper. On 8 December 2009 Harper was given the Man of the Match award by ITV commentator

Andy Townsend Andrew David Townsend (born 23 July 1963) is a former professional footballer and sports co-commentator for Premier League Productions and CBS Sports. As a player he was a midfielder who notably played in the Premier League for Chelsea, Aston V ...

for his performance in Kettering Town's 5–1 defeat to

Leeds United Leeds United Football Club is a professional football club based in Leeds, West Yorkshire in England. The club competes in the Premier League, the highest level of England's football league system, and plays its home matches at Elland Road S ...

Elland Road Elland Road is a football stadium in Beeston, Leeds, West Yorkshire, England, which has been the home of Premier League club Leeds United since the club's formation in 1919. The stadium is the 14th largest football stadium in England. The g ...

in the second round of 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 ...

. His assistant

John Deehan John Matthew Deehan (born 6 August 1957) is an English former football manager and player. During his playing career he was a footballer from 1975 until 1990 and is most well known for his spells as a striker for Aston Villa and Norwich City. ...

was sacked after the final whistle and Harper said in the press conference after the game he was considering his own future due to Deehan's sacking. Due to a long-term back problem he was ruled out of action until he had treatment, which resulted in him signing goalkeeper

Nathan Abbey Nathanael "Nathan" Abbey (born 11 July 1978) is an English journeyman former professional footballer who played as a goalkeeper. Career Luton Town Nathanael Abbey was born on 11 July 1978 in Islington, London, and began his football career as ...

in January 2010. He said he was unsure over his future at the club in April 2010 before being appointed full-time manager on 17 May, with Tommy Jaszczun returning to the club as his assistant manager. He left the club by mutual consent on 20 September 2010 after Kettering had won one game in nine up to that point in the

2010–11 1 (one, unit, unity) is a number representing a single or the only entity. 1 is also a numerical digit and represents a single unit of counting or measurement. For example, a line segment of ''unit length'' is a line segment of length 1. I ...

season.

Managerial statistics

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Harper, Lee 1971 births Living people Footballers from Chelsea, London English footballers Association football goalkeepers Sittingbourne F.C. players Arsenal F.C. players Queens Park Rangers F.C. players Walsall F.C. players Northampton Town F.C. players Milton Keynes Dons F.C. players Kettering Town F.C. players Premier League players English Football League players National League (English football) players English football managers Kettering Town F.C. managers